Not Just Words on a Page--Connecting Textbook Content to Real Life

I’ve been working as a undergraduate writing coach in the University Writing Center (UWC) since last August. I remember during my training, one of the graduate coaches taught me what to look for when helping a student revise a paper. Focusing on “big picture” concepts, such as organization, clarity, and evidence is one of the major (if not the first) tasks a writing coach performs. Although important, we save “little picture” concepts like grammar and punctuation for last. When I was reading Chapter 3 of the textbook, I came across these same ideas, which reminded me of the work I do at the UWC. After reading, I felt like I had a great reminder of what I need to prioritize as a coach. Grammar, misspellings, and punctuation are three factors that can easily divert someone’s attention away from concentrating on the more important aspects of a paper. “Big picture concepts” is a seemingly intimidating term, and I think many people would answer differently if you asked them what they consider to be “big picture concepts”. However, I think the textbook did a great job of talking about the writing process and what to do during the revision process. Not only do I intend to use these ideas in my work as a writing coach, I’ve also started to apply them to my own assignments. I find that now I’m asking myself questions such as “How is my information presented? Do I show development in my arguments? Does my thesis match with the content of my paper?”. I hope this application of textbook content to my real-life situations helps me become a stronger writer and more resourceful coach.