And the words slide into the slots ordained by syntax, and glitter as with atmospheric dust with those impurities which we call meaning.
Anthony Burgess

 The Skidmore Writing Center, open to and free for all Skidmore students, has proved to be a vital resource for writers from first-years to seniors.

Writing Center tutors are your peers—all Skidmore undergraduates who have been trained to work with you on your writing process, in all disciplines, and at all levels.  Their goal is to provide you with a safe, comfortable, congenial place to discuss any of your writing concerns and questions. You can seek a conversation at any stage in the writing process: figuring out where or how to start an assignment, gathering ideas, organizing ideas, beginning a draft, completing a draft, revising, or fine-tuning your prose. Tutors will work with you to analyze a text, develop an argument, compare or integrate theories, write a lab report, or revise personal statements for graduate school, scholarship, or internship applications.

Tutors can also help you understand both the basics and the finer points of grammar and punctuation: Why doesn’t a comma work here? Why does that phrase fit oddly in that sentence? Why is this modifier misplaced? What is the difference between passive and active voice? Tutors do not edit or proofread your papers; they do not “fix” your prose. Instead, they work with you so that you can become a more confident editor of your own writing.

And along with our ESL specialist, tutors welcome the opportunity to work closely with multilingual and ESL (English as a Second Language) writers.

We hope you find your work with us useful and encouraging. We welcome your feedback on what we do well and on what we might improve: click here to send us your thoughts.

Please see our Frequently Asked Questions for more detailed information about what to expect from a Writing Center session. Check our Scheduling Guidelines for information on the way we deal with papers of different lengths.  And watch your email and this page for announcements of our workshops on grammar and punctuation and our sessions for advanced writers.

Making an appointment is easy. Simply click on the link below to reach our online scheduling system.