The Perfect WC

My ideal writing center has four levels. The first level has a receptionist and two restaurants. The first restaurant is called the PreWriting Cafe. Here, you can get hot beverages, soda, and snacks and sit at small coffee shop tables with dry erase surfaces and markers. Resources and methods  and laminated worksheets for PreWriting hang on the walls, and tutors are available to help students pick their poison. Many students come by the PreWriting cafe to get a drink before going to another section of the WC, reminding them of where their writing began.

Also on this level is the Feedback Grill. Here, students or groups of students can grab a meal with a tutor who will listen to their concerns and read through their paper to give them their reaction. Ideally, students would come to get a bite and to hear the diverse and wonderful ideas that are occurring in writing across campus.

The second floor is the Writing Lounge. There are lots of big, squishy chairs, lamps, end tables, blankets and endless lines of plugs. This floor must be large, because it will quickly become the popular nap spot on campus.Laptops and chargers for an array of devices, along with other resources, are available to check out. Tutors lounge around in official T-shirts to provide resources to writers. Above all, this floor is a place on campus all writers can go to get down to business. There is no music, but headphones and internet radio are available upon request. The silence is not stark, like in the library, but comfortable. A network of writers typing together.

The third floor is the Organization Studio. Here, the walls and floor are dry erase. There are dry erase blocks that can be moved around and printers to print out quotes. Tutors work in-depth with writers here. Resources of sample papers and graphic organizers are available around the floor. Students are often seen sitting on the floor.

The fourth floor houses the Revision Studio and Break Room. The Revision Studio looks more like a traditional WC, with several areas in which tutors and students can talk together. There is a resource wall full of student writing and plenty of water and technology. The set up is such that after a tutor works with a student, they can then leave them to continue working. There are much more tables here so that students can easily focus. Assignment sheets from across campus are available on iPads.

The Break Room is like a smoking area at a bar, without the smoke. Sometimes when you’re writing, you just need to get away and talk with people away from the writing. The Break Room allows for that. It has couches and newspapers and magazines and people ready to chit chat in ways that recharge creativity. The walls are decorated with posters and graffiti.