Writing Center

Welcome to the Writing Center at Coastline College

At the Writing Center, we help you strengthen your writing and communication skills by providing resources, workshops, and individual support for all kinds of assignments and projects that require writing.

Writing Support

Our Writing Center is a free class that you can join throughout the semester. The Writing Center class (ENGL C080N) will appear on your schedule but not your transcript. We recommend that you join as soon as the semester begins so you can familiarize yourself with the Canvas shell and make appointments.

There are several ways to receive writing support:

• In-person at the Westminster, Le Jao Campus
• Live Online one-on-one sessions with a writing instructor via drop-in or appointment
• Paper Drop Off for constructive feedback, not proofreading or editing
• Workshops where a writing instructor guides participants through a writing topic
• Directed Learning Activities students can complete at their own pace to build and practice writing skills

How to Enroll in the Writing Center

1. Log into MyCoast
2. Select the current term
3. Search for Coastline College English courses, and enter Course Number C080N
4. Add Class

After you've added the class, you'll be able to access our course in Canvas, where you can view our schedule, practice your skills with Directed Learning Activities, and participate in discussions about writing.

Individual Support Online

Writers from all disciplines and levels are welcome to make an appointment or drop-in with one of our Writing Center Instructors who can help at any stage of the process - from idea, to draft, to revision. You'll begin your free one-on-one session (up to 30-minutes) by sharing your goals for the session. You may want to focus on:

• Feedback on a specific area of an essay
• Developing a thesis
• Clarifying ideas
• Structuring an argument
• Strengthening specific paragraphs or sentences
• Using academic databases and internet to identify credible sources
• Understanding and using the MLA Style Guide

Once your goals are clear, you and the Writing Center Instructor will work together to explore possibilities. Although collaborative, at no time does the Writing Center Instructor take over authorship of your work. Many writers come in just to explore their ideas with an attentive, sympathetic audience.

If this is your first visit to the Writing Center, be sure to read the One-on-One Support expectations below.

• One-on-One Support

  What to Expect

  Make the most of your meeting with a Writing Center Instructor

  Excelling in written and oral communication is hard work, but it can be fun and rewarding. We look forward to working with you!

  Your Responsibilities

  • Plan ahead. After joining the Writing Center, review the Writing Center Instructors' availability. Make sure to drop in during a time when a Writing Center Instructor is working.
  • Bring the assignment you are working on or a sample of your writing. Come with any relevant materials - assignment sheets, notes, rough drafts, outline, visual aids, etc.
  • Take an active role. Think over particular writing or communication problems you encounter and let the consultant know what concerns you most.

  What You Can Expect from the Writing Center

  • Individual help with your writing or oral communication questions, including performance anxiety, writer's block, research methods, organization, revision strategies, proper format, etc.
  • Assistance at any stage, from generating ideas to polishing a final project, with any type of writing assignment.
  • Guidance in building and improving your own writing, editing, and revising skills.

  What You Cannot Expect from the Writing Center

  • An editing service where you sit back and relax while a Writing Center Instructor does the writing or organizes your draft for you. We want to help you work independently to become your own best editor.
  • Omniscient and infallible consultants; however, what we don't know, we'll try to find out.
  • A perfect paper or project. One session is not enough time to address every problem or issue. The real goal is to help you become a better writer, communicator, and problem-solver, and that process happens through continued effort and practice.
• Upcoming Workshops

  Workshops are one-hour live online sessions where participants will work witha  Writing Center Instructor to explore a writing topic. Come to the workshops prepared to answer questions and practice the skills being discussed. Attendance at these workshops is not limited, and they will be recorded for future students. We hope to see you at an upcoming workshop; please add the course ENGL C080N to view up-to-date information regarding workshops in Canvas.

  • MLA In-Text Citations - Thursday, March 13th, 5-6pm
  • APA References - Thursday, April 10th, 5-6pm
  • APA In-Text Citations - Thursday, May 8th, 5-6pm

Coastline Writing Center Coordinators

Jamie Greuel

jgreuel@cccd.edu

Josiah Golojuh

jgolojuh@cccd.edu