Writing and Communication Centre

Breaking Assumptions: What I Learned About ECC From Being a Facilitator

Sagal A. Abukar — Tue, 12 Apr 2022 12:00:00 +0000

What are English Conversation Circles? A few months ago, I had no idea, but when I started working at the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) one of my roles was to facilitate the English Conversation Circles (ECC) program. I assumed ECC would be a program that Individuals used to strengthen their English conversation skills, and I was excited to be a part of this support team. Once I started working on the program, I learned quickly that ECC is a support system for international students here at UW.

Tags: English conversation circles, ESL, community, Belonging

How to get the most out of your undergrad writing groups

Allison Ho — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 12:00:00 +0000

So, you’re looking for ways to stay connected with the student community while getting schoolwork done. Joining a writing group seems to be the best fit because it looks like fun and a great way to meet others in university. But what exactly are writing groups and are there any benefits to being part of one?

Tags: undergrads, community, writing groups, motivation, peer support

4 Things I Wish I Knew as a First Year Student

Allison Ho — Thu, 21 Oct 2021 12:00:00 +0000

I know it can be scary to begin university, and in my case, being an international student meant that I was going to be away from family and friends, or in other words, home…

Interview with UW’s award-winning graduate student presenter, Nikolay Videnov

Elise Vist (they/them) — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 12:00:00 +0000

Last semester, Nikolay Videnov won the Best Presenter award at the University of Waterloo and the University of Strathclyde’s Virtual Research Colloquium. We love to see UW students succeed at presentations, so we thought we’d reach out and have a short conversation about how that presentation came together, and to pick Nikolay’s brain about the process.

WCC Workshops Go Online!

Fri, 29 May 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Alongside the rest of UWaterloo, the Writing and Communication Centre (WCC) has been working hard to transition our services into an online format for the Spring 2020 term. Our team is tirelessly striving to ensure that we can continue to support you as much as possible throughout the changes brought by the ongoing pandemic. As a result of these efforts, we are excited to announce that on June 1st, we will be launching the Spring 2020 WCC workshops on a new LEARN website!

Getting the most out of Virtual Writing Cafés

Tue, 19 May 2020 12:00:00 +0000

It’s always hard to write. Even as someone who loves writing, I hate sitting down to actually do it. Especially now, with the paradoxical pandemic life of being exhausted, wired, busy, bored, lonely, and completely overwhelmed with Zoom-based social activities, it’s really, really hard to write my seemingly endless dissertation.

Revising your assignment ft. Google the rapper

Nicole Bourque — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Have you ever tried getting Google Translate to rap before? It’s probably one of the funniest things you can do with translate, outside of totally messing with Disney songs. When I’m not using translate as a means to laugh though, I’m using it to revise my essay by having Google read it out loud to me. Granted, that usually is also very funny, as the automated voice has a habit for tripping over lengthy sentences as well as butchering incorrect spelling of words.

Tags: revising, essays, google, google translate, funny, editing

Forgotten Punctuation and Shakespeare

Nicole Bourque — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 12:00:00 +0000

When I was younger, the more pieces of punctuation I could add to a written work, the more I felt like some sort of literary genius. “Yeah, I’m ten and can use a comma, period, exclamation mark, and question mark within two sentences. I’m just that cool.”

Tags: punctuation, William Shakespeare, silly

The poetics of originality: how to be creative

Trenton Joseph McNulty — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Why is creativity so elusive? We see artists and poets and marvel agape at their powers of creation, but in truth creativity is a learned thing – a practice of insight and introspection. You too have the potential to produce art almost as good as the greats, if only you look in the right places. It doesn’t matter that no one’s listening.

Tags: advice, brainstorming, creative writing, fanfiction, fiction, free writing, genre, humour, inspiration, literature, narrative, poetry, procrastination, productivity, quotes, reading, satire, writer's block, writing, writing process, writing quotes, writing tools

If punctuation marks were people

Trenton Joseph McNulty — Wed, 27 Mar 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Punctuation marks. We use them to form our sentences, to turn our incoherent thoughts into organized prose. But what if these signs and symbols had minds of their own?

Tags: comics, Doodles, humour, grammar, satire, webcomics, punctuation