communication

Grammar is a tricky, uh, thing?

An introduction to university writing

You have graduated from high school and been accepted to The University of Waterloo. Congratulations! As you begin your university studies you will encounter many kinds of writing assignments. To help get you started, here’s a brief guide to expectations for university-level writing.

Writing at university follows specific conventions

I bet you communicate with someone somehow every day without thinking too much about it.  You text your friends, call your parents, speak with people in class, and use many other forms of communication within your daily life.  However, when you go to email your prof to set up a meeting, or go to ask them a question after class I bet you are just a little nervous almost every time.  You make excuses for not asking your questions; you make your questions sound less important, less needed, or even down right dumb.  Most students make their questions seem unvalued or unreasonable: “I don’t want

You’re sitting in your little wooden cubicle at the corner of an office. Your laptop is open in front of you; a picture of a black cat stares at you. Its lime-green eyes look into yours.

You maximize your Microsoft Word document. It’s blindingly white.

You lean back on your soft green office chair and sigh. You spin around, facing away from your cubicle. You look at the clock on the white wall to your left: 3:55PM.

You notice that you are bouncing your right leg.

I did a co-op term as a technical writer at a high tech company here in Waterloo.

The job of a technical writer varies from company to company, but essentially it involves writing text that allows customers to understand how to use technology. In my case I was documenting software changes, and the process went something like this:

I was standing next to someone at the crosswalk out in front of South Campus Hall and I noticed the word “Forward” tattooed across her ankle. Single words inked on skin are a huge trend right now, and a quick search shows that the words people choose represent a summary of life goals, belief systems, or ideals.  

Did you miss attending our Open House on September 16? You missed some great food, excellent information, and having some fun with words. We asked our visitors to tell us about their writing habits on our Writing Centre mural. Below are some samples of what was written.