Luckily, writing mentors at the University of Ottawa’s Academic Writing Help Centre are available to help you overcome the horror of the blank page, shave hours off your paper-writing time and ultimately boost your grades.
Mentors like Giselle Ann Joseph, a fifth-year psychology (BA) student, offer practical tips and guidance, such as understanding assignment instructions, crafting a clear, focused thesis and knowing how to cite sources properly.
Giselle became a writing mentor after benefiting from appointments at the centre throughout her university years.
“I saw first hand how mentorship can build both confidence and concrete skills,” Giselle says. “Although I’ve always enjoyed writing, my skills significantly strengthened through years of training at the centre. Ongoing professional development is a core part of our role. Having completed an honours in science and written scientific papers, I developed strong abilities in argumentation, research synthesis and APA formatting. These skills have been further refined through mentoring, since teaching is one of the best ways to learn!”
“Our ultimate goal is to equip students with the skills they need to become stronger writers in the long term.”
Giselle Ann Joseph
— Fifth-year psychology (BA) student
Writing mentors offer support to help students succeed. If you put in the effort, the results will follow.
Sidy Sow, a third-year doctoral student at the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies, says he became a writing mentor to help undergraduate students develop their skills, but also to continue to perfect his own.
“In my view, there’s no magic formula for becoming a better writer. Improvements mostly depend on regular practice, discipline and the rigorous organization of your work. Writing is not an innate talent — it’s built up over time through practice, re-writing and reflection, and perseverance.”
A personal touch amid the age of AI
Although many students may turn to AI for advice, both Giselle and Sidy say nothing can top personal, one-on-one interaction with a mentor.
“Passive use of AI can hinder learning by reducing the personal effort required to progress,” says Sidy, adding this could also lead to allegations of academic fraud if AI is used to write assignments.
“Critical feedback from a mentor is based on a detailed understanding of the student’s specific background and difficulties. The human aspect of mentoring is essential. A mentor can adapt to the student’s sense of discouragement, frustration, demotivation or stress. These emotional aspects directly influence the quality of academic work. They call for a level of listening and understanding that only human interaction can provide.”
Giselle agrees: “A mentor builds an ongoing relationship, understands course- and professor-specific expectations, and provides personalized encouragement and accountability that technology cannot replace.”
Both Sidy and Giselle love helping their peers.
“One of the most rewarding moments is when students return after submitting a challenging assignment and share that they earned a higher grade than expected,” Giselle says. “Even better is hearing that they applied the strategies we practised to other courses.”
“In my experience, consistency is key when it comes to developing better writing skills.”
Sidy Sow
— Third-year doctoral student at the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies
Best words of advice?
"Write with clarity, write without fear, with a thesis, a structure, a purpose and integrity," Sidy says.
Giselle adds: “Your thesis is the cornerstone of your paper! When students prioritize a clear, focused thesis, the rest of the essay tends to fall into place. Citations and referencing are one of the easiest ways to gain (or lose) grades. Taking the time to properly learn the required citation style can prevent avoidable grade deductions and save significant time during revisions.”
Book an appointment with a writing mentor
You don’t have to be struggling academically to benefit from the advice of writing mentors. It always pays to break bad habits, refresh what you learned in high school, discover new methods, save time and continuously improve your writing skills.
You can book an appointment with a writing mentor to learn how to:
- Develop a thesis
- Draft an outline and organize your ideas
- Structure paragraphs
- Cite your sources properly
Undergraduate Writing Retreat March 26
You can also focus on your writing at an Undergraduate Writing Retreat jointly hosted by the Academic Writing Help Centre and the University of Ottawa library. Whether you’re working on a term paper, report, research project or any other written assignment, the retreat will offer a productive space, along with access to writing mentors and librarians, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on campus at the AWHC (110 University Private).
The event is designed mainly for third- and fourth-year undergraduate students as a preview to the regular graduate-level writing circles, which offer grad students a quiet, structured and motivating environment throughout the academic year.
Best writing tips
In addition to booking an appointment, you can consult AWHC online resources for tips on the writing process, tips on paper structure and Academic Writing Help Centre FAQs, which answer some of the most common questions addressed by writing mentors.
You can also use this quick checklist:
- Before you brainstorm, outline or research, take five to ten minutes to fully understand the assignment.
- Don’t be afraid to dump your ideas on the page. Many students get stuck because they try to write perfect sentences first. Start with a low-pressure brainstorm. Messy is fine to begin with. Try bullet lists, highlighted words, mind maps and sticky notes.
- Build a specific, argumentative and explanatory thesis (main idea to prove) that guides your whole paper.
- Draft an outline. Narrow your focus. Think of the introduction as 10%, the body 80% and conclusion 10%. Organize and order your main points.
- Understand the power of paragraphs. Think of them as building blocks. Paragraphs should have a smooth transition from the previous paragraph, a main point, supporting ideas (explanations, clarifications, reasoning) and, if necessary, evidence (quotes, facts or examples). Master this and the flow will follow.
- Know how to use citations and references. Be sure to cite every borrowed idea. Use the same system throughout your paper. If you’ve ever lost marks for formatting, missing citations or inconsistent references, a writing mentor can help you fix that.