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At UNCSA Writing Center and ESL Services, we assist high school, undergraduate and graduate student writers at every stage of the writing process, offering support that spans from topic selection to the drafting and revision stages, covering a wide range of writing projects such as,

Course papers/essays,
Artist statements,
Screenplays,
MFA thesis,
Essays for application (college, internship, grant, etc.),
Resume/CV/cover letter,
Professional emails,
Personal writings (poetry, novel or other fiction)

Writing Center Updates!

This Fall semester, we will have remote and in-person times available Sunday-Friday beginning August 19, 2024. There will be evening appointments available as well as daytime appointments. All posted hours are subject to change without notice; check on the appointment calendar to book times and see available appointments.

We will be closed on the following days:

Monday, Sep 2 and Tuesday, Sep 3 (all day)
Monday, Sep 23 (all day)
Thursday, Oct 17, and Friday, Oct 18 (FALL BREAK!)
Tuesday, Nov 27 through Friday, Nov 29 (THANKSGIVING RECESS).

Note: Upon your requests, a few online-only appointments will be available during the break and when the office is closed!!

You can always check availability and/or make appointments using the link below.

► Make Appointments Here!

Co-Director Hadis Ghaedi will be available on campus and can meet with you in person or via Zoom. Nora Streed will continue to be available via Zoom only. Our office is located in the Teaching and Learning Center (above the library cafe) in room 2308.

For further information about the Writing Center at UNCSA, or to request alternative meeting times, send us an email at writingcenter@uncsa.edu.

Inclusive Language Resources

The PDF documents below contain some quick reference guides regarding inclusive language. Feel free to print and distribute them if you find them helpful. If you want to discuss inclusive language in your writing or other situations, please feel free to make an appointment to talk to Nora Streed. We're not here to police your writing for political correctness, but rather to help you use language to get your message across in the most accessible, inclusive, and respectful way possible.

Language Matters!
Nobody wants to walk on eggshells for fear that some innocent or well-intended remark will cause offense – or get them fired, or worse. Consider, however, that if you use language that can be considered offensive, cruel, demeaning, or thoughtless, you will very likely be seen as a person who is offensive, cruel, demeaning, and/or thoughtless.
A Brief Glossary
Sometimes it sounds like people are talking another language. This list provides quick definitions of some inclusive terminology you may not have heard used in a particular way before. It is not a list of mandatory substitutions for commonly understood terms, and it is not meant to be a complete list.
What You're Actually Saying When You Ignore Someone's Gender Pronouns
Gender is complicated, and the transgender spectrum might be a whole new concept for you. It’s not important that you understand everything perfectly. It’s important that you listen, and trust that, with time, you will begin to understand.

Writing Resources

Download PDFs with helpful information on the following topics:

Quick Writing Tips for Every Writer
A few tips to help you get started.
Proofreading Guide
Some helpful hints for more effective proofreading.
Tips for Writing Good Emails
Don't waste your time -- or your readers' time -- with poorly written emails.
The Formatter
By UNCSA School of Filmmaking Professor Joy Goodwin. This is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to format their screenplay properly. I for one can't wait for the movie :)
MFA Thesis Guide.
Please meet with someone in the Writing Center and/or the Library to discuss your thesis plans. We're here to help! This handout offers a quick overview of some common formatting conventions for certain types of thesis projects.

Helpful Links

UNC Chapel Hill's Writing Center's website has excellent, relevant, and helpful guides.
George Orwell's classic 1946 essay Politics and the English Language offers some simple strategies for making your own writing stronger, clearer, and more useful to your readers.
Purdue OWL is an excellent resource for MLA formatting guidelines and contains a great deal of high quality reference material.
UW-Madison Writer's Handbook is also another excellent source for not only all types of formatting guidlines such as MLA, APA, Chicago, etc but also instructions on ways to improve your writing style, writing process and structure, and academic and professiobal writing skills.
Grammar Rock videos are fabulous learning tools for basic grammar information. No, really. You might not be able to get the songs out of your head, but that's kind of the idea.
Merriam-Webster's online dictionary is easy to use and contains many helpful articles & videos about word use issues as well as a fun "Word of the Day" app and of course a fully functional online dictionary and thesaurus.
The Story of English. This PBS documentary from 1986 is available here on a YouTube playlist broken up into many 10-minute segments. The companion book is listed below. It's a very good overview of the history of the English language and its proliferation throughout the world. Helps sort out some of the confusion about why English is the way it is.
Free Language Learning Apps! All UNCSA students, staff, and faculty have access via NCLive to TRANSPARENT Language Learning Apps. Go at your own pace and learn one (or more!) of over 100 languages in the app, from Afrikaans to Dakota to Latvian to Quechua to Welsh and Zulu! Also includes English learning apps for non-native English speakers.