Writing & Communication Center

Providing free professional advice about all types of writing and speaking to the MIT community.

The Writing Center (12-132) offers several services to all members of the MIT community, including undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, lecturers, faculty and staff members. They can get free individual consultation about any writing difficulty, from questions about grammar to matters of style, including difficulties common to writers, such as overcoming writer’s block, organizing papers, taking essay exams, revising one’s work, or presenting scientific information. They may visit the Center during any stage of the writing process: prewriting, writing a first draft, revising, or editing. Consultations may concern papers that have been (or will be) submitted for a grade. The Center is not, however, a proofreading service; it aims to treat writing as a process, to clarify and promote techniques of good writing. The Center also offers instruction both to individuals and groups in methods of oral presentation (how to write a speech, how to use visual aids, how to conduct oneself when presenting scientific or nonscientific information). The Center provides specialized help to those for whom English is a second language.

Writing Center Philosophy

Writing Center Philosophy

  1. To teach clients ways to improve their writing abilities. We do not proofread or edit; we work with clients to help them learn more about writing.
  2. To provide a non-threatening, non-graded environment in which anyone may talk about any aspect of writing or oral presentation.
  3. To focus upon the clients and their writing skills rather than merely upon the particular papers they have written -- in other words, to teach writing rather than to proofread or edit papers.
  4. To provide flexible instruction while working individually with clients, thus responding efficiently and economically to each client’s particular problems.
  5. To experiment with various teaching techniques and programs in order to select the correct approach for each client.
  6. To demystify the process of writing by showing clients that there are techniques for developing ideas, organizing papers, and for smoothly integrating evidence and data into a paper.
  7. To encourage clients to think about the process of writing and their readers’ expectations and needs, as well as about the content and style of their papers.
  8. To use clients’ papers, proposals, reports, abstracts, letters, and theses as a starting point for discussing writing techniques.