Write Site dropbox

Please review the information on this page, or in the video above, before submitting your paper. Submissions that do not meet our guidelines may be returned without feedback.

Read time: 7-10 minutes.

Download a summary of our guidelines

What is writing coaching?

Writing coaching supports your development as a confident writer and editor of your own work. Writing specialists do not write, revise, edit, or proofread your assignment. In addition, writing specialists cannot comment on content or whether your work meets assignment requirements. However, we can offer you feedback on the clarity of your ideas.

Begin by setting a goal. What would you like to learn or improve on? A writing specialist can work with you to achieve that goal over time. Then, you can set a new goal to continue to develop your writing skills. Writing specialists will not “check your draft” to determine whether it is ready to submit to your instructor, and will not tell you an expected grade. Coaching is about learning over time, not about making this one assignment perfect.

Over time, a writing specialist can help you:

• Prioritize your writing goals
• Identify and address writing concerns
• Develop confidence as an academic writer

Read about the coaching process below for more information

Submit to the dropbox

After reviewing our guidelines below, you can click the button below to submit your assignment. Please review all the information on this page before submitting your paper. Submissions that do not meet our guidelines may be returned without feedback. However, we will tell you the next steps to take so that you meet our guidelines and can resubmit.

The coaching process

1. Begin by identifying 1-2 writing goals for learning or improvement. Possible areas include:
   • Thesis statement
   • Organization
   • Sentence structure
   • Citations and references
   If your goal is to understand your course content, your assignment content, or your assignment instructions, you must contact your instructor. Writing specialists cannot explain how to do assignments, interpret the assignment guidelines, or help with course content. Course content includes lessons, readings, and the assignment topic or requirements. Writing specialists also will not comment on the content of your assignment, which is what you’ve written; we can only assist with how you’ve written it.
   
   If your writing specialist's suggestions don’t seem to match the assignment instructions, ask your instructor for guidance. Learn strategies to help you read and understand your assignment.
2. Plan ahead. Though usually you will receive feedback within a few business days, at times it may take up to a week. Leave enough time to revise and edit your paper once you receive feedback. Requests for last-minute feedback may not be accepted.
3. Do your best to revise or edit your paper before submitting to the Write Site dropbox. We can provide better support on your goals when the rest of your paper is smooth. Occasionally, we may return it for you to work on more first before providing you feedback. Use our editing checklist to help get you started. The checklist can also help you brainstorm your writing goals if you’re not sure where to start.
4. Before you submit, you can also consider highlighting areas or adding comments related to your goals in your document.
5. When you’re ready, follow the link to the Write Site dropbox. You can submit only one assignment at a time to receive feedback on your writing from a writing specialist.
6. Your writing specialist may not read your whole paper but will instead focus on supporting you with your learning goal. If your paper is longer than 8 pages or 2,000 words, please indicate which section(s) of the paper you would like us to focus on. For assignments with multiple essays, your writing specialist will address one essay only. Please apply our comments to the second essay, then submit the second essay separately if you wish to receive feedback.
7. Once you successfully submit your assignment, you will receive a confirmation email. If you do not receive an email, please add wsdropbox@athabascau.ca to your safe senders list. If you’ve already done this, and you still don’t receive a confirmation email, your upload may not have succeeded. Contact us to double-check.
8. Usually you will receive an email with feedback attached within a few business days, though at times it may take up to one week.
9. Your next step is to read the whole document to get the most out of coaching. Your writing specialist may give you introductory comments, in-text comments, and concluding comments, all of which can help you learn. Take time to understand the comments, and email your writing specialist if you do not understand. Then, use their feedback to guide you as your revise and edit your own paper.
10. Your writing specialist will usually focus on one to two areas for you to work on to achieve your goal. Your writing specialist may also choose to focus on a more pressing issue that you did not identify. You can expect to receive 10-25 comments or more, depending on your assignment’s length and complexity.
11. Although your writing specialist may not comment on the whole paper, you can apply what you’ve learned from their comments to the rest of your assignment. If you have questions about understanding or applying the feedback, you can contact your writing specialist or email us.
12. After you receive feedback, the dropbox will not accept assignments from you for 48 hours. During this time, review the comments and resources provided and apply them to your next assignment. This way, you can learn from each assignment and get feedback on your progress.
    
    Remember, the goal of writing coaching is not to check your assignment before you submit it to your instructor. The goal of coaching is for you to develop as a writer over time.
13. If you would like further support with your goals for your current assignment:
    • Please do not email your revised draft. Instead, please contact your writing specialist with 1-2 specific questions about their feedback or your learning.
    • If you have more questions, you can contact your writing specialist to book a follow-up appointment.
    • If you would like written feedback on your progress, you can submit your revised draft to the Write Site dropbox.
    • Please do not submit the same assignment more than twice to the Write Site dropbox.
14. Continue to develop as a writer by working with a writing specialist over time. It can take time to accomplish each goal, but we’re here to help. Remember that we aim not to help you perfect each paper, but to provide support for long-lasting results.

Guidelines

• Respect and professionalism are expected in all written and verbal communications with Write Site staff. Please familiarize yourself with Article 3.5 of the Non-Academic Misconduct Policy.
• Please do not book an appointment and submit your paper to the Write Site dropbox for written feedback at the same time. If you have a finished draft, we ask that you use the dropbox instead of booking an appointment.
• Only one follow-up submission per assignment will be accepted. This means you can only submit the same assignment only twice for feedback.
• Writing specialists provide feedback and support on your writing as writing experts outside the context of your course. The feedback you receive is not an evaluation of your assignment or a suggestion of your grade, and we cannot guarantee your desired grade. Readers, including writing specialists and instructors, might not always agree. You can consider all feedback, but please follow the comments from your instructor first. If you receive a lower grade than you expected even after working with a writing specialist, please contact your instructor to discuss how to improve essay content and your writing to meet their expectations next time.
• Writing specialists will not comment on grades, tutors, instructors or appeals. However, if you need support with what to do next, you can contact the Write Site coordinator.
• We only provide support with course assignments taken through Athabasca University. However, we may sometimes be able to help with other types of writing, such as career writing, graduate school applications, and scholarship applications. This depends on our availability. Please contact us to learn more.

Accessibility

Students registered with Accessibility Services can request extra writing support. Contact the coordinator or ask your writing specialist for more information.

We strive to make our coaching accessible to everyone. On the dropbox form, you can state your preferences. For example:

• coloured background or font
• increased font size
• audio feedback

You are also welcome to request a specific writing specialist if you wish. We will do our best to honour your request when possible. However, we encourage you to work with multiple writing specialists to get different perspectives.

If you have a need that is not being met, please contact the coordinator. We are open to your suggestions.

Technical support

If you have a question or concern, please contact the Write Site Coordinator for support.