Wednesday, September 29, 2010

What happens if a consultation goes wrong...

It's funny, that with all the time we have spent talking about consulting, and the different approaches to take, I have never even thought about how to handle a writer that argues back. We have really delved into the notion that a person's writing is very personal, and that to enter into a consultation as a writer is an extremely vulnerable state for some. Surely we have discussed how to incorporate a positive tone into a critique and to be conscious of the emotions of the writer. What if however, a writer comes in, perhaps only at the request of a teacher, under the firm belief that without a doubt he/she is a better writer than I, and challenge every piece of commentary I provide. Surely any edit to a paper is completely up to the discretion of the writer, but in an instance where the writer verbally challenges each and every point, based on some stubborn egotism, is it too much to say, "then get the hell out of my writing center!" (in a polite and very politically correct way of course). I can't say that this is something I worry about regularly, or that I even worry about ever. I just found it interesting that with all our discussions, we have not spent a great deal of time on bizarre situations such as this. I guess we'll have to wait and see if my time at the writing center, brings any such excitement! haha.

1 comment:

  1. I thought I was the only one who thought about this before! I know I tend to dismiss criticism about my essays unless I think it will actually improve my essay, however, I would never admit that to the person editing my essay. I suppose that the majority of the people who come to the writing center genuinely want our help, so I belive it would be rare to find a case like this. If I did run into a writer who refused my suggestions, I would simply say, "I respect your opinion about your writing, but there are always aspects that can be improved." Hopefully, that would make the person change his or her tone!

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