Written Online Appointments

Written Online Appointments are available for all Miami students.

To schedule, select an appointment time, upload your writing document(s), and complete the detailed appointment form. There is no live interfacing with your consultant. The consultant reads and responds to your work, returning written feedback shortly after the end of your appointment time.

It’s important that you provide details up-front about your assignment, your writing, and your hopes for the consultation. That’s what the appointment form is for. Please fill it out in thorough detail.

If you have questions about written online consulting, please contact HWC Manager Kate Francis (francik@miamioh.edu).

Make an Appointment

Choose a day and time to meet with a Howe consultant by visiting our scheduling platform, WCOnline.

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Common Questions

What kinds of writing can I submit for consultation?

HWC writing consultants can assist you with just about any project. Here’s a list of the kinds of writing we regularly see:

  • Papers, reports, and group projects for any course, in any department
  • Fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and other “creative” forms of writing (we believe all writing is “creative,” for the record)
  • Honors theses, Miami Plan capstone projects, master’s theses, and dissertations
  • PowerPoint presentations, websites, digital movies, and other non-print projects (restore when live appointments are back)
  • Cover letters, personal statements, and applications for fellowships and employment
  • Personal and professional writing projects outside of class assignments

We are happy to look at any and all career-focused documents, but we also recommend the Center for Career Exploration for specific advice on resumes.

What kinds of files can I submit in WCOnline?

You can only upload doc or docx files into WCOnline. Docs must be 5MB or smaller.

If you are working with a file in some other format, like PDF or Google Docs, you will need to convert to doc or docx. Typically this function will be in the “File” dropdown of the program. In Adobe Acrobat, for example, you can convert a PDF to a doc by going to File -> Export To and choosing “Microsoft Word.” On Google Drive, you can download your Google doc as a Word doc by going to File -> Download and choosing Microsoft Word (docx.)

If, after converting to doc or docx, your file exceeds 5 MB, then you will have to find ways of shrinking the file size. This is only likely to happen if your document contains many charts and/or images. Try lowering the resolution of images in the document by going to File ->Reduce File Size. Then change the picture quality to Email (96 ppi).

What information do I put in my Appointment Form?

Here's the kind of information the Appointment Form will ask you to provide. The more we know about your assignment, your writing goals, and your concerns, the more helpful we can be.

  • We ask that you describe your writing task or assignment in detail. What genre (or kind) of writing is this? What is the purpose of this piece of writing? And who is your intended audience? Related to these questions, you are welcome to upload assignment prompts, rubrics, or other relevant information.
  • We ask you to tell us where you are in your process. Is this a first draft or a revision? Also, is the draft complete or partial?
  • We ask you to choose the areas of concern that you’d like the consultant to attend to. We have provided a checklist of feedback types to guide your thinking.
  • Please consider that consultants can spend only 45 minutes reading and responding to your draft, so you should limit yourself to no more than 2-3 areas of concern. If your draft is particularly long, please note the specific sections of your draft on which you’d like the consultant to focus.
  • We ask you to consider including a few questions, comments, or highlights in the draft you are uploading. The consultant reading this draft can then respond even more directly to your concerns.
  • While you are welcome to submit drafts with a few marginal comments of your own, please do not submit a draft with too many comments. Our platform makes all comments on a draft anonymous, so you might not be able to tell which comments are your own and which are from your consultant.
  • We ask you to tell us about any learning or technology accommodations or needs.

How do I upload my files to the Appointment Form?

Watch graduate consultant Mary explain how to upload your materials to the Appointment Form.

How will I get my feedback?

Shortly after your appointment ends, you will receive two emails from WCOnline. One contains what we call a Client Report Form. That's where the consultant will have written an overview of their feedback. In the other email you'll find an attachment to your draft with the consultant's marginal comments. The Client Report Form and commented-on draft are meant to be read together.

Be assured that all feedback you receive stays available to you as long as you maintain a WCOnline account with us. To refer back to your feedback, log in to WCOnline, view your past appointments, and find the Client Report Form and attachments.

When reviewing consultant comments, we encourage you to remember that feedback is based on the information you provided and the concerns expressed in your appointment form.

Below, watch graduate consultant Mary explain how you receive your feedback.

Video Overview

Watch consultants Adrienne, Jack, Maddie, and Katie explain how Written Online Appointments work.

Accessibility

The Howe Writing Center is committed to helping provide accommodations for all Miami writers who have scheduled writing center consultations. To request an accommodation, or to inquire about the accommodations we can provide (i.e., viewing or accessing materials in alternative formats, using assistive technologies during an in-person consultation), please contact writing center manager Kate Francis (francik@miamioh.edu) at least 2 business days prior to your consultation. We are also happy to collaborate with the Miller Center in providing such accommodations. If you use a screen reader, check out our web guide on how screen readers function within the Live Online consulting space