Luckily, writing mentors at the University of Ottawa’s Academic Writing Help Centre are available to help you overcome the horror of the blank page and ultimately boost your grades.
The team of 12 writing mentors is now even easier to find since the centre moved from its former building to the first floor of Morisset Library. It’s an ideal location, not just for better visibility but for links with Library learning specialists, who can offer useful advice in workshops on topics such as AI use.
Students might be tempted to turn to ChatGPT, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot for advice on how to write assignments.
But Ghida Fawaz, a writing mentor and first-year master’s student in cellular and molecular medicine, says this can keep them from developing crucial writing and critical thinking skills.
“While AI’s sole objective is to respond to a prompt, a human mentor acknowledges and upholds academic integrity, encourages students to showcase their own style of writing and brings out students’ original perspectives.”
Ghida Fawaz
— First-year master’s student in cellular and molecular medicine
A personal touch amid the age of AI
“Integrity, creativity and originality elevate any piece of writing. It’s more than just a task completed,” says Ghida, who’s been a writing mentor for the past three years.
“In addition, as peer mentors, we can relate to many of the challenges and stresses that students experience, including balancing several commitments, taking exams and receiving critical feedback. While AI merely focuses on a paper, we recognize and respond to students’ needs.”
Mentors often tailor their advice and approach to match the proficiency levels of students working in English or French as a second language, for example. Or they can guide first-year students feeling overwhelmed by the new demands of academic writing.
“A mentor can follow up with you throughout the term and help you navigate the writing process — from brainstorming to creating an outline to structuring your final paper,” says Ghida.
Sidy Sow, a fourth-year doctoral student at the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies, agrees.
Although many students may turn to AI for advice, Sidy says nothing can top personal, one-on-one interaction with a mentor.
“Passive use of AI can hinder learning by reducing the personal effort required to progress,” says Sidy, adding this could also lead to allegations of academic fraud if AI is used to write assignments.
“Critical feedback from a mentor is based on a detailed understanding of the student’s specific background and difficulties. The human aspect of mentoring is essential. A mentor can adapt to the student’s sense of discouragement, frustration, demotivation or stress. These emotional aspects directly influence the quality of academic work. They call for a level of listening and understanding that only human interaction can provide.”
“In my experience, consistency is key when it comes to developing better writing skills.”
Sidy Sow
— Fourth-year doctoral student at the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies
Writing mentors offer support to help students succeed. If you put in the effort, the results will follow.
Sidy says he became a writing mentor to help undergraduate students develop their skills, but also to continue to perfect his own.
“In my view, there’s no magic formula for becoming a better writer. Improvements mostly depend on regular practice, discipline and the rigorous organization of your work. Writing is not an innate talent — it’s built up over time through practice, re-writing and reflection, and perseverance.”
Best words of advice?
"Write with clarity, write without fear, with a thesis, a structure, a purpose and integrity," Sidy says.
Meanwhile, Vannah Leblanc, a fourth-year psychology (BA) student, offers a surprising tip: “Have fun.”
“Academic life can feel overwhelming, and it’s very easy to become hyperfocused on details and lose track of the bigger picture. You’ve probably heard that taking breaks is helpful in maintaining mental clarity, but making learning fun goes beyond that.”
“When learning is interesting, not only does the workload become lighter — the quality of the work increases.”
Vannah Leblanc
— Fourth-year psychology (BA) student
Vannah suggests trying to write in a new café, with music on or with your favourite snacks as a reward.
“Brainstorm in a funny voice, create little pictures of the concepts or invent stories about the various elements you’re learning,” she says.
“Don’t take it too seriously. The brain retains information better when it’s able to manipulate and play around with it. The process becomes more dynamic and personal.”
And Ghida says, “One thing that helped me improve as a writer is acknowledging that writing is a multi-step process. Don’t underestimate the value of outlining your ideas before starting to write entire paragraphs. The good news is that there are competent people and resources available to help you.”
Book an appointment with a writing mentor
You don’t have to be struggling academically to benefit from the advice of writing mentors. It always pays to break bad habits, refresh what you learned in high school, discover new methods, save time and continuously improve your writing skills.
You can book an appointment with a writing mentor to learn how to:
- Develop a thesis
- Draft an outline and organize your ideas
- Structure paragraphs
- Cite your sources properly
Best writing tips
In addition to booking an appointment, you can consult AWHC online resources for tips on the writing process, tips on paper structure and Academic Writing Help Centre FAQs, which answer some of the most common questions addressed by writing mentors.
You can also use this quick checklist:
- Before you brainstorm, outline or research, take five to ten minutes to fully understand the assignment.
- Don’t be afraid to dump your ideas on the page. Many students get stuck because they try to write perfect sentences first. Start with a low-pressure brainstorm. Messy is fine to begin with. Try bullet lists, highlighted words, mind maps and sticky notes.
- Build a specific, argumentative and explanatory thesis (main idea to prove) that guides your whole paper.
- Draft an outline. Narrow your focus. Think of the introduction as 10%, the body 80% and conclusion 10%. Organize and order your main points.
- Understand the power of paragraphs. Think of them as building blocks. Paragraphs should have a smooth transition from the previous paragraph, a main point, supporting ideas (explanations, clarifications, reasoning) and, if necessary, evidence (quotes, facts or examples). Master this and the flow will follow.
- Know how to use citations and references. Be sure to cite every borrowed idea. Use the same system throughout your paper. If you’ve ever lost marks for formatting, missing citations or inconsistent references, a writing mentor can help you fix that.