Yes, I am aware that I could research my grammar or memorize every rule or fact on the earth, but how is this practical? I realize the impossibility of such a task—but as graspable tasks are concerned, I need to learn to not freeze up when a question is directed at me. I can accept that maybe I’ll have to learn along with them, and it won’t be the end of the world.
I think that I feel this way because I do not want to give anything less than my absolute best when helping others. To fall short would question my stance as a writing tutor. Thankfully, Steve Sherwood’s piece sheds light in the darkness: “We feel anguish when we fail to help students because we invest ourselves in and care deeply about our work. If the opposite were true, if we did not care and did not strive for excellence, we would find neither safety nor satisfaction, because surrendering to our sense of inadequacy would mean failing to realize our potential and failing to help writers realize theirs” (Sherwood, 52).
I accept my fear of failing, and acknowledge that it will happen. However, I hope that these circumstances will be small, and that the positivity of my consultations will outshine my gaps in knowledge.
It is definitely a scary experience to have grammar or sentence level questions directed towards you. I also have this same fear, as my knowledge is limited and I often ask the same questions as the writer. I think that as a consultant if we do not know the answer we should definitely try our best to find it. Resolving to do this definitely outshines any pause or 'freezing' you experience!
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ReplyDeleteThis is a good excuse to refer a writer to Writer's Web. I wonder whether most students expect the consultant to be well versed in grammar, and if they are, well, then that's when consultants would likely feel the fear. But there's no great harm in telling the writer "I don't know," and in fact it might help them take our comments with a grain of salt.
ReplyDeleteI think by accepting your fear of failure and working past it definitely attests to your dedication as a writing consultant. Your determination to move past failure will hopefully rub off on the student you are consulting.
ReplyDeleteDo more than refer them to the resource, Chris: use it for your own writing, help us make corrections and additions, and make it your best friend.
ReplyDeleteI admit to using it in my own writing. We, luckily, have a generation of students who do expect the Internet to answer many questions. For that reason, a Consultant who knows how to employ the resources looked not less, but more professional.
Sometimes I wonder how I am even qualified to be a Writing Consultant because I know I am not an expert in grammar or some kind of perfect-paper-writer. I also worry about what impression a student will get when I do not know the answer.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is though, none of us can know everything. I see no harm in looking up the answers to these questions, and if you print a page out for the student they might even find it more helpful because they will be able to readily refer back to it when they are editing their paper later and have forgotten what you told them during the appointment.
Carly is correct--just be sure you know Writer's Web well enough to not fumble while looking.
ReplyDeleteI don't think writers expect us to be perfect grammarians.