GU's Writing Center: Coaching Craft in the Age of AI
The Gonzaga University Writing Center in Foley Library is the kind of space writers need more of: coaching over correction, process over polish. Whether you're stuck on a blank page or revising a final draft, students can book one-on-one sessions in person or online for any kind of writing.
Tutor Emmalee Beck puts it plainly: "We're more of a coach for writing rather than just an editor. We really work with the students… getting their ideas and fleshing those out." That coaching mindset is useful well beyond campus. It's how serious writers get better.
Coach, not editor
The Center supports everything from class essays to creative pieces and high-stakes applications. Beck has seen it all: personal statements, grad school packets, job materials, and more. The throughline is the same-draw out the writer's thinking, then shape it with clarity.
- What pros can borrow: treat feedback as a workout, not a fix. Ask for questions, not corrections. Protect your voice, then refine the structure.
Writing across disciplines-and beyond students
Director John Eliason emphasizes access: the Center primarily serves undergraduates but also works with graduate students and faculty. It's a writing-across-the-curriculum approach that meets writers where they are and what they're writing.
They partner with Career & Professional Development to align help on job materials, and with Instruction Librarians to strengthen research and information literacy-a foundation every professional writer relies on. See background on Writing Across the Curriculum and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy.
Beat writer's block with output-first drafting
Beck shares a simple rule from Eliason: if you owe five pages, write ten-then cut. Separate generation from judgment. Get words down fast, then carve to the point.
- Draft without filter for a fixed time box (e.g., 25 minutes). No backspace.
- Cut 30-50% on pass two. Merge, tighten, clarify claims and evidence.
- On pass three, read aloud. Fix rhythm, remove hedges, land the ending.
Where AI fits (and where it doesn't)
Eliason is clear: generative AI can be useful-if you use the right tool for the right task. But the act of composing clarifies thinking, and that's work no model can do for you.
- Use AI to: outline options, pressure-test structure, surface counterarguments, and produce checklists for revision.
- Don't offload: your discovery draft, core claims, or ethical judgments. That's your job. Keep an audit trail of prompts, outputs, and changes.
- For practical workflows, explore AI for Writers.
The value of human friction
"The writing process includes struggle," Beck says. "It's wrestling with ideas, changing your thesis five times-that's what makes the writing yours." A good session is a live conversation that sharpens intent and uncovers blind spots. That kind of feedback builds judgment, not dependency.
Why this still matters
Eliason ties it back to Gonzaga's Jesuit mission: educate the whole person. Efficiency isn't everything. Dialogue with real humans matters-on campus and in the field.
If you write for a living, the lesson travels well: draft more than you need, cut without mercy, use AI with intent, and schedule real conversations about your work. The process makes the product-and it makes the writer, too.
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