Writing support

Do you need help writing your paper? Are you struggling with how to put things into your own words? Are you confused between paraphrasing and quoting information you find from other sources? Is APA-style new to you and you are not sure if you are doing it right?

We provide one-to-one supports with academic writing.

We can help!

• Organize your thoughts and sort out your assignment details
• Extra help with editing and grammar
• How to start or end your paper (thesis statement? hook? concluding paragraph?)
• How to gather your sources and where to find them
• Assistance on proper citing and referencing
• Support with paraphrasing and putting things in your own words
• Tools to make the writing process easier
• Tips to make your discussion posts & assignments look more polished and professional 
• Assistance polishing final drafts

What we cannot do

Writing services is not a rewrite or reference addition service – we do not do all the work for you. While we strive to give you all the tools and support you need to become a better writer and to be successful in your academic work, we do not rewrite your paper, redo (or create) reference lists, or fix every grammar and spelling mistake that you make.

Our goal is for you to develop the capacity to become proficient in areas of writing that you are struggling with so you can become a strong, independent writer in the future.

Additional resources

If you need additional writing support, you can also access these great resources available to all CMTN students:

WriteAway

WriteAway is British Columbia's collaborative online writing tutoring service. Learners at Coast Mountain College can receive feedback and strategies to improve their writing from qualified tutors.

Tutors from the participating institutions provide feedback on your draft writing assignments. When the service is open for the semester, you can send in a paper for feedback at any time of the day, any day of the week.

WriteAway tutors will not edit your paper (i.e. fix grammar issues). Tutors act as 'informed readers' who will point out areas you should consider revising. Tutors will embed their comments in the body of your paper, but they will not correct or change your words. It is up to you to revise your paper after receiving the tutor's comments. Each draft document can be submitted up to three times for review by a tutor.

Requests for online tutoring:

• May be submitted 7 days a week, 24 hours a day
• Will be responded to within 48 hours (although periods of high usage and low tutor staffing may result in longer turnaround times)
• Will be responded to in the order of submission 

For more information, connect with a WriteAway tutor!

Ask a Librarian

Need help with your research or library services? Connect with a librarian through our online AskAway Live Chat.

AskAway has a chat box function where a librarian is available to answer any questions you may have about referencing and finding sources, such as how to properly reference an obscure source or how to reference material with missing information.

The AskAway chat box is open:

If you have a question for a librarian when the chat box is not available, you can also submit a help request or contact the service directly with your question and the response to your question will be emailed to you as soon as possible.

Visit CMTN's Library website to access the chat and for many more research tools, resources and services.

Style Guides

If you need assistance with specific reference questions or style (including sample papers written in that style), you can also check out the following links:

• APA Style Guide
• Chicago Style Citation Quick Guide
• MLA Style Guide (Modern Language Association)

Plagiarism

Never worry about plagiarism again! Follow our plagiarism checklist while you work on your assignments and rest easy that you’ve taken the right steps to attribute your sources of information. 

• Plagiarism Checklist [PDF]