Frequently Asked Questions - About the WriteAway Service

WriteAway is a service in BC that gives students at participating institutions the opportunity to receive online writing assistance. Qualified tutors from each of the participating institutions staff the service and provide feedback on students' draft writing assignments.

WriteAway can only be used by registered students from participating public post-secondary institutions.

WriteAway tutors are able to review and offer feedback on almost all undergraduate, course-based writing assignments. At this time, group-written assignments, graduate-level writing, applications, resumes, and cover letters are outside the scope of what tutors are able to reply to, Students may submit their individual part of a group assignment.

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.

You will receive an email with your feedback attached. To send a second or third draft, reply to the email with your feedback.  

eQuestions are brief, quick-to-answer questions about writing and grammar. Students can submit an eQuestion by selecting the question option on the submission page. A tutor will try to respond within 24-48 hours.

If you are dissatisfied with the assistance you received through WriteAway, please send a message to the WriteAway Administrative Centre. Someone will follow up with you on your concern.

Unfortunately you are not able to contact the tutor directly to ask questions. Do your best to incorporate the feedback that you understand, and send a second draft to WriteAway clearly indicating the remaining questions that you have.

If you do not understand any of the tutor's comments, re-submit your paper and tell what you found unclear, and why it was unclear to you. If you didn't find the previous comments useful, explain why and what you were looking for that you didn't get.

If you are looking for additional resources to help you write your paper, you could also send an eQuestion. eQuestions are writing-related questions that tutors will answer.