Author: Lauren M Yarnish

Nearing the End of the Semester!

Hi, writers!

We’re getting SO close to the end of our Spring 2026 semester (those sunny, summer days are right around the corner). With so many projects, essays, and assignments to do, the Writing Center is an excellent resource to help mitigate your stress and amp up your work. We are open all week, Monday-Thursday from 12-8 pm and Friday from 12-4 pm. Hope to see you around!

~ Lauren

 

The Tutors’ Thinking

Are movies EVER better than the books? Let’s see what our tutors think…

33% of our tutors who responded say…YES!

33% of our tutors say…sometimes?

And only 33% of our tutors say…NO!

Let’s hear their arguments…

  • Pierce was one of our sometimes people; it all depends on whether you read the book first (which makes the movie worse) or if you watch the movie first (which makes the book worse).
  • Mandi is one of our NO believers…she gave credit to some being better but most of the time, they’re not.
  • Rhia says YES, and she even acknowledged that English majors keep that a secret from you all!
  • Ari says it all depends…especially when the original book has the right idea with ZERO execution.
  • Cam says MOST of the time they’re not…but they make some exceptions…what are those exceptions, Cam?
  • Finally, Lauren confidently says yes, and she believes the people who say no are lying to themselves.

Our tutors are torn, but do you believe movies are better than the books? Which ones are?

~ Lauren

The Tutors’ Thinking

If our Writing Center tutors could be any book character…who would they be?

Pierce says he would probably be Winnie the Pooh. It’s unclear whether he said this because Pooh gets to live a life as a snuggly, laid-back bear, or if it’s because Pierce is just so lovable, too.

Mandi says she would be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She would look beautiful in Belle’s big yellow dress! Mandi is also a bookworm who’s sweet and caring, just like Belle, so she’s basically Belle already.

Rhia, one of our student managers, would be Belly Conklin from The Summer I Turned Pretty. Belly is a very romantic dreamer. This may be Rhia, or maybe she’s just so enthralled by the Fisher brothers’ love triangle! A page turner, for sure.

Ari says they would be Olive Smith from The Love Hypothesis because they’re just such a hopeless romantic!

Cam says they would be Winnie the Pooh or Christopher Robin, but since Pierce already claimed Winnie, Cam could be his human companion in the story of Winnie the Pooh! Besties!

Finally, Lauren says she would be Katniss Everdeen (a.k.a me). I would be Katniss because of my fierce bravery…except I’m not fiercely brave, I just wish I could be as awesome as Katniss is.

If you could be any book character, who would you be? Why?

~ Lauren

 

Becoming a More Confident Writer

Doubting your ideas, capabilities, and strengths is very normal, whether you’re a professional or academic writer. However, where this becomes a problem is when it hinders your motivation and ability to complete your work. I would like to share some insights about tips and tricks that work for me to push past the barriers that I often create for myself 🙂

  1. View the feedback you get, whether from peers or professors, as a chance to grow not as a failure – as someone who tutors, when I give anyone who comes into the Writing Center feedback about the strengths or growth areas of their work, my feedback ALWAYS comes from a place of, “I want to help this person in any way I can,” not a place of, “I want to criticize their work.” It’s so easy to think that feedback or criticism undermines the work you thought was good, but writing is objective sometimes, so people see things differently than you. Take feedback with a grain of salt, and try your best to see it as an opportunity to get better, not an opportunity to tear yourself down.
  2. Embrace that your ideas are unique to you – embrace your creativity and experiences. Don’t undermine the interest of your topic either, especially if it’s personal. I know that as someone who is going to be a future teacher, I can’t wait to see what all of my students will bring to the table when they write. And as an academic writer myself, I find it really easy to feel like my ideas are silly or not interesting enough. But if I feel confident with it, I am not going to worry about judgment, especially from peers, because it matters to ME.
  3. Focus on your strengths as a writer, and use that as a tool to succeed – if your strength is grammar, voice, structure, prewriting, revising, researching, brainstorming, etc., then CAPITALIZE on them while you’re writing. View every writing opportunity as a way to show off what you are great at doing. And along the way, when you come across criticism or necessary areas of growth, then know that that just means you can now grow in those areas too and be a master of that domain too!

My biggest takeaway, I hope you all get from this, is that your trust in your own abilities matters more than anything. If you ever feel doubtful, come on over to the Writing Center for some positive and constructive feedback on any writing you worked on!

~ Lauren

Spring Break 2026

Hi writers!

We’re gearing up to head into Spring Break. Sadly, the Writing Center is not open over Spring Break, but come see us before we close for break to get all those midterm papers checked on!

Our hours for the remainder of the week are:

  • Thursday: 12-8pm
  • Friday: 12-4pm

The Writing Center wishes you a relaxing Spring Break 🙂

~ Lauren

Writing a Research Paper – Creating Citations

Now it’s time to cite your sources (so dreadful). BUT, when you know what information you’re looking for to cite and in what order, it really doesn’t have to be as terrible as it seems. Here is the Writing Center’s guide to MLA and APA citations 🙂

MLA in-text citations:

(Author’s name, page number)

(Author’s name) *IF YOU SAID THE PAGE NUMBER IN THE QUOTE.

(Page number) *IF YOU SAID THE AUTHOR IN THE QUOTE.

APA in-text citations:

(Author’s name, date)

(Author’s name) *IF YOU SAID THE DATE IN THE QUOTE.

(Date) *IF YOU SAID THE AUTHOR IN THE QUOTE.

MLA works cited page:

Books:

Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication, Publisher, Publication Date.

Periodicals: 

Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, Volume, Issue, Year, pages.

Websites:

Author(s). “Title of Webpage.” Title of Website, Publisher, Publication Date, URL or DOI.

APA works cited page:

Books: 

Last Name, Initial. (Publication Date). Title of book. Publisher.

Periodicals:

Last Name, Initial. (Publication Date). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), pages.

Websites:

Last Name, Initials. (Year, Month Date) Title of webpage. Site name. URL

~

Also, I use EasyBib as a great citation source generator. It’s just very important, because EasyBib isn’t always 100% accurate, that you can locate all the necessary information you need in your citation.

Happy citing!!!

~ Lauren

https://www.easybib.com/ 

 

 

 

Writing a Research Paper – Making a Thesis Statement

A thesis should be a very well put-together, effective, and demonstrative line in your research paper. It needs special attention because of how much it can set the tone for your work. However, when was the last time you were taught how to write a solid thesis? Have you spent any time in college working on how to write a collegiate-acceptable thesis?

No?

So, how about I offer up some guidance!

Your thesis should focus on your research, so ask yourself this:

  • What are you researching?
  • Why did you research it?
    • Are you trying to persuade your audience with an opinion backed-up with research? Are you trying to inform your audience about what you know that they don’t?

After you decide your answer to those questions, begin to generate some solid points to base your thesis around, and consider these questions:

  • Generally, what is your research essay going to cover?
  • What is the goal of your paper?

After you decide your answers for THOSE questions, try to toy around with what your thesis could be. It helps if you plan out a few ideas, almost as if you’re working with a rough draft, and then tweak all your ideas to make one awesome one. I’ll map this out using an example of me following my process above:

  1. I am writing a research paper about the impact of technology on students in the classroom.
  2. My research focuses on the facts surrounding the negative effects of technology on students, and I am also taking a look at sources that back up the adverse impacts of those negative effects on students and their quality of learning.
  3. I am researching this to inform my audience about how dangerous too much technology can be to young minds who are trying to learn new things and how teachers can combat it.
  4. My research essay is going to cover the statistics surrounding technology use with children, how it shows up in the classroom negatively, and how teachers can help students learn around the age of constant technology use.
  5. The goal of my paper is for my audience to become aware of how much technology can impact student learning, and I want them to become familiar with ways that teachers can help their students.
  6. Here are some thesis ideas:
    1. Children spend an excessive amount of time using technology, and because of this, they are experiencing adverse impacts on their quality of education.
    2. Teachers’ lack of resources to help students’ education is alarming, and there is research necessary to support the negative impacts that technology is having on students in this day and age.
    3. Attention needs to be spent on how to cure the age of addiction to technology in students, young and old, and this can be done with researched practices to support educators responsible for teaching this generation of students.

Some of my ideas take on a more persuasive approach to my paper. Since I want to inform my audience, I want to stay away from thesis #2. It has its strengths, but I use opinionated language like “alarming” that insinuates I am making a claim that I want my audience to support. Of my other theses, I like how straightforward thesis #1 is, but I also don’t hear my voice in my writing. I like how I can hear my passion in thesis #3, while also sticking to facts that I want to inform my audience on. So in this example, I would choose thesis #3.

Overall, writing a thesis is challenging because it’s like a recipe of ideas that need to be just right to articulate your paper perfectly in one sentence. If you’re someone who struggles with writing a thesis or can’t find the right words to use, try mapping your process out and being more intentional about where your ideas for your thesis are coming from.

AND, the Writing Center is always a great resource to get some advice or draft a thesis statement!

~ Lauren

 

Writing a Research Paper – Gathering Research

Researching might be the WORST part of a research paper. It’s a tedious process, professors can be strict about which research sources you’re allowed to use, and sometimes it can be difficult to read a bunch of resources just to HOPE that if you keep reading, it will work perfectly for your essay.

I have attached below several recommended search engines to help you find scholarly and peer-reviewed articles.

Now once you locate a search engine that works for you in order to find a few great resources, understanding how to determine their credibility is an important step to finding resources. Evaluate these features of the resource you’re about to use quickly before you rely on it too much for your research:

  1. Check the date – was it published within the last 5 years? *Your professor may expect it to be even more up to date, or may not specify currency.
  2. How relevant is it to your topic? *This is subjective, and if it makes sense for your research, then use it!
  3. Who is the author? What are their credentials? *Just a simple Google search about who the author(s) is/are or what work they’ve done can tell you whether your audience will take your research seriously if you use the information they published.
  4. Is the source publishing biased information? *This may be political or simply fact-based, but look into the entity that published the article to understand what their mission, values, and opinions are and if this impacts their credibility (as they may be sharing information that supports only their agendas).

As painstaking as doing research can be, it IS the essence of your research essay. Sometimes, navigating search engines and locating those sources is the most overwhelming part. Utilizing some of the sources I recommend for searching can make it easier to locate the scholarly and peer-reviewed articles you need. Once you’ve found a few, then do a little source credibility evaluation to see if it should be used for your research. Of course, some of it is subjective to your own judgement as well as your professor’s guidelines. However, if you’re feeling a little stuck, just reference that list!

Good luck with your researching endeavors, and please come see us in the Writing Center at ANY point in your research essay writing process, because we can help you in any way, shape, or form 🙂

~ Lauren

Welcome Back – Spring 2026

Hi everyone!

I hope that the start of the semester is going well for everyone, and you’re all adjusting to your new schedules and class responsibilities. Just a heads up on behalf of the Writing Center, our hours are the same as last semester:

  • Monday-Thursday: 12pm-8pm
  • Friday: 12pm-4pm

You can schedule with us through Starfish or just walk in! We hope to see you sometime this semester!

~ Lauren

Tips and Tricks for Surviving Finals

Finals week is accompanied by many deadlines for your essays and projects, on top of any exams you might have to complete. Here are some tips to stay on top of everything and manage your stress 🙂

  • Remember where we’re at in the semester – you’re so close to being done with the semester! It’s taken a lot of hard work to get here, and that hard work doesn’t stop during this week. However, you’ve reached the last stretch, so give it your all and let that power motivate you!
  • Prioritize sleep at night (and maybe even the occasional nap) – keep your mind sharp by sleeping enough at night, and reward your hard work with a nice afternoon nap if you need! Sleep will keep you on task and feeling more refreshed if you focus on getting enough of it.
  • Take breaks – don’t force yourself to study, write, or work for hours on end. You’ll only end up exhausting yourself. Set aside a time limit to spend working/studying (1-2 hours), and then go take a break and grab Starbies before you get back to it!
  • Be mindful about the time you’re not spending studying – if you’re choosing to give your brain a break from studying, find something aside from doom scrolling to do. Turn on your favorite Christmas movie, take a shower, go to the gym, meet with friends at the dining hall, or find other miscellaneous things to do to fill your time (return your textbooks, do some Christmas shopping, or just find something to do to be productive!)
  • Create a to-do list – as high maintenance or silly as it sounds, to-do lists can make you feel SO much relief when you’re overwhelmed with the amount of work you have. It can make you feel like you CAN really manage your work and study load. You don’t need a fancy planner either; just log it in some scrap notebook paper!

Just a friendly reminder that, as much as finals week can feel like your final week, it’s one step closer to graduation; all of your blood, sweat, and tears will be rewarded by a winter break, so work hard now and soak it up later!

Sending the Millersville community good luck with their final week of the semester!

~ Lauren