Setting Up Your Account
To schedule an individual writing appointment, you will need to set up an account through our online scheduler, WCOnline. To create an account:
- Click on the “Make an Appointment” button
- Use your UW-Madison NetID to create an account
Once your account is created, you will be linked to the online scheduler. If you have trouble registering, please call the Writing Center at (608) 263-1992.
What Kind of Writing Appointment Do You Need?
We help undergraduate and graduate writers at any stage of the writing process—from choosing a topic to drafting and revising—for any writing project. Each year, more than six thousand students from across the university—from first-year through doctoral students—benefit from talking and working with a Writing Center instructor. Learn more about the types of appointments we offer and find out which appointment is right for you.
Learn more about the types of appointments we offer and find out which appointment is right for you. Click for a downloadable PDF showing our services for students.
- In-Person Appointments at our Main Center
- In-Person Appointments at our Satellite Locations
- Virtual Meetings
- Written Feedback
Our main center is located at 6171 Helen C. White Hall (600 North Park Street). Our forty-minute appointments often book up several days in advance, so please plan ahead. We release same-day appointments at our satellite locations each day, so please check back for openings, or join our waitlist.
In-Person Appointments are recommended if…
- You want to meet with a Writing Center instructor in-person.
- You want to collaborate and talk with a Writing Center instructor about your writing.
- You want ideas on how to improve your writing process.
- You want guidance about an ongoing or longer project.
Directions: Helen C. White Hall is across the street from the Memorial Union and Science Hall, on Lake Mendota.
- Enter the building to the left of College Library’s entrance.
- The Writing Center cannot be accessed from within College Library.
- Take the elevator up to the sixth floor.
- At the sixth floor, turn right, and then turn right down the corridor.
- The Writing Center is located in room 6171, which is the first door on the left.
Sign up for a forty-minute appointment at one of the Writing Center’s satellite locations by logging into WCOnline using the button above. Appointments may be available on a drop-in basis as well.
Meeting at a satellite location is recommended if…
- You want to meet with a Writing Center instructor in-person.
- The location and time are both convenient for you.
- You’re an undergraduate student, and/or you’re working on a shorter-term assignment rather than a thesis or dissertation.
Our Writing Center satellite locations operate during fall and spring semesters, which means that satellite appointments will return on Sunday, September 21, 2025. We are grateful to our partners at the following locations:
Virtual Meetings offer real-time, face-to-face, forty-minute appointments in WCOnline, our online appointment system. Virtual Meetings allow us to collaborate with you through:
- a whiteboard where you and your instructor can view and comment on your writing
- conversation through video/audio
- a chat area for synchronous, written conversation
The whiteboard and chat area remain available to you after the appointment.
Virtual Meetings are recommended if…
- You’ve enjoyed meeting in-person with Writing Center instructors.
- You are unable to attend an In-Person Meeting.
- You have a reliable internet connection.
Written Feedback appointments allow you to receive written comments and suggestions from a Writing Center instructor. After uploading your draft into WCOnline, along with information about your assignment or writing project, you will receive written feedback the next business day following your appointment. This feedback will remain available to you after your appointment.
Written Feedback appointments are recommended if…
- You have a draft that you’d like to receive feedback and writing lessons on asynchronously
- You live in a different time zone that makes scheduling a Virtual Meeting difficult or impossible.
- Your internet connection is unreliable.
Learn more about Written Feedback.
We work with writers on everything from thesis statements and organization to grammar and citation methods. We will also be glad to help you learn to edit and proofread your own writing. If you have questions, check out more about what we can do at the Writing Center or read through the questions and answers below. Still have questions? Email us!