  So I started my first day at GPC, as a writing tutor. I helped one student revise her paper, which could not be more than 500 words. It was due in a few hours, and she had nearly 700 words. So we pruned her paper like a beautiful rose bush that needed to fit inside of a mailbox. Apparently, students would lose 5 points for every 25 words over or under the limit. Perhaps her professor's requirements were too rigid. Perhaps he wasn't aware that some things can be best explained in 765 words, or in 348 words. Who knows.
From the moment I started, I was warned to not make any corrections without discussing them with the student. It makes sense. You wouldn't want the student to just change the work and not internalize the corrections. It's hard, though. There's a fine line between guiding students and doing the work for them. You can show them their problems, but in the end, have they learned how to prevent those problems in the first place? How much can I be expected to do in the "20 minute" tutoring session? For many of these students, English is not their first language. And especially, grammar is not their first obsession. It isn't mine, either. But control over language is obviously and utterly important. My second problem with "tutoring" is not to give the student the ideas. I'll say, "You should consider revising this sentence.
It can say something like..." and then I hold back. If I say what I would write, will they just use that? So, I disclaim and disclaim. "Something like this..." "In your own words..." Unfortunately, I don't think we're teaching our kids to think, speak, or write in their own words. That's why essays and papers are so challenging for students. Their eyes look up at you, begging for the right words - your words.
As children and young adults start writing poetry and stories, they depend on cliches and familiar phrases - "Roses are red, violets are blue..." and "Once upon a time..." For many, these crutches are never removed. The bones are never tested, to see if they've set, and the muscles get weak. I've never been much of a pruner. I let my plants grow wild, instead. I had a basil plant that grew up to 3 feet high - which I thought was unusual and even emailed Guinness World Records about. Turns out basil plants normally grow to that size. Normal meaning when not pruned to death by their owners. When not confined to small kitchen windowsills and modest pots. I let my basil grow wild, and it was sweet while it lasted. 
