When students do not write well in stressful situations, traditional instruction such as grammar exercises, sentence combining, and imitation of sentences will not be especially useful. Students are not often aware of their linguistic insecurity or of how insecurity affects language usage. The writing lab, however, creates an ideal setting for helping students regain their confidence in writing. For a writing lab to be effective, both tutors and students must realize that there is no one right answer, right sentence, or right rhetorical development for students to reach. Students also need to know the tutors well enough for the tutors to become authentic audiences for student writing. The opportunity for peer interaction offered by the lab is especially valuable, since peer tutoring is often less inhibiting than working with professors who might be insensitive to student problems. Lab activities such as timed writing or revising are effective in overcoming writing blocks because tutors are there to help with oral prewriting exercises. Tutors also have the chance to observe students write. A common problem among insecure students called blurred patterns, for example, often occurs when students stop writing within a phrase or clause to consider how they are sounding. When students stop writing because they are anxious, tutors can have them verbalize their doubts and remedy them as they occur. (HOD)