Writing is social. You may feel you have to be alone to write, and this may be physically true. Your writing will not be complete until it has reached, physically and intellectually, the reader or readers for whom it was intended. Writing is self-taught. You learn to write by doing it, not by listening to somebody tell you about it.
Writing is a process.
Writing grows and changes over time, but sometimes the earlier stages of writing are not incorporated into a course where the teacher and students must cover a certain amount of material. Seeing a consultant at several points while doing a paper means that the writer begins work early and gives ideas time to develop, rather than jamming the entire composing process into one marathon session the night before the due date. Writing is social. Peer consultants are ideal readers, because they can explain where they get lost, where they become bored or frustrated, what they want to hear more about. They can also check the assignment and make sure the draft meets all specifications.