The Meaning of Revision

"Writers go back to drafts not because the drafts are bad and need fixing, but to see what else is possible." Katie Wood Ray writes this insightful tidbit in Wondrous Words.

One of my big challenges in teaching writing has been in taking students through the writing process. Many students are happy to brainstorm for topics, do practice activities, and write a draft. What I get the most complaints about is the revising and editing portion of the process. I find many don't know even where to begin. Or all they know to do is look for misspelled words and improper punctuation to be fixed.  I love this quote as a starting point.

Ray goes on to say that in order to be able to see what else is possible, writers have to see what's not there yet. And that involves envisioning. We must prompt students to ask themselves about things they have seen and read in their lives that might lead to possibilities for the piece they are writing. What story does their piece remind them of? And what does that story do that their piece doesn't? Studying the craft of writing makes better writers.

Revision is more about reflection and possibilities than improvement or correction.

Get Creative!

Towards the end of the school year, I was substituting in a great third grade classroom. We finished all the lesson plans with about 30 minutes left in the school day. I wanted to fill the time with something productive, so I went to my go-to lesson... writing. Not having any materials prepared, I handed out notebook paper. The students peppered me with questions of what we were doing. I simply told them "writing," and was met with a chorus of moans. Then I wrote a crazy prompt on the board. I used something like, "Tell about the day you walked into your classroom and found out your substitute teacher was a gorilla." I got questions about how long it needed to be, would it be a grade, etc. I told them the only rules were to write, be creative, and have fun. I was surprised with what happened next. They all started writing and laughing, wanting to share what they had written. I let as many as possible share with the class and was entertained by their creative stories.

I substituted in the same classroom again not long after that. When I walked into the classroom, many of students asked if "we could do more of those fun writing games." I realized with time crunches and testing parameters, students don't get much of a chance to go crazy with their imaginations... and they LOVE that! If teachers can get students excited about writing in any way, maybe great test results will come easier.

So, if you have time to fill or want to build eager students... JUST WRITE!

What's in a Signature?

My daughter just finished a week of Young Writers' Camp at Gemini Ink, a nonprofit, independent literary center in San Antonio, Texas. It was our first dealings with this organization, and I have to say I was very impressed. My daughter loved the lessons and time spent writing and can't wait for her public reading on Sunday. Of course, I was picking her brain each afternoon after camp to see what juicy gems I could carry into a classroom. An exercise in character development was one of my favorites.

The instructor wrote a signature on the board and the students had to develop a character based on that. They analyzed the name itself, the shape and structure of the signature, and all the other little nuances. From that, they painted a description of a character in both words and pictures. It was such a simple exercise, but allowed so much creativity and discussion. I will definitely be trying this in a classroom in the near future.

Just Write

It has taken me quite a while to get this blog going. I was worried about the perfect concept, the perfect look, the perfect set-up. Would I have followers? Am I doing it correctly? And the whole thing stopped me dead in my tracks. But then I got to thinking... I need to follow my own advice and JUST WRITE. It is my basic philosophy for doing writing and teaching writing. When you don't know what to do, JUST WRITE. The rest can follow. You can delete it and start all over if need be. You can teach your students mechanics, voice, focus, etc. in time. But it all has to start with writing. So, this blog is intended to get everyone writing. I will provide ideas for composing, teaching, and editing writing. And I'm sure that focus will shift over time. But in the meantime, JUST WRITE!