“I’m Stuck…”
“I don’t know where to start…”
“It doesn’t sound right…”
“I’m bad at writing…”
If you’ve ever heard any of those phrases — or any of the million phrases like these — you might understand the plight of teaching writing.
Writing is hard, and students realize how hard it is.
Writing is also a mindset. For whatever reason, students walk into my class having this idea that writing has to be perfect or they aren’t good at it or they don’t know why it doesn’t sound right or they don’t know where to begin.
As an English teacher, this is a problem I run into on a daily basis.
Here’s how I have addressed this too-prevalent problem:
Start with what you know.
From the writing goddess herself — Natalie Goldberg: “It’s your life, begin from it.”
“I remember…”
Another fantastic writing prompt from Natalie Goldberg.
This works in amazing amount of contexts. If students don’t where to start, or “I don’t know what I know…,” they will be able to fill this sentence starter in.
When they say they can’t start, I write this on their paper and tell them to fill it in.
I ask them to fill it in as many times as it takes.
“Inspiration comes from action.”
It’s in quotations. I don’t remember where I heard that, but I know I didn’t think of it.
Students wait for a spark instead of trying to create it themselves.
Get them to write SOMETHING, and then the rest will come. It doesn’t have to be relevant write from the start.
When they create that spark, it’s hard to get them to stop. Reassure them of that.
"Free your mind, and the rest will follow."
Listen to this song, first: "Free Your Mind".
This strategy works best when students are doing the hard, meaningful, and pressure-filled writing: topic sentences, titles, conclusions, theses.
These pieces of writing are mind-numbing for students. They are full of pressure and students don't know how to write them.
Tell them to free their mind. Write everything they are thinking onto the page--good or not, appropriate or not, relevant or not, everything goes on the page.
Create a list of sentences they have to complete with one word.
Have them write down every terrible title they can think of.
It's a practice that releases the bad ideas into the air. It allows for things to follow that are better.
So many times I see kids struggle with getting the right words because they are letting the wrong words take over.
Put the wrong words down.
Get them out of your head.
Free your mind, and the rest will follow.
Type or write for them.
Ask a question. Lots of times, students will know what to say, but they will not how to put it into writing--as if speaking and writing are, initially, different. (Here's an ancient secret, if you can speak, you can write.)
As they answer the question to you, or as they orate their terrible ideas from above as they free their minds, or as they remember things, or as they are trying to write, write everything down they say--word for word.
When they are done, show them the writing they did.
Writing, at it's core, is about ideas--not the physical act of writing. Stress that fact.
Once they see they have the ideas, that's the spark they need.
Speaking is easy. For some reason, students think writing is much harder than that.
It doesn't have to be; show them that.
Maybe some of these things will help.
Maybe they won't.
Writing, though, and the process of writing, is personal.
If you feel safe when writing--if your students feel safe when writing--these things will come easier.
They won't feel stuck, and, if they do, you'll know how to help them.
