Write What You Love - Blog Post #3

    Listen, I get it. Starting to write is hard. You stare at a blank page, at your own keyboard or pencil, or out the window. None of these things spark inspiration, and the blank space, instead of being a receptacle for ideas, feels like the perfect place for your head to smack into in an attempt to unstop the creative juices by force. 

Some days you are on fire when it comes to writing, though. Motivated with a passion by a genius idea (or a deadline), your fingers fly and can hardly keep up with the outpouring of information from your own mind. Your word count doubles in no time along with your confidence, your self-esteem, and your sheer relief at the seeming ease at which you complete your work. Oh, if writing could be like this all the time, how cathartic would that be?

Well, unfortunately, this is often a rare moment for most people. 

However, consistent acceptance of writer's block as part of the process can make this experience a more regular occurrence. How can we expect ourselves to be at our best at all times, especially without practice? There is a lot of pressure on students when it comes to putting their thoughts into writing, so they need ways to express their ideas in low-stakes environments before they start hammering out essays. Like Bomer says, “To have high standards in the end, most people must lower them in the beginning” (204). If an assignment begins to feel impossible to even start, that is a problem that needs to be addressed. A timed writing exercise or one in which the students write about themselves are accessible ways for them to explore their abilities with less pressure for their writing to be “good enough” and to make way for a growth mindset instead. Furthermore, I think promoting brainstorming or pursuing topics out of their comfort zone would allow them to de-emphasize the importance placed on early drafting. 

Something I wish I had learned about this process earlier is the simple importance of practice. Every skill in life needs practice. Duh! We should not put pressure on ourselves or others to be good at something they have only done when a teacher passes them a grading rubric. Using writing journals is one way I would like to do this. Journaling their thoughts, day to day life, or whatever inspired them could be something therapeutic for them as well as a means of developing their skill. I have found that writing can help me sort through my thoughts or emotions, and perhaps students might have that experience too. 

In addition to this, modelling the writing process is essential to their experience. When I read about this in Using the Workshop Approach in the High School English Classroom, I felt connected to the idea that teachers need to show that we are going through the steps to write as well. Like a coach, we practice with the students and struggle just as they do. Not only is this a means to relate to each other, but a method that demonstrates that writing is a process, a result of planning, and often imperfect. The planning aspect is particularly significant, since that is “one way of making sure they understand there will be a process” instead of a single instance of work (Bomer 203). 

With all these in mind, my final goal is to allow students to experience the aesthetic aspects of writing. I want them to find what they enjoy and try to replicate that style or dissect what makes it meaningful to them. For instance, including student work when we learn about poetry could inspire them to investigate the techniques used. Or perhaps we could discuss when grammar rules can be broken to portray a message the author wants to convey. I am loathe to have students leave my classroom thinking all English classes are about essays and dense literature. It is a living, breathing thing just like the students are. 

To my future classes, I issue this challenge: Find what you enjoy and write about it. You are probably not the only one who wants to see more. 

Bomer, Randy. Building Adolescent Literacy in Today’s English Classrooms. Heinemann, 2011.

Urbanski, Cynthia D. Using the Workshop Approach in the High School English Classroom: Modeling Effective Writing, Reading, and Thinking Strategies for Student Success. Skyhorse Publishing, 2015.