Where Do Writers Get Their Ideas?

During this past week, I have been focusing on this particular question, trying to tease out the connection to the world the writer inhabits. it is this world that provides the ideas a writer can mine. It is the rich vein the writer must tap to create texts.

Our youngest writers frequently undervalue their own lives and the small and large moments that punctuate those lives, as a source for writing. They often cling to second hand experiences derived from watching television and dvd's, playing video and computer games as a narrow source of potential writing ideas. They remain unaware that this means their writing is frequently a rehashing of somebody else's ideas. We are all influenced by such experiences, but it would be sad if it was used to the exclusion of all those rich experiences that take place beyond the small screen. Kids miss out if this is all that inspires their thinking.

 So how do we assist our students to make stronger connections to their own experiences? Afterall, we write best about those things we know the most about.

Well, this week I spent time in classrooms modelling how I gain ideas for writing from a wide source including artefacts, mementoes, keepsakes, treasures, junk -you name it. I brought with me a collection of such items in a bag. Students were invited to select an item from the bag and then I told them the story connected to that particular keepsake. I had a diverse range of items including an old camera, an antique spice container, a medal, a Turkish coin, a photograph, and a ticket from the Sydney Olympic games. I was able to provide rich background details about each of the items. I told them how I had already used some of these items as writing ideas. I challenged them to go home and seek out their own treasures as a potential writing source. Ideas can be found in 'things.'

I challenged them to utilize their senses to identify potential writing ideas. Small moments in their lives have enormous potential for writing, if they are tuned in. -if they have their personal radar working- if they observe and eavesdrop! Things we know writers need to do. A writer without ideas is a non event!

I shared some of the books from my personal library, pointing out the influence these authors have had on my writing style. I wanted them to understand that writers must be readers.

I told them how important it is for writers to have rich conversations around writing, for ideas also reside in talk and discussion.

I shared a collection of my writer's notebooks, encouraging each group of students to be researchers and seek out the range of influences on my collection of entries. They made lists of the various things they noticed, and then shared their findings with their fellow writers, adding extra ideas shared in their discussions. The room buzzed with energy as they told me of their intentions going forward from this point. They now had a broader vision of where they might harvest and gather potential writing ideas.

Starting tomorrow, I am taking part in a month long writing challenge, trying to capture slices of life throughout the month of March. My challenge is to post an entry every single day. Join me as I live my life and attempt to capture those slices. Maybe you and your students might also be inspired to take up a similiar challenge...

The Slice of Life Writing Challange for March

I am participating in this year’s Slice of Life Writing Challenge set up and run by two amazing educators –Two Writing Teachers, Stacey Shubitz and Ruth Ayres, as I did last year. Participants have to create a slice of life writing piece each day for the month of March. The aim is to write and share a story about my day, for the entire month. Last year I met the challenge, - Difficult though it was, given time constraints of work, life and the time differential between Australia and America. But I have to say, it was a buzz!


I am hoping that some of you might take this opportunity to extend your own writing by taking up this challenge too. Your writing credibility with your students would rise quite markedly if you decide to take part. It might seem like a big commitment, but that’s why it’s a challenge.

In order to make things more interesting, a group of writers and publishers have donated items as giveaways for participants (see details by going to http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/todaysolscprizes/). If you miss a day, DO NOT DESPAIR... there will be a special something for everyone who participates in the Challenge.


Hence, every day you write a Slice of Life Story, please head over to the
blog’s main page and post the link to your post by submitting a comment on that day’s post prior to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time US A. (They’ll be keeping track of the people who submit comments so they can expedite the giveaway process in early April.)


Here’s where you can grab the code for the Slice of Life Story Challenge Buttons, which Ruth created. They would be honoured if you posted one of them on your site, alongside your story, each day. This assumes that you have site of course.

http://twowritingteachers.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/sols2.jpg


If you need more information, then point your browser to http://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/solsc-inspiration, which is where you’ll find some easy tips for making the Slice of Life Story Challenge come alive in your classroom.


Should you have any questions about how the Challenge works, then drop an e-mail to Stacey stacey@twowritingteachers.com and Ruth is ruth@twowritingteachers.com.


They hope to see you online throughout the month of March as part of the
Slicer” Community! - and so do I

Making Ending Punctuation Work

By the time students reach Grade three they have been exposed to, continually reminded and alerted to the importance of using ending punctuation at the conclusion of sentences. However, if we look at the writing samples they produce early in the school year, we notice how intermittently they appear in their work. Such punctuation often appears by chance rather than conscious effort.


If we want developing writers to develop consistency in the use of ending punctuation we need to teach them to value its use in their writing. Wouldn’t it great to have young writers using this type of punctuation with thoughtful intent?

How do we achieve this?


Start by initiating a close study of how such ending punctuation can be used to make writing more interesting for the reader.  The message needs to be-  This particular punctuation actually helps to convey the writer’s voice!  Remind them to link their reading of their writing to an emotion - anger, happiness, frustration etc. The message and the ending punctuation form a partnership to assist the reader to select the most appropriate voice.


As Katy Wood Ray reminds us, ‘This is not a study of marks; it’s a study of the interesting decisions writers make about punctuation as they craft their texts.’


The starting point is always the literature in your classroom. That's where we find living, breathing punctuation residing -  not some decontextualized grammar exercise totally divorced from the real act of writing. Allow your student to be text detectives!

For younger writers focus this close study of punctuation around picture story books where lots of interesting punctuation decisions have been enacted by the writers. Older writers could look at extracts from favourite novels, memoirs, feature and news articles. Start by gathering a collection of suitable texts where the writers have used punctuation in interesting ways to craft the text.


Set the students the task (maybe with a partner or in a small group) to closely examine the texts and identify the punctuation used. They could use sticky notes to mark their observations.  Share their discoveries noting where punctuation was being used. Ask them to relate why it was used in that particular way. As a follow up,  have them record the punctuation extract (in their writer’s notebook) and add their own comments about the interesting things they have noticed.


An alternative would be to record examples of the ending punctuation on sentence strips and then classify and display the various collected text examples for further discussion and observation.


In subsequent shared reading lessons use of punctuation could be explored and further reinforced. Students should be assisted to envision using these same punctuation marks in their own writing


The objective of such a study is to deepen students’ understanding and appreciation of such ending punctuation and its important role in the success of their writing. After lots of exploring, talking and envisioning, it is time to chart what they have learned about the potential of these differing punctuation marks.


As students return to their independent writing remind them to be intentional about the punctuation decisions they make in their written work. When it’s time for conferencing and share time ask students to explain or justify their punctuation.


To demonstrate their learning students could choose a topic and a genre for a writing piece and then craft the piece demonstrating their punctuation decisions and talk about the decisions they made.  I am confident that such a close study of punctuation will significantly increase the appreciation and application of these important craft elements in the writing students produce.