Get Ready to Write -Rehearsing Your Words


I understand rehearsal is critical to my writing. I embrace it. I know it assists me to clarify my ideas; find my direction.  Playing with words and ideas in the head is such an important part of the writing process. Think of it like a tumble drier with thoughts and ideas rolling around and around until they are ready to be taken out.

Writing ideas swirl round in my head. I live with them for days and more before they emerge on the page. I frequently wake up thinking about the possible shape of my writing for that day. I wake up thinking about my writing . Later in the morning over a welcome cappuccino, I will probably talk about it –further sorting out will take place. -critical rehearsal for the writing to follow.

Mind you, there are times when all that emerges looks and feels incomplete. It is writing in need of further consideration. But that’s okay; it may just require further shaping to align the mind’s vision with the fragments of text trapped on the page. I can rehearse anywhere, anytime. I am not daydreaming, I am thinking and rehearsing.

I find myself constantly reminding young writers that while they produce a significant amount of their writing in the classroom, it is beyond the classroom that most of the ideas they get for writing bubble up. It is in the living of their lives beyond the classroom that rich experiences worthy of note occur. I want them to fully understand this fact. You cannot separate thinking from writing.  

For this reason, rehearsal needs to take place, so that when they walk through the classroom door each morning, they have a vision of their very own ‘hot topic’ for the day. It is another example of the writer as thinker. This is an achievable goal. I have watched the awareness levels of young writers rise significantly when rehearsal becomes part of their writing practice. It is almost a revelation for students to understand pre-writing can actually begin before the writing workshop commences.


I know I need to continue making students aware of their thinking and its potential for alerting them to ideas, issues and the world in general. Modelling my own rehearsal processes provides powerful demonstrations of the writer in action. Hopefully, it fosters such behaviours in the young writers and teachers with whom I work. 


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