From Territories To Topics

Writing Territories


Nancie Atwell taught me that the broad range of things we do as writers define our writing territories. They include genres in which we write, or would like to write.Genres and modes we would like to try. Subjects we have written about or would like to, and real or potential audiences for our writing.



 Our writing territories should be packed full of ideas, obsessions, experiences, itches, aversions, and feelings. The writing about these territorial issues may take many forms –poems, memoirs, novels, reviews, literary criticisms, essays, articles, letters, speeches, lists. Our writing territories are as vast we allow them to be.

 My Personal Territories include:
Poetry
Social Issues
Literature
My Life In Education
Music and Memory
Travel adventures
Childhood adventures
My parents
Being an educator
Misadventures, mistakes and places beginning with “M”
Family matters/history
Learning about myself
Collecting –books, music, photography
Simple pleasures, tranquil places
Politics
Newspapers

 The writing our territories generate is therefore directed to many different readers: family, friends,self, parents, teachers, the wider community, elected officials. We write to be read. So, from the outset writers need to be aware of  audience. This is an essential message for all young writers to hear from those charged with teaching them how to write effectively. We must assist the inexperienced writer to firstly identify their personal writing territories, then delve deeply into them to find suitable topics and idea for their own writing. The best way to teach this important feature of writing is for teachers to demonstrate their very own territories and potential topics.
Student Notebook- Writing Territories
From Territories to Topics
Our writing territories are different to writing topics. Territories are broad and general. Topics are specific writing ideas that grow from within our writing territories. We must bring them into the spotlight!

 Listing Ideas and Topics
A teacher of writing needs to model the way writing ideas are harvested. They need to provide opportunities for student writers to harvest their ideas on an on-going basis.

 Making lists helps. It makes the writer notice things and grow their observation skills. Writing emerges from the relationship between a writer's life and the range of experiences taking place. The notion of a list cuts resistance and enables ideas to be recorded quickly. Developing writers need opportunities to generate and share their lists; their drawings -their gathering of ideas. Regular opportunities to indulge in brainstorming and sharing are therefore essential. 

 Again. teachers must demonstrate how this important thinking work is undertaken. We must make brainstorming visible and achievable by modelling the process of quickly generating lists of potential writing ideas. How do we expect young writers to 'think quickly' if we don't provide opportunities to practice 'brainstorming?' 

 As teachers of writing, we are not aiming to control the writing, we are facilitating and encouraging the recording of ideas.

'A writer with a pen and a sheet of paper but with no ideas is like a king with a crown and a throne but no kingdom. They can’t do a thing.'
Bessie Rawitsch
We need to rant, rave and ruminate! For this reason I frequently compile lists to support the formation of new writing ideas. Let me share some lists retrieved from my writer's notebooks:

 Once in my Lifetime…
I have seen fireflies in Brooklyn
Visited Venice
Set an emu on fire –accidentally
Slept on Mt Feathertop
Walked on the Giant’s Causeway
Had a haircut in Mooloolaba
Milked a cow by hand
Wandered through the ruins of Pompei
Played kiss chasey

 Memories and Moments
• Shovelling snow for the first time
• Nana’s galah
• Being left handed
• Being paid in raison bread
• The Great Cucumber War
• Picking strawberries for Mr Arrow
• My sister and the Golden books
• Snakes at the end of my bed
• Camping At Yellingbo
• Singing Lessons with Mrs Rich

 Childhood Games
• Marbles
• Hopscotch
• British Bulldog
• Giant’s Treasure
• Releaso
• Kick Ball
• Monopoly
• Rounders
• Solitaire
• Four Square
• Brandy

 Some Things to Do On A Train
• Read a Book
• Listen to Music
• Stare at reflections in the carriage windows
• Read the advertising signs
• Play spot the famous look alike
• Snooze
• Imagine you are somewhere else
• Listen to conversations
• Wonder where everyone is going

 Writing About 'Writing Memories'

  • Janelle Halbert and the pen
  • John finally shared his writing
  • Writers Block –Saved by a six year old!
  • Distancing yourself from the writing –the 12
  • month poem
  • Miss Dungan’s approach to writing
  • What is your oxygen- mine’s poetry!


 A List of Wondrous Words…
Shrill
Clamorous
Vengeful
Incoherent
Tumultuous
Impassive
Detestable

 Essentially Australian Words…
• Ratbag
• Dodgy,
• Blimey
• Hoo-roo
• Crikey
• Prang
• Moo juice

 Harvesting Memorable Character Names

  • Casper Van Doren
  • Tillis Palmer
  • Maude Lincoln
  • Angel Fury
  • Clifford Cluff
  • Delroy Hollins
  • Martin Fluendi
  • Venetia Valentine
  • Foley Sims


 10-10-1 Listing Strategy
The 10-10-1 strategy is also a great way to identify what it is you want to write about. It challenges the writer to create a list of at least 10 items, then select one item from the list and create another list of 10 thing related to that first item. Finally, the writer selects 1 item from the second list to write about. It provides a great strategy for narrowing the focus of the writing

 When writers create lists they stimulate thinking and generate possibilities. Once an idea is identified, more questions arise  -How might I write about that? (genre/mode) How do other writers write about this?

 Finally, some more examples of lists.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

Writing Opposite Poems

Image
 O pp o s ite  P oem s In his book, ' How To Write Poetry,'  Paul Janeczko presents the idea of opposite poems. Paul suggests they could also be referred to as antonym poems. This is wordplay and it's fun to try. Here are some examples Paul provides to help us see very clearly how these short little poems work. I think the opposite of chair Is sitting down with nothing there What is the opposite of kind? A goat that butts you from behind Paul Janeczko You will  notice the poems are written in rhyming couplets. They can be extended so long as you remember to write in couplets. Paul shows us how this is done. What is the opposite of new? Stale gum that's hard to chew A hot-dog roll as hard as rock Or a soiled and smelly forgotten sock You might notice that some of Paul's opposite Poems begin with a question. The remainder of the poem answer the question posed. Opposite poems are a challenge, but it is a challenge worth trying. Not every thing has a
Read more

Writing About Reading - Reading Reflection Journals:

Image
UPDATED February 2022 Writing in response to literature can be a great way for students to organize their thoughts, explore what they think, and generate ideas. One of the strengths of writing in journals is that it allows students to capture all of those great ideas that generally float off into the air during the discussion.  Journal writing can also become drudgery if students are asked to write too often, given little choice or inspiration in what to write, or if they simply don't have anything to say. While some students eagerly share their impressions about selections they have read in class discussions, others are less comfortable and keep their thoughts to themselves. In an effort to encourage all students to think more about what they read and confidently share their observations and opinions, some teachers are turning to the reading reflection journal and are gaining insights they never anticipated.  The Value of Reflection Journals   Journals assist teachers to gain i
Read more

Learning How to 'Zoom In' When Writing

Image
It is important for young writers to understand that not all parts of a story are equal. There are parts through which a writer moves quickly, and important parts where the writer slows down and lingers a while. This is where the writer might intensify the action or reveal the character’s reactions in greater detail. Young writers need to know that this is a deliberate strategy on the part of the author. The author consciously zooms in. The writer uses a magnifying glass to view a part of the story more closely; to focus on a moment and to slow down time. When an important part of the story is enlarged upon, it   is a signal to the reader, that this part of the story is important. The strategy of ‘zooming in’ goes by many names: ‘exploding a moment’ ‘magnifying a moment’, ‘hotspot’ ‘snapshot’, ‘adding detail’ or ‘slowing the action.’  What ever the name, the idea is the same. The author writes in a way that expands a significant part of the story with the intention of drawing t
Read more

Answering Questions Posed by Young POETS

Image
UPDATED, May 2020 As a frequent visitor to schools I have the great pleasure of working with groups of young, enthusiastic poets and their teachers. When I arrive in a classroom, young poets are often pre-loaded with questions, and most keen to have them answered.  I try to answer as many as I can, but we frequently run out of time, and the poetry caravan moves on to the next classroom. So I am here to answer some of those questions -right here, right now. So here goes: When you were little did you love writing? The short answer is yes. I have always enjoyed words and language. I can't recall a time when I wasn't doing some kind of writing. When did you write your first poetry book? I have had poems published over the years, but it wasn't until 2014 that I had an entire book of poems (an anthology) published. When I looked back through all my notebooks I realized I had hundreds of poems from which to choose. So, 'Searching For Hen's Teeth-Poetry From The
Read more

Slice Of Life Story-The Trials Of A Left Handed Writer

Image
Amazingly I learnt to write using my left hand. An achievement against the prevailing beliefs of the day. My very first teacher saw it as her mission in life to ‘fix’ the poor, wretched little boy suffering from what she clearly diagnosed as left handed disease. She must have thought, 'This child must be re formatted! If he remains left handed he will be forever condemned to writing in a scrawl that no one will be able to read. Ugly hand, ugly hand.' ...They tried to say it couldn't be done, it mustn't be done. They took the pencil out of my left hand and placed it in my right hand. It felt unnatural. It felt weird. It was not right. More to the point it was not left. I was not about to conform. At least they didn't try tying my hand behind my back. Watch me I said. I may be an oddball, left handed scribbler but I am a determined oddball. I mean how boring would the world be if everyone wrote with their right hand? So I dug my toes in –and my hands to
Read more