The Critical Think Before the Ink-Rehearsal

Image result for child thinks

 Writing ideas swirl round in my head. I live with them for days and sometimes weeks before they emerge on the page. I frequently wake up thinking about the possible shape of my writing for that day. Most days I wake thinking about my writing for that day. Later in the morning over a welcome cappuccino, I might talk about it, do some associated reading and begin scratching out preliminary ideas. I willingly embrace the swirling and mingling, happening in my head. Further sorting out takes place. -All this is part of the rehearsal for the writing to follow.

I understand rehearsal is critical to my writing. I embrace it as an integral part of writing. It assists me in clarifying my ideas; to find my direction. 

 Playing with words and ideas in one's 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 and spread across the page. They emerge warm and ready to go.

 Mind you, there are times when all that emerges is a single sock of an idea –along with a bit of fluff attached. It looks and feels incomplete. These are words in need of further consideration. But that’s okay; it may just require further shaping to align the mind’s vision with the text trapped on the page. It might just require some distance before returning with renewed purpose and direction. Rehearsal is critical, but it remains imperfect.

 I find myself constantly reminding young writers that while they undertake a significant amount of their writing in the classroom, it is beyond the classroom that most of the ideas they get for writing crop up. I want them to fully understand this distinction. It remains important to apprise them of that important fact. 

 For this reason, rehearsal needs to embedded in the mind of the developing writer, so 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. The meta-cognitive writer begins to emerge. 

 This is very much an achievable goal. I have watched the awareness levels of young writers rise significantly when this behaviour is encouraged as part of their personal writing process.

 As teachers of writing, we must continue drawing the connection between student thinking and its potential for alerting them to ideas, issues, and the world in general. If they are more alert to thinking, and more alert to possibility, observation is greatly enhanced. 

 Modelling my own rehearsal processes provides powerful demonstrations of the writer in action. Hopefully, it fosters the development of such behaviours in the young writers I teach. I must be what I want them to become.

Comments

  1. Anonymous15 November 2019 at 03:58

    I absolutely love your blog and find the majority of your post's to be just what I'm looking for.
    Does one offer guest writers to write content available for you?

    I wouldn't mind producing a post or elaborating on a number
    of the subjects you write in relation to here. Again, awesome site!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright15 November 2019 at 09:36

      Thank you for your kind remarks. I have had guest bloggers in the past, but without a name, I would be disinclined to facilitate this. My contact details are in the headers of the home page should you wish to follow up.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular With Other Visitors

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

Writing Irresistible LEADS with Grade One Students

I have been reading Australian author, Kate Grenville’s book, ‘The Writing Book – A Practical Guide For Fiction Writers.’ Grenville writes about leads and reminds us that the beginning of a piece of writing needs to be irresistible . Further to this she reminds the reader that it doesn’t matter where you begin a piece of writing- just begin! Grenville quotes Ezra Pound who said, ‘It doesn’t matter which leg of the table you make first as long as it stands up in the end.’ The writer’s aim is to glue the reader to the page. Grenville also makes the observation that sometimes you need to write the whole story before returning to the start in order to write a great beginning or ‘lead’ for it. Recently I have been working with groups of Grade 1 writers alerting them to the various ways in which writers ‘lead’ the reader deeper into their stories. Initially we looked at their own writing samples and I asked students, what did they notice about the words being used in their story leads? Th
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

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

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