Rehearsal- It's On The Cards

I have been rehearsing this all day...

    In fact, I have been rehearsing this for a few days. The events of an approaching Christmas season no doubt have prompted my thoughts. I recalled a discussion I once had with a group of teachers during a workshop I was presenting. We were discussing the need for writers to rehearse their words before assigning them to the page and this prompted Dan, a young teacher to make a rather insightful comment without notice...

     ‘I rehearse before I write on a greeting card.’

    Everyone stopped to consider Dan’s words. He had reminded us of the conscious rehearsal frequently undertaken when we are faced with filling out cards on special occasions.

    ‘I rehearse the words in my head to make sure they sound right.’ Dan further explained. Another teacher added, ‘ I actually practice what I want to write on the card, on another piece of paper, including, Dear Whoever.’

    Someone else chimed in announcing she consciously purchases blank cards in order to avoid the saccharine sweet cliched comments that often come pre-loaded. ‘I don’t want them to influence, or contaminate my message. The blank card forces me to think. I want my words to be original and particular to the person that card is for.’

   It made me think of my own approach to writing in cards. I realized that just like all the other writing I do, rehearsal is central to the messages I write in greeting cards too. I devote time to pondering the words I wish to use. I roll them around in my head seeking those thoughts and ideas that hopefully capture the spirit of the occasion as well as the personality of the recipient. It's a buzz really, all that internal word juggling. -Even Christmas gift tag cards are rehearsed in order to avoid any repetition. 


    When  my wife’s birthday is imminent, as it is right now, I devote a significant amount of time to rehearsing my words. Not because of any perceived difficulty with the words. I am motivated by a desire to create a message unique, separate, from all previous greetings. I want the words to be fresh and new. I seek to produce a message that means something to this special person, in this precise moment. Generic will not cut it when it comes to writing on cards -for me, anyway. I am seeking a match between the recipient and the words destined to appear on the card...


    When we rehearse our words, we are declaring the fact, we care. It is an investment worthy of the words we wish to give to the recipient; the reader. Think of it as a gift. We want that gift to be meaningful.

My rehearsal practices are part of every form of writing in which I involve myself. From my poetry to these blog entries. When posting entries to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, rehearsal of my words is front and centre. We owe it to young writers to alert them to this regular and considered practice in our personal writing process.

    It is said writers devote almost as much time to thinking about their writing as they do in composing their words. From my experience, this is true. As famed Australian children's author Paul Jennings noted in his recent memoir, Untwisted, the Story of my Life, 'There is much energy to be gained from cogitating and musing over things.'

Whether we are in the classroom or places beyond, rehearsal ensures the likelihood of a better writing outcome. The think before ink time is an integral part of effective writing outcomes for all writers, regardless of their level of experience.








Comments

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

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 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

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