The Need To Feed Your Writer's Notebook


When discussing writer's notebooks with inexperienced writers, I frequently refer to the idea of 'feeding' them. Smiles immediately appear on the faces of the young writers seated before me.


I further explain the notion of feeding the notebook by using the analogy of a garden where the plants are well fed and tended. Plants flourish when their care is made a priority. A garden neglected soon withers and dies. A failure to thrive sets in. 


I have seen this in gardens and with writer's notebooks. The enthusiasm that launched these ventures soon fades -and the nourishment required to sustain them falls away. Where notebooks are concerned, malnutrition is more likely to occur where teachers are not actively maintaining their own writer's notebooks. 


What do we feed our notebooks? All those small and juicy thoughts, ideas and observations collected as we negotiate our various worlds. This is the rich detail we must gather in our notebooks. Detail that stimulates more growth and development of potential writing projects. 


I share my own writer's notebooks with young writers quite mindfully. I want them to see for themselves the collected details of my own gathering and how they spark more expansive writing ideas. My commitment to gathering ideas is such, my notebook is quite literally bulging with potentially fertile possibilities for writing. The more detail I gather across these pages, the more options present for personal writing projects I might consider. I prefer my notebook brimming with health, certainly not under-nourished. 



Sharing notebooks with inexperienced writers is important. Not only do they get to see the breadth of ideas garnered by a more expeirenced writer, they also get to see the all important process of how and where those ideas have emerged. Writing in a notebook becomes less mysterious, more accessible, to the developing writer. 


Regular opportunties to write across the pages of their notebooks become essential if we want young writers to engage with writing beyond a superficial level. They need to see those blank notebooks pages as hungry for their words. The notebook is issuing an invitation to the writer. A young writer once informed me, ' I love to cover the page in my words. I love to see the blank white page disappear under my words.' 


Here are some words I believe are essential for young writers to hear.

'Don't forget to show your notebook you appreciate what it can do you as a writer, by regularly feeding it your best words.'

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

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 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