Living Life Twice

  A Good Title Is Vital I once taught a young writer, Paul, who presented a wonderful true story he had written concerning the time he and his younger brother had been wandering through a muddy construction site in the midst of winter. Their youthful curiosity brought them to the edge of a large muddy hole. While peering down Paul (the author) managed to slip and fall into the muddy depths. He soon realized he was stuck when it proved impossible to scale the slippery muddy sides of the hole. He tried repeatedly to escape, but continually failed to negotiate his way out of the hole.  He urged his younger brother to run for help. His brother managed to enlist the aid of a security guard at the nearby shopping mall. The guard brought a ladder and the situation was immediately eased for the boy trapped in the hole. The story was well written and the young author had built the tension using a strong sense of voice throughout the text. The only problem was, he could not settle on ...

In recent weeks I have been working with a group of young writers and their teachers at Crib Point Primary School. Writers in their first year of primary school in fact. They are taking important first steps on a long and hopefully, fulfilling journey as writers.  These young writers choose their own ideas, decide what will go on each page, make changes, reread the text and ultimately decides when the writing is finished and is ready for sharing. They are making books that look and sound like the books teachers are reading to them every day. Books written by trusted authors. The multiple pages created during writing workshop help these inexperienced writer build stamina for the act of writing. How good is that? It has been most instructive to watch them embrace this learning opportunity. Their boundless enthusiasm for the task of creating their own books has been a revelation not just for me, but more importantly, their teachers. Each visit they greet me with news of the...