Living Life Twice

In my home state of Victoria, Australia, we have returned to stage 3 lockdown conditions due to a resurgence of Covid cases in the last three weeks. I have been consciously using this home time productively as I continue my journey trawling through old notebooks.  After almost 40 years, I have a plentiful supply of notebooks from which to mine potential treasure and hidden gems. As most of us appreciate, conversation with family and friends remains important. More so right now. This prompted me to gather some conversations and dialogue captured across my notebooks. I am a practiced eavesdropper. I sit, I listen, I note.  Learning to capture authentic conversation is a most valuable thing for any writer to develop. So, this morning I went gathering some examples of authentic exchanges and words overheard . Hope you like what I unearthed. I present it here for your consideration. ‘It’s ridiculous! Jeans in January. I don’t associate jeans with January. What’s happening?’ Cool su...

Some Writing  Fundamentals… Some fundamentals beliefs and actions need to be considered when thinking about our teaching practice. It is no less important when we consider how we undertake the teaching of writing. What are our fundamentals? What are our non-negotiables? The role of the teacher in assisting the inexperienced writer to grow assumes paramount importance once we begin to consider what fundamental beliefs surround our pedagogy. It drives how we conduct ourselves in the classroom. It is helpful to revisit what we hold to be true about the essentials of writing. With this in mind, I have revisited my own fundamental beliefs regarding the needs of young writers. This is what emerged: Young writers need to be encouraged to develop and choose their own writing topics, their own ideas and projects. How do they learn to do this important work- by watching and observing how more experienced writers go about the very same process. When young writers choose their own topics ...

POWERFUL Practice in Writing At this challenging time across the world, from the relative safety of home, I have had more time to reflect upon my writing process and its capacity to inform my teaching and learning. This week, I  am happily revisiting the notion of teacher influence… I remain very aware of the influence a teacher’s own writing has on impressionable students. Some teachers believe they have little actual power when it comes to the attitudes of young learners. The reality is, teachers control the very climate in the classroom. I frequently find myself invoking this quote from educator, Haim Ginott. ‘I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations...

This morning as I raked and removed another carpet of discarded leaves thrashed, bashed and scattered by last night’s torrent of rain, a poem began to form in my head. The writing mind seldom rests... It further reminded me that so many of our writing ideas come calling when we are not actually engaged in writing. So there I was raking and rehearsing... Wintery Days Shadows And gathering clouds Raindrop on footpaths Spits and dollops Splashing Forming puddles and pools A season of heavy coats Scarves and gloves Sheltering Helter- Skeltering Miserable breezes Unforgiving winds Sniffles and sneezes Ah choo! Alan j Wright

I have been mining old notebooks this week looking for examples of observational writing. It is related to a writing project I am currently undertaking. Sometimes as writers we just need to sit and look around us for inspiration. We don't have to create possibilities from scratch.They merely await discovery. We must hone our observational abilities. Rereading my notebook entries, I am surprised at how often I write in this way. This type of writing reminds me of photography and the painting of portraits. The writer must use words to build a picture in the mind of the reader. I want young writers to see for themselves that these seemingly ordinary moments, are gold for writers. I see it as an opportunity to shine a light on a moment that might otherwise pass by without recognition. Hopefully, it encourages the inexperienced writer, to be a more astute observer.  I enjoyed the rereading and the reliving of these experiences. Here are some of my small moments. Moment...

Mixed feelings swirl around me when commencing a new writer's notebook.  The prospect of filling the fresh pages brings with it anticipation, presenting as a prospect to be enthusiastically embraced.  To see newly generated words spread out across previously unmarked pages delivers a buzz. The very act of capturing the raw stuff of my writing life, delivers order and a sense of accomplishment to my active mind. The harvesting of words and ideas adds to the energy for writing in this new place. I am like the farmer ploughing a new field. I make a conscious decision to choose a notebook with different dimensions and qualities to its predecessor. Some writers choose the same notebook each time a replacement is required. I embrace the notion of change along with the unique shape and form of the potential replacement notebook. I remain keen to shape this new notebook in a way that establishes its difference from previous notebooks. The contents will add furt...

In these times of social solitude, I  have been consciously delving back into books previously read. Pulling titles from the shelves and rediscovering treasure among the pages. It is proving a rich and rewarding experience. Stimulating thought, arousing curiosity and prompting action. Yesterday, it was Robert McFarlane’s ‘ Landmarks ’ published in 2016. A celebration of landscapes and language. McFarlane writes with fierce enthusiasm for the wonderful words residing in the natural world. He cites a 2012 national report concerning ‘Natural Childhood’ conducted in the UK concerning the lives of children between 1970 and 2010. The report noted that the area children were permitted to play unsupervised shrank by 90 % across that period. A dramatic downturn in free range play in untamed or wild places. Across successive generations the roaming radius of children has collapsed to mean just the house, the garden if one exists and the pavement in front of the house. Increasing...

In these strange and unusual days, we  choose our personal responses, our coping mechanisms, our attitudes. For some, it is a chance to explore, revisit and discover. An opportunity to be creative. Boredom can do that. I recall as a child how a sense of boredom frequently lead to inventiveness. I am constantly amazed by the plethora of videos exploring humour and creativity. Some people (across all age groups) are using the time to explore new perspectives. I have chosen to view this time as solitude rather than isolation. For me isolation has a negative connotation and I do not wish to succumb to such characterization of my time. I have accepted the need to live like this. In some ways I am fortunate that I can make such a choice. In reality, I have no choice for I am part of a group who live with a compromised health condition. This virus presents as a significant danger to me personally.Even if the restrictions are eased, for me it will be, a quiet winter. I am fortunate t...