Readings from Writing Essentials hit home with me because they play to the concept of writing actually being fun rather than a process toward spelling and grammar perfection. The emphasis in the readings is for the teacher to notice the "ideas" and the things that are going right rather than focusing on the smattering of other issues. There are a lot of mistakes with young writing. Good strong writing takes years to develop. It is tempting for a teacher to try and fix everything while they have a chance. Although they or "we" mean well, the student might find writing to be tiresome or worse, be turned off from it altogether. I really feel that our job is to inspire and encourage. This does not bode well with the red pen. I really thought the readings were on the right track. Once a student has tangible ideas and most of all confidence, then perhaps the details can be addressed yet, in the process of developing a strong writer, focusing on the things that are not "idea" oriented can be counterproductive.
The writing by Lamott is equally inspiring. I like what is said on page 18 about not looking ahead too far. This is good advice to writers who find themselves to be overwhelmed with looking too far ahead with their thinking. Although this is counter what we learn as far as having the introduction, main ideas and conclusion all thought out in advance, this concept will encourage free writing and perhaps better, more thoughtful ideas. Page 28 addresses perfectionism. I like this because I'm not perfect so naturally, I agree with everything said. It goes so far as to say perfectionism will ruin your writing. This is a bold statement which may not always hold water however, I believe it is implying that focusing on every little thing being right can sometimes take focus away from good ideas resulting in writing sans impact. I don't know if there is such a thing as perfect writing however, if one is striving for perfection they might be best suited to do so in their final draft, after the big ideas and connectedness are already written thus, the seeking of perfection does not get in the way of the ideas assuming they are good ones.
Hi there Katherine Taylor!
ReplyDeleteYes I too think this idea of being a perfectionist really stifles writing. Focusing on ideas is supportive of students writing in so many ways. It's encouraging and empowering! I cannot count the many times I have been upset after receiving a red ink covered essay back from a teacher when I had been so excited turning it in for the ideas I had. And really, once you see all the red, those few words of encouragement at the end are hard to pay attention to. I do wonder about the idea of perfectionism. It is tricky, if we loose sight of our "perfectionism" will our instinctual high expectations of ourselves be lowered?
Personally I won't really have to worry about that because I've never really struggled with perfectionism...mediocre has always been perfectly satisfying for me ;)