What Happens When Your Students Call Themselves Writers?
OK. I have a confession to make. And I’m not entirely comfortable with this, but here goes. See, as much as I am loathe to admit it, I’m … well … a writer.
Of course, if you know me, you already knew that. Because I’ve been working as a writer for over 30 years. And when someone asks what I do, I tell them the truth, But there was a time when it was hard for me to do that. Because saying that I was a writer was tied up in some notion of achievement, and particularly early on, I hadn’t achieved much. Was it OK to say I was a writer if I mostly kept my writing secret? Was it OK if my writing was bad? Was it OK if I hadn’t published anything — or if the things I had published were in journals that few people had read, and fewer still had heard of?
Frankly, it was hard to call myself a writer back then. But I discovered that the more I did so, the better I felt about my writing, and the more I wrote. So I always tell tell my workshop participants that if they write, they can call themselves writers. And when it comes to your students, I encourage you to do the same.
The fact is, when it comes to being a writer, there’s not a process for earning the title. There’s no one who keeps track. You don’t need a degree or a certificate or a published book or a blue ribbon to call yourself a writer. To me, the bar is this: you write something. You enjoy yourself. You tell a little story, you write a little truth, you express some emotion, you make someone laugh. And you think you might like to do that again. Go ahead, call yourself a writer. Say it out loud, tentatively or confidently. And then some good things will happen.
What happens when your students begin to call themselves writers? At first, they might feel a little embarrassment, coupled with some pride. But over time, the embarrassment will shrink and the pride will increase. They’ll look at themselves a little bit differently, because they’re planting a seed that, if nurtured, will grow. They’ll begin to view themselves as more capable, more competent, more able to stand up to the challenges of written communication. And whether they go on to writing careers or not, that feeling of competence will stick.
So if your students write, let them know they can call themselves writers, no certificate required.
4 Things You Can Praise Young Writers For (Even if They Make Tons of Mistakes)
The truth is, in trying to help students become better writers, we often focus on what they are doing wrong. We’ve told them repeatedly how to write a topic sentence and the difference between “there” and “their,” but still the mistakes show up. We’ve showed them how to stay on topic, but they wander. Or they don’t address the topic or the form at all. And despite our many reminders, they forgot to use spellcheck. (Or is it spell check?) So we pick up our literal or metaphorical red pen, and we point out their mistakes. The reason we do this, of course, is that we care. We know that in order to succeed in this content-driven world, or even to succeed in the school years to come, our students need to become effective writers.
From the student’s perspective, however, this red-penning can seem relentless and grow demoralizing. They are trying, after all, but it can sometimes feel like they’ll never get it. When these kind of thought patterns arise, it’s easy for a student to just give up. We don’t want that, and we know we need to mix honest praise in with constructive criticism. But what if there just isn’t anything much to praise? And what if we are just worn down, short on time, and don’t have the time to accentuate the positive? Worse, we can sometimes damn by faint praise or overpraise, which our students sniff out as inauthentic. But now matter what shape a writing assignment is in, we can always praise something. Here are 4 ideas for praising writers, even when the text fall short.
1) Effort This one sounds obvious, but I included it because sometimes we equate a lack of positive results with a lack of effort. We see work that lacks proficiency, and we blame the person. When faced with work that looks like little effort was made, it can be helpful to step back. What if the student is, in fact, working hard, but not getting the point of your teaching? Where might the student be struggling in one area, and how might that have led to struggle in another? If you don’t know, you can ask. “It looks like you’re trying here, but you need some more support. How can I give it?” “You really went for it here; mistakes are OK when you’re giving it your all.”
2) A “King of the Mountain” Moment When I was young, we used to play a game called King of the Mountain. One person stood on a small hill, and was king—unless the other players could pull him down and replace him. When you are reviewing student work, look for that one sentence, one word choice, one idea, that stands above the others. Point it out, be specific about why it’s better. Then tell the student that this is their King — for now. They need to work to bring the other work up so it can be as good or better than the king.
3) Curiosity Sometimes students stay safely within the parameters of our assignments. They choose obvious topics: books that are too often praised, well-knowm celebrities or historical figures. Other times, they surprise us by following their curiosity to a fresh, new, or obscure subject. writing about a hobby or a topic they love, focusing on a lesser known but still important historical or contemporary figure. When this happens —even if the writing is poor, give them kudos for thinking outside the box.
4) Courage Sometimes, even when the writing isn’t great, students reveal something deep and real about themselves. They share a perspective or opinion. They tell a story about their life. They drop the veil and speak honestly about their lives or the world around them. It won’t show up in any grade book, but honest thinkers change the world.
Every Student Has a “Writing Story”
It all begins with an idea.
When you ask a student to take on a writing assignment, you’re deeply touching their personal story. That might seem like an exaggeration, but it’s true. That’s because every student comes to you with a personal writing history. And that history has an impact on how they feel about an assignment, how they approach it, and even whether or not they will succeed.
Writers Tell a Story About Their Writing Abilities
Think of your own writing. You have a story about yourself, and depending upon your writing history, that story varies. Your story might have a title like “I Am a Great Writer.” It might have a title like “I’m a Bad Writer” or even “I Hate Writing Because I Am So Terrible At It.” Or it might have a title like “I Can Write Well Enough to Get the Job Done.” Like you, your students have stories about their writing abilities, too.
Why These Stories Stay Static
Over the years, I’ve noticed some things about the stories writers tell themselves. One thing I have noticed is how static these stories can be, especially when they are negative. I’ve worked with teenagers who are completely locked on to their writing story, and are utterly convinced they are hopeless at writing. I’ve worked with 80-year-old adults who constantly apologize that their writing is subpar — even when it is quite wonderful.
It’s All About Judgement
Another thing I’ve noticed is the reason why those stories are often so static: they are based on judgement. And that’s little surprise. We care about the writers we work with. We want them to gain skill, and become competent, even extraordinary writers. And to do this, we need to give them the best guidance we can and show them where they make mistakes. But what happens all too often is that the comments on a piece of writing or the results on a standardized test become negatively internalized. As much as we try to point out our students’ strengths, they judge themselves based on their weaknesses, and “I’m a Bad Writer” becomes the title of their story.
Given all this, one goal of writing instruction is to help students change their writing stories. I’ll talk more about this later, including insight from my own writing story — particularly a chapter titled “The Terror of the Graduate Writing Workshop.” But meanwhile, the next time you give or respond to a writing assignment, think about how students’ stories about themselves are just that. And even static stories can be changed.