Thinking about writing . . .

Or--Thinking about writing?

I think a lot about writing and then I write a lot about writing. And I listen to a lot about writing, too. A recent topic on a favorite podcast was “Can Writing Be Taught?” It was interesting to me because over the years as I’ve “taught” writing classes, I feel my role has evolved into more of a facilitator than a teacher. I’m not some person delivering content that I think someone should know; as a facilitator, I can create a space for people to share the discovery of their writing voice. I want to impart the desire to write. It’s a role I think I prefer.

Not that I don’t love teaching! I do. But even with my college students, I am beginning to integrate more of my adult learning/writing workshop practice into my typical content delivery pedagogy. For example, I teach a 5-paragraph essay model in my college classes.  I expect each essay to follow that formula and I talk about it during nearly every class. Recently, rather than just distribute the handout and let the students know that this is the model to follow, I now try to give some of the responsibility for it’s application back to them. After I explain that it’s just one model they can apply to each of the assigned essays, I take the formula idea a little further. I suggest that maybe this particular model doesn’t work for them, but they could certainly develop their own formula for writing an essay based on their own strengths and resources. They could create their own outline or visual aid to help them organize an essay--every single time! That way they don’t have to freak out every time an essay is assigned. If they develop their own model or template, then every assignment isn’t an obstacle; it’s just one more step on the student’s path to passing the class.

I know writing is daunting and even frightening to some people--both students in my college classes and adult learners in my workshops. I’ll never forget talking to a friend of mine about writing--she said she wasn’t any good at it. This woman was in charge of an entire school district’s technology department and was in the process of earning her PhD in Educational Leadership--or something. It doesn’t matter--it was a PhD! A degree that requires LOTS of writing! But she thought she was a terrible writer, even though she was more than halfway through her coursework. I find so many people echo her own lack of confidence in something that each and every one of us has access to.

Because I believe that all writing is simply a form of processing information. And because of that, none of us is barred from developing our own writing style and voice. And we all have a unique writing voice that, once strengthened, can be applied to other activities. It’s not the writing, so much as the confidence in writing, that keeps people from picking up a pencil and putting it to paper. Sure, there are some folks out there who are brilliant storytellers, poets and creatives. People who had enthusiastic teachers or parents who helped form their writing life and gave them a little push ahead. And I know there are also other challenges that hinder a person’s academic ability to write, but writing for ourselves doesn’t belong to anyone else. Writing for ourselves is our way to get to know and hear our own writing voices. It’s our own way to find meaning in our lived experiences. Whether or not we write poetry, stories, lyrics, screenplays, Christmas letters, lunchbox notes, press releases or daily in a journal, our writing is for us.  

Give it a try. There are so many conventions that keep people from writing, from citing the bad grades they got in middle school to not having the “right” notebook in which to write. You know what I say to that, don’t you? (It rhymes with “Pull-spit”) There are a couple of obstacles to push through, but if writing is something you truly have a yearning to explore, you should do it. There are so many options for that exploration: online writing groups, classes, tutorials, books. And I know this all sounds like a memo from the Shameless Self-Promotion Dept. since I recently started a new writing program called Writual which offers writing classes. But I don’t always offer writing classes, and I always think you should give it a try. (I mean, if you’re interested, I have a class in April called the Reluctant Writer, but I’d even help you find a different class! )

Writing down words on a piece of paper is a way for us to process our experience. If it gets too hard, close the notebook. If it starts to feel fun, keep going. No one but you can get in your way.

Also: Please check out the Write-Minded podcast hosted by Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner