Discovering: The Neglected Step in the Writing Process

This is an exciting time of the year.
In fact, this week is exciting. 

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It is the “Pre” week to PiBoIdMo which stands for 
Picture Book Idea Month.

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This is a month hosted by children’s author Tara Lazar where picture book writers challenge themselves to come up with 30 ideas for 30 picture books in the month of November. 
www.taralazar.com

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Why am I so excited about this?

Because for me, this is one of the best parts of writing. 

Idea time.

Creative time.

No rules.

No red pens.

No grammar, mechanics, or usage.

No spel chek. :)

Messy, messy, messy!

It’s very freeing.

To let your mind wander.

To spend time discovering.

Discovering…like when you were a child digging in the dirt in your back yard, or the sand at the beach.   And then finding something you weren’t even looking for.

Discovering.

And I love that Tara has created this month.

I remember hearing about NaNoWriMo and thinking ugh…I’d fail on day one.   I’d need NaNoIdOrPlOuYear (National Novel Idea Organizing Planning and Outlining Year -an entire year to figure out what I was going to say in that month I was supposed to be writing the actual novel.  )

But you’re giving me an entire month of just discovering ideas?

I Love You Tara!  You’d make a great elementary teacher!

I’ve been on a soap box for a while now about what it takes to make kids great writers. 

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I’m not a genius, but I discovered this as a child. 

When in class, the teacher would say “go” and I would get in trouble at the end of class for having nothing written except random notes, ideas, words, or pictures, when everyone else had completed a perfect five paragraph first draft.

I discovered this as an adult writer when I spent weeks and weeks planning, note-carding, researching,  and outlining my ideas for a 30 page research paper and then found out that the actual writing only look me less than two days.

And I rediscovered this as a teacher when my own students were begging to write during recess simply because I had given them the time and resources to discover what it was they wanted and had to say.

People will  often ask me, "How do we get kids to be good writers?  How do we get them to not hate writing?"

I’m sorry to tell you America, but most kids don’t hate writing.

This is what they hate:

• That you tell them what they have to write about. 

          Teacher: Everyone write about your pet.  
          Student: Um, what? Teacher what if I don’t have a pet?

• They hate those red pens!  
• They hate that you make them rewrite everything that is spelled wrong (on a rough copy!)

• They hate that everything they write HAS to fit into 4 squares!
  

I’m sorry, but everything doesn’t fit into a 4 square.

Disclaimer: I am not claiming to be a 4 square hater. It can be an effective means of organizing one’s writing.

But , it is not a magical box that's a cure-all for writers.  And it is not a writing “program.”   When a graphic organizer is misused, it becomes a writer squasher.

Pre-writing and Brainstorming should not mean writing all my sentences completely into 4 squares. 

And then recopying those sentences onto a sheet of paper should not be called a first draft.  

And then recopying that onto a clean sheet of paper (after all the misspelled words have been slashed with red ink by a teacher a.k.a. revising) should not be called a final draft.

It should be called: How to Make a Kid Hate Writing.

You know what does make a kid become a great writer?  (Um, besides actually studying the craft of writing?)  

The first step is to give them time to discover what it is they want to say. 

The next step is to give them time to figure out that they actually do have something to say.  

And the final step is to spend an insane amount of time brainstorming ideas.  (You know, like an entire month.) 


Brainstorming stories, pictures, and thoughts without having to write them in complete sentences.   Without having to spell every word correctly. Without making sure their handwriting fits perfectly on the lines and is in perfect print or cursive or whatever. Without the need to be perfect (all the time.)

Because, as adults, how would we react if everything new we were learning, had to be performed on the spot, for the first time, with perfection, every time?

We Would Hate It. 

We Would Quit!

So my point?

There simply isn’t enough time dedicated to allowing kids to discover who they are as writers and what they want to say. 

Wanna make them good writers? Give them the time to discover.

Wanna make them hate writing? Well, we don’t want to go down that road again, do we?

Let's take a lesson from Tara and PiBoIdMo. Take an entire month just to find out what it is you have to say. 

Discover with words, pictures, thoughts, snippets, ideas.  And don't worry about shoving them all neatly into 4 squares (or wherever.) Be Messy! Let your students be messy!  

Bring it on PiBoIdMo!  I can't wait to start discovering. 

Seriously. 
I'm really excited. 

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