4 THE RIGHT TO PERSONALIZE THE WRITING PROCESS

When I first began to instruct students using methods I had learned about the writing process, I insisted that they document/show me the expected steps used in the process – from generating their topic to the published/submitted paper.  I think I even had a poster on the wall that identified the steps of the process.  Because I valued so much the writing process, I also gave this work a grade. 

I vividly remember one of my best writers sharing with me that he didn’t follow these steps.  He said that most of the processing he did occurred in his head, and that he then went back and filled in the steps that I expected.  I realized that really wasn’t so much different than what I did when outlining had been expected of me. I created the outline after I had written my assignment so that the outline fit my essay.  That awareness moved me to ask my students to journal more about their process and to share how they had arrived at their final assignment.  This process proved to be invaluable in developing writing confidence.

As Donald Graves shared in A Fresh Look at Writing, “I’ve found that some teachers have misunderstood the writing process.  They deliberately take children through phases of making a choice, rehearsing, composing, and then rewriting.  Of course, these processes do exist, but each child uses them differently. We simply cannot legislate their precise timing.”  Also Spandel shares, “No two writers go about the business of discovering, shaping or sharing ideas in just the same way, any more than they dance or speak or laugh or make love in the same way.” p. 40

Working with students over the years, I know how important it is to share one’s writing process. Whether it be you (the teacher) or other students, we learn so much from each other. I found that from pair/share to small group types of sharing were invaluable in the student developing confidence in writing and in becoming an independent writer.  As Spandel writes in her book, “Each person’s process is different, but you don’t know this until you have experimented with all the pieces and parts that go into creating writing.” p. 42

This sharing of our writing process depends so much on the classroom community.  Creating an environment conducive to sharing with others takes time.  Once I heard a student remark as he left my class, “Well, there aren’t going to be many secrets in this class!”   Micki and I are planning to share different techniques/strategies to help create a classroom community, and we welcome your contributions!