Revising Purposeful Writing
I have been browsing around for writing ideas and came across the ideas of Ralph Fletcher. “Here’s the secret of writing: there is no secret” capish! We simply have to write to be good at writing.
And here’s Fletcher’s refreshing take on revising/editing: “Many young writers think of revision as all hard work and drudgery. But revision is no more than just a way to fix a broken piece of writing. It’s also a way to honor a good piece and make it even better.”
The more I think about a piece of writing that I would be willing to revise or want to revise – it’s only the writing that is going to be read by someone or somebodies. Is that true for most of our kids? Will most kids put in the time on a target piece of writing if someone else isn’t going to read it? Quite honestly, I would not.
Fletcher offers some genius ways for students to “publish” their work. On this first page he also offers some ideas under “What Should I Write About”. But it seems that if a given student has done due diligence on a piece of writing, s/he is going to want to share it. It’s sort of like cooking a great meal and eating it by yourself.
Speaking of food, the food blogs are full of good writers. While many bloggers, e.g., Smitten Kitchen or Orangette, are primarily posting recipes, many of them are great writers – they were probably good writers to begin with and the food blog was every bit as much about sharing their writing talents as their culinary skills. And, now the really good writers and recipe makers have thousands of readers – authentic, real, engaging... and, they are revising continually because they have real audiences.
I’m wondering if we teachers of writing need to foster many ways for kids to share their writing.
Fletcher has written several kid books along with adult books. His latest is Joy Write.
And here’s Fletcher’s refreshing take on revising/editing: “Many young writers think of revision as all hard work and drudgery. But revision is no more than just a way to fix a broken piece of writing. It’s also a way to honor a good piece and make it even better.”
The more I think about a piece of writing that I would be willing to revise or want to revise – it’s only the writing that is going to be read by someone or somebodies. Is that true for most of our kids? Will most kids put in the time on a target piece of writing if someone else isn’t going to read it? Quite honestly, I would not.
Fletcher offers some genius ways for students to “publish” their work. On this first page he also offers some ideas under “What Should I Write About”. But it seems that if a given student has done due diligence on a piece of writing, s/he is going to want to share it. It’s sort of like cooking a great meal and eating it by yourself.
Speaking of food, the food blogs are full of good writers. While many bloggers, e.g., Smitten Kitchen or Orangette, are primarily posting recipes, many of them are great writers – they were probably good writers to begin with and the food blog was every bit as much about sharing their writing talents as their culinary skills. And, now the really good writers and recipe makers have thousands of readers – authentic, real, engaging... and, they are revising continually because they have real audiences.
I’m wondering if we teachers of writing need to foster many ways for kids to share their writing.
Fletcher has written several kid books along with adult books. His latest is Joy Write.
Write on,
Marty
Student from 1CW working on revising his writing.
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