The Watchdog has long maintained that many English teachers do far more harm than good when they endeavor to teach writing, starting from the earlier grades and continuing through college!
There is a world of variation between the writing styles of Ernest Hemingway and Marchel Proust. Yet teachers too often try to teach a certain way of writing, a certain structure. Instead, the goal should be to enable a youngster to develop his or her own style, one that comes easily.
One of the silliest instructions that the Watchdog encountered was a that a paragraph must consist of at least three sentences. His one word, one paragraph response: Humbug!
He recalls reviewing cumulative writing assignments of youngsters over a six week summer program and his disappointment one year in one class’s lack of progress. He spoke with the teacher who had busied herself and the students with detailed instructions on how they were to write, thus generating confusion and anxiety. He pointed out to her that people should write just as they talk, and then edit. The same lady ran up to him the next summer to gush thanks. She said although she had a master degree in English, writing had always been excrutiatingly painful. Now it came easily.
Below is a note the Watchdog wrote this week to Mrs. Watchdog and copied to their twelve year old daughter who was required to write a short essay as part of a school application, the daughter’s first assignment of such length.
“Yes. She should not worry about continuity, spelling, grammar or quality of thought on the first draft. Just let it flow. Write down whatever ideas come to mind…no matter how irrelevant they may seem to what was just written.
Once that is done, there is a body of thought that can be edited, added to, subtracted from.
The mistake that probably you as well as most others make is trying to write a finished product at the outset. No. No. No! That creates “writer’s block.”
Of course different people write in different ways, but I am convinced that this is the most successful method. It certainly is one that I have always used.
For research papers, I pull together a lot of relevant facts. Put them down together. Then change the order for continuity of thought and add commentary. My article on corporate taxation yesterday was an example of this technique and took me about an hour to do. Of course today we have Google and Wikipedia!
Be gentle in your criticism. She is a twelve year old, not a graduate student! This is her first of thousands of papers. The most important thing is for her to learn a process and not be afraid to write things down.”
The result: 400 words suitable for submission in a relatively short period of time, all on her own! Moreover, she had real reason to feel proud and confident.
Great article about your daughter and developing writing skills. I agree that the formal process can be stifling.