Just Write

Close your eyes and let it flow

My third NaNoWriMo. I had no idea what it meant to write.

Well, yes I am a writing teacher, and I work with my students in choices of topics and offer feedback on the six traits of writing (ideas, word choice, organization, voice, sentence fluency, conventions).

And the writing process. I hate the formulaic five paragraph essay, but you know it gets them past the standardized writing test, if they remember the voice and word choice we work on all year. And if they edit.

But two years ago my eighth graders and I entered NaNoWriMo, and my ideas about writing have changed. I understand Peter Elbow now. And Donald Graves. And James Moffett. And Donald Murray.

I started with an idea, a spark. A girl named Blue (for the color of skies long past), lilac bushes, and a gargoyle that blinked. I started writing… “Once upon a time, a long time ago, depending on the time you are in, lived a ten year old girl named Blue.” And I kept writing for 50,000+ words. Just writing. The story developed each day on its own. I put my fingers on the keyboard and from my mind to the page, I created a new world with people not known before; it developed and coalesced and every detail emerged from what was written before in a flow that imagined the rest tomorrow. And today as I was writing, I closed my eyes and imagined my story, letting those images, characters, actions, events fill my page. I just write.

I learned I need to let them write. I need to let my students write in their way and for their purposes and their own audience. I need to ask them, “What is it you want me to know here?” And from there, I can suggest… but the reality is, in addition to my lessons, I need to give them time to write. Just write.

Thank you, NaNoWriMo!