I once took a creative writing class at University. Each week we read and discussed pieces of writing that the lecturer considered to be examples of great short stories. Some stories I liked, but many left me dissatisfied and somewhat alienated. They were all well-written, with clever images and well-honed sentences and paragraphs. 

As a class we were encouraged to analyse and discuss the skills of the writers. But many times I didn’t agree with the verdict of the others. I felt that the writers had been clever rather than engaging and that they were more interested in displaying their skills than making sure that they connected with their readers. 

One day, as we were discussing a story that I had found boringly obscure, I asked, “What audience do you think this writer had in mind when they wrote the story?”  There was a slight gasp in the room – I had clearly made a faux pas and should have known that this was an ill informed idea.  But the lecturer was kind and he smiled a little, and said, “Why does an author have to have any audience in mind?  I don’t when I am writing – I write for myself. If it pleases me, that is all that
matters.”  And the class went on.

I’ve thought about this a lot since then and I don’t agree with him.  When I write I am always making decisions: what to include; what to leave out; how to say it; when and where to say it. All of these decisions hinge on just who it is I am writing for. When I am writing for teachers, as I am now, I think about the things that might be of interest to teachers, what issues they face in the writing classroom, how they sometimes struggle to get students motivated.  When I write for children I think about what interests children, what makes my own children and children I have talked go “wow – I didn’t know that” or “What happens next…” What would have made me want to read this book when I was 5 or 8 or16?

And the more I “read like a writer”, trying to unlock the craft of the writers that I admire, the more I believe that it’s not the way that very good writers write.  It’s hard to believe that Dr Suess didn’t have an audience in mind when he penned The Lorax, or that Mem Fox was just writing to please herself when she wrote Where is the green sheep?

 Writing without an audience in mind doesn’t seem to work for children either. If they write to just please themselves, they try to write the same kind of thing as they are reading. Since children generally can read more complex things than they can write, they often end up frustrated and lost.

So, as teachers, what can we do about it? I have found that children are able to write more effectively when they have an audience firmly in mind.  And it should be an audience beyond “doing it for the teacher.” They should write for an audience who will actually read their books, or posters or letters, and give feedback.

One way of doing this is to have students write for children in a younger class. These younger children can interviewed to find out what they like to read,  and more importantly what they would like to find out or read.  And students already have a bit of insight onto this audience since they were recently that age themselves. Armed with this information students are in a much better position to make decisions as they write, and are usually more motivated to finish the task as well as they are able to. Most importantly when they have finished the writing they can take their published work to the audience they wrote for.

Related free teacher resources

This poster has been developed to help students to begin to think like writers, to develop “writerly habits of the mind” if you like. It can be printed out as a set of classroom posters or used as a writing resource for individual writing portfolios.

The poster can be used with students of all ages and is open ended in nature – offering suggestions about what many writers think about and do when they are writing. The poster focuses on the often neglected, but essential thinking that effective writers undertake, often before they pick up a pen.

Free teacher downloads:

Work Sheet: Four steps to being a great writer (link to 4-Steps_Worksheet.pdf)

Posters: Four steps to being a great writer (link to 4-Steps_Posters.pdf)

Lesson Plan: Four steps to being a great writer (link to 4-Steps_LessonPlan.pdf)

By Alison Davis

Hi everyone. As this is our first Blog together I want to say how nice it is to be able to get to know each other and talk about things Literacy in this way. Lots to discuss and think about in the months ahead!

So I was wondering – have you ever been reading something and got to a point when you realized you didn’t know what you had just read about? Maybe it was a novel, maybe an article in a journal or a magazine. It gives you a bit of a shock doesn’t it!?

That was what happened to me the other evening when I was reading a novel. I was reading for a bit, and then I realized that I had read nearly a whole page and had no idea what I was reading.

I thought to myself – ok – I know I have lost the meaning and the gist of what I have read – that’s what we in education call “self monitoring” – monitoring our own reading to know how well we are accessing print messages and understanding what we are reading.

‘That experience made me think about what I did to gain meaning back – and what happens to our students when they lose meaning. ‘

That experience made me think about what I did to gain meaning back – and what happens to our students when they lose meaning.

The first thing I did was realize that I couldn’t retell or put in my own words what I had just read. I drew immediately on my knowledge of the characters in the text and the plot that was developing before I lost meaning. In doing this I was making connections to what I already knew – the text structure, the  main ideas and the developing story line. I asked myself several questions – wondering what might have happened to the character in question – before going back to re-read the section of text again. And yes!! I read it slowly – reducing the speed at which I was reading, paying more attention to detail and making sure that I was paying attention to the main ideas and supporting detail.

In essence, I drew on my knowledge of a range of comprehension strategies to assist me. I did not rely on just one strategy – rather a range of strategies that included questioning, re-reading, varying my speed, paraphrasing and identifying the main points. And yes it worked!! I was back on track.

‘The problem for many of them is that they don’t always know when they have lost meaning – or further – what to do about it when they no longer understand what they are reading.’

Unfortunately many of our students – of all ages – often lose meaning as they read. The problem for many of them is that they don’t always know when they have lost meaning – or further – what to do about it when they no longer understand what they are reading. This is where comprehension strategy instruction is so important – providing authentic and carefully planned opportunities for students to learn to access a range of strategies that will assist them when they need help!!

Food for thought!!

Regards

Alison