No Writing Required

In William Zinsser's book, On Writing Well, he tells about an adult writing class he taught "in which no writing was required." (page 255) He told his students to think of a place they wanted to write about and come prepared to talk bout how and why they could do it. They would discuss it as a group and help each other figure out what might work. They never actually had to do the writing. He was setting them free from the pressure and letting the process happen. Many students wanted to go on and do the writing, and some did. Even several years later.

Your students need time, like all writers, to find out what they want to say and how to say it. They need to research or read at a comfortable pace instead of rushing to paraphrase some piece of information they haven't digested or don't even care about. The phrase "having something to say" implies ownership. They need to actually know a thing before writing about it. That is, if you want to be interested in reading it.

At least two of my kids have always wanted to change the topic of their papers after they started to research. I used to let it bother me; but I figured out that when they said they couldn't find any information on a topic, that just meant they hadn't found anything interesting enough to want to know.

I don't have the answer to the "topic change" sickness, but I do know it's hard to write what anyone wants to read if you don't own what you're trying to say.

So your job is to give your students time to take in and digest what they want to write about. Let it become part of them like last night's dinner. Trust me, when kids know something, they want to tell you about it. Usually in a lively and engaging way.

Then you can let us check it over for you at MyWritingCheck.com