The A to Z of creative writing
Cheryl Rao
Can we really teach creative writing? Or can we merely awaken and stimulate children to unleash their ideas and sensibilities in different ways? And if we can do that, how do we go about it?
Perhaps, starting with the ABCs will help.
A: ASK yourself first, what is your ATTITUDE towards writing? Does something feel wrong when you are asked to write – be it a skit for your class presentation or a chronicle of what you have been doing in the month?
ADDRESS your fears or the inadequacies you believe you have. If there are none, great! You can get straight to the business of getting whichever AGE GROUP you are dealing with to not merely write, but also enjoy the process of writing.
ALONG with your students, run through the letters of the ALPHABET from A to Z and make a list of the different forms of writing. (See box) Beginning with anecdotes, advertisements, advice columns and the wording of special awards, through biographies, bedtime stories and book reviews, you will probably cover over a 100 by the time you reach verses, vignettes, wise sayings, warnings, weather reports and yarns.
Keep these handy so that you are always armed with ALTERNATIVES at a moment’s notice. You do not need an entire period to get a short writing task done: there are many five-minute assignments you can give them when there is a little time available. (For example: write a three-point ‘agreement’ between you and your friend on how you will share a book both of you really like. Just three sentences and they could bring in a little humour or they could keep it serious – whatever works for them.)
Keep yourself ABREAST of the times. Know what interests your students, which AUTHORS they are reading, what movies they are watching so that you can ADAPT the writing tasks you allot them to something that holds their ATTENTION.
Sometimes, students may be awkward with the language. Build a comfortable ATMOSPHERE OF ACCEPTANCE for your students so that they are not afraid to attempt the writing tasks you give them or make mistakes while writing. Encourage them to read some of their writing ALOUD so that they can understand and appreciate how the same writing stem can produce such an assortment of responses.
Be ready to ACCEPT that some of the leads you give in the classroom may not ‘work’ the way you would like and may not result in writing that is original, creative and enjoyable.
B: The BASIS for good writing lies in reading. Have BOOKS on hand or give them suggestions about the books they will find interesting depending on their age, current events, what they are doing in other subjects, etc. Encourage them to write book reviews and book reports. This will help them to think about a writer’s style, the development of plot and characters, what they like and what they do not like, what makes them connect with the theme, the characters, the plot, etc. All this will also help BUILD UP their vocabulary, idea base and appreciation of the written word.
Encourage students to BEGIN the task they are given. At first, it does not matter what they write as long as they write. Then, slowly, as they get more comfortable with writing, those BEGINNINGS will be much better.
Sometimes, a writing task may appear too big and too difficult for the students. BREAK IT UP into manageable bits for them and then help them BUILD IT UP into a logical and readable whole. (For example: Ask them to think and write three reasons why video games are beneficial and three reasons why they are not. These reasons can then be used as the basis of an argumentative essay on video games.)
C: CONVINCE students that once begun, it is important that they COMPLETE what they are writing. They have got their creative juices flowing, thanks to the COMFORTABLE surroundings you have created for them. Now it is for them to keep going with the CHALLENGE. They have to be COMPLETERS.
This is probably the hardest part of writing and the facilitator can help CONDUCT them through until the task is complete. At first you may have to come up with many alternatives/suggestions when they are stuck or when their writing is not credible for the reader – but they will soon come up with something of their own. Remind them that their written creations need not be real but they should be CREDIBLE. The reader should believe that what they are writing could happen.
Give ample CHOICE when suggesting writing exercises. Some children may take longer than others to write. Everyone may not be prepared to take up a writing challenge that is long. So, if they are allowed to choose what they write (story, list, poem, notice, anecdote, character sketch, explanation, apology), they may be happier about writing. If they finish the task, are satisfied with it, and still have time to spare, have some more tasks up your sleeve to make sure they are constructively occupied during the period.
CAST ASIDE that red pen/pencil and instead come up with CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. From time to time, you could also get the CLASS to give their CRITIQUE on a piece of writing. Let them choose what they think is good or bad or indifferent and let them come up with suggestions for what could make it better and more convincing.
Avoid competition and comparison in writing. There is no one ‘correct’ piece of writing and if students are to be comfortable with writing, they need to understand that there are many good stories or poems or paragraphs or anecdotes. In addition, with a little more thought and work, a good piece of writing can become better.
D: Encourage students to read DIFFERENT TYPES OF BOOKS. Arm yourself with suggestions that will appeal to the age group you are interacting with.
Do your writing tasks at DIFFERENT TIMES OF THE DAY and do DIFFERENT TYPES OF TASKS as well. Sometimes in the morning, sometimes just before the period ends, sometimes a short task, sometimes something longer. (For example, show them a drawing/picture of a dessert and ask them to come up with a caption or a slogan for it or a poem based on it, etc.)
For longer writing, stories, for example, reinforce with students the importance of DETAIL, DESCRIPTION and DIALOGUE. Read out some examples and DRAW out from them one, the passages that had an extra impact, and two, why they thought so. A short DISCUSSION before they attempt a task could help immensely to make students believe the task is DOABLE.
E and F: Encourage students to EXPRESS themselves and let the words and ideas flow. Communicate your EXCITEMENT about writing – and perhaps students will be excited about writing too.
The atmosphere of comfort that you have created in the classroom will hopefully have removed the FEAR OF WRITING that many students harbour. Let them FUMBLE, make mistakes, and get to the place where they begin to have FUN with writing.
Let students give FREE REIN to their imagination. This can produce many wonderful ideas. Then encourage them to FREE WRITE without stopping and thinking of the technical aspects of writing (grammar, punctuation, spelling, paragraphs, etc.), and once this is done, help them find the FOCUS of their writing.
The focus will differ depending on the FORM OF WRITING. (For example, the focus of an informative article for the newspaper will be very different from the focus of a reminiscent or descriptive anecdote – and this can be explained to students once there is a piece of their writing to work with.)
Writing should be ENTERTAINING and ENJOYABLE to read. This does not mean that it has to be humorous or ‘light’. It merely means that it should be EASY to read. It should be ENGROSSING.
To make this happen, the ideas should be good and so should the language and style of writing – and there is no substitute for SELF-EDITING. While you constantly emphasize the need to write first and edit later, the editing part should not be left out.
Start out with some pieces of writing that can be edited by the class. To make your student writers feel at ease, first share something you have written and then go on to their work. After a couple of editing classes, students will get the idea of how to go about editing their own work before handing it in.
To avoid over burdening them with the prospect of constant editing, they could also keep some of their work unedited in a file for themselves. When they wish to hand these in, perhaps as contributions for the class magazine or the school magazine, they could edit them. Every writing experience will make a difference to their expertise and in addition, leaving a piece of writing for some time and coming back to it later enables them to see their own work with fresh eyes.
G: Avoid being the grammar police – but GOOD GRAMMAR, spelling and punctuation are essential once the writing is done. Get students to express their ideas first, then work on those ideas and once they are satisfied with that growth, then work on the grammar.
Sometimes, you may find a particular grammar mistake that is commonly made. Address this separately for the entire group.
To strengthen the basics (and remove the fear associated with ‘grammar’), short oral and written grammar games are a good idea. So are writing games – and that is where a list of different forms of writing or a separate suggestion box filled with writing stems will be useful.
Bring into their writing what they are doing in other subjects. For example, ask them to write a line of graffiti (in their notebooks, not on the wall) related to geography or geometry.
H: By this time (after implementing the suggestions from A to G), hopefully your class will be HAPPY TO WRITE. Now encourage them to write for themselves when they are happy or when they are sad or when they are angry. Help them to express their emotions in writing without being hurtful to anyone. Getting their heart into their writing along with their head makes a huge difference. It helps strike a chord with the reader; it draws the reader in and holds the interest of the reader.
Address humour in writing, especially humour that is not hurtful to others. When dealing with a simple writing activity – a headline, for example – ask them to write one that is serious and one that is humorous. This task will not only help them understand the nuances that comprise humorous writing but will also help them appreciate the importance of headlines and titles of stories, articles, etc.
Read a short piece of writing to them and ask them to suggest a headline, or ask them to imagine that they are witness to a particular event in history and they have to write the headlines for the next day’s newspapers.
I: Be INVENTIVE and encourage inventiveness in your students. In addition, be an IDEA BANK for your students – or have an idea bank handy so that you can toss possibilities to them when they are stuck with their writing.
You may sometimes find that some students have too many ideas for one particular piece of writing. Help them decide which idea should be worked on to completion.
Use ILLUSTRATIONS to generate ideas in the classroom. Perhaps you could show them a picture and give them different writing options: a slogan, a warning notice, an invitation, two interview questions, etc.
Sometimes it is okay to leave some of these INFORMAL writing assignments incomplete. However, encourage students to keep even their INCOMPLETE work in a file so that if they get new ideas at a later stage, they can complete that piece of writing.
J: Do not underestimate the value of keeping a JOURNAL. Tell your students to treat this day as the first day for the rest of their lives and write down what happened on this day in a private journal just for themselves. They do not have to share the thoughts they have put down there with anyone unless they choose to do so.
They need not write in a journal daily. They can write when something memorable happens – or they can write about something mundane like a shopping expedition.
Going back to that journal at a later date will be an eye-opener for them. They will be able to recall that momentous event in their lives. Or the details of that shopping expedition may remind them what things cost a couple of years earlier, how prices have gone up, how they enjoyed a simple outing, etc.
Their journals are a record of what matters to them. As they write them, the journals will provide an outlet for their feelings and at a later date, they will help them understand themselves and others better.
Encourage them to preserve those journals.
K: Remind students that they will not be KIDS forever – or 11 or 13 years old ever again (or whichever age they are when they are under your care). Help them prepare a time capsule of themselves at this age. With their suggestions, prepare a questionnaire and then get them to fill it for themselves and put it away – to be opened at a later date in the future so that they can see for themselves what made them happy or what bothered them at this stage of their lives, what they imagined they would be doing a few years down the line and whether they achieved what they had wanted to.
L: While Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat and a whole lot of other platforms are available to students today, the enduring nature of LETTERS (even if e-mailed) needs to be brought home to them. With the addition of emojis, this form of writing can be even more expressive and colourful and they can be given small challenges in letter writing from time to time to spur them on. For example, ask them to write an invitation letter to a friend using only one-syllable words (no SMS short forms, however); or let them write a job application for an imaginary job they consider the best in the world and say why they are suitable for it.
Sometime in the future, their comfort and ease with the letter writing process could stand them in good stead in applying for and retaining jobs.
Get home to them the lesson that LISTENING is important for their writing. Hearing how people of different ages talk in different situations can help them write authentic dialogue, for example. LISTENING as others read out what they have written using the same LEAD given to the entire class helps them understand how different the creative process is and how many results are acceptable, interesting and entertaining.
Remember, the LIBRARY is your best friend and also the best friend of the budding writer. Encourage children to build a healthy relationship with the library.
M: The MORE YOU WRITE, the better you get at writing. Students may not want to hear this when they start out at the beginning of the year because it just seems like too much trouble, but if they preserve everything they write in a file, they will probably figure this out for themselves half-way through the year.
N: NEWSPAPERS are a great source for you to find starters for writing. When your idea bank runs dry, just pick up a newspaper and read a short article to the class and then ask them to write different pieces stemming from that article. For example, a report of a theft and subsequent nabbing of the thief, could open up the floodgates for a number of short writing tasks: different headlines that would grab attention, a confession by a thief, poems by someone who is robbed and someone who is a thief, anecdotes about an attempted burglary, a character sketch of a thief, directions to the cache of stolen goods, a merit certificate for the policemen who tracked down the thief, etc.
O: Encourage children to be ORIGINAL in their writing. It is easy for them to slide into borrowing ideas and plots and dialogues from the movies and from books they read, but the joy of ORIGINALITY is something they should allow themselves to experience and then make a habit.
Ask them to be keen OBSERVERS, to notice what is going on around them, to form OPINIONS, but to be OPEN to seeing things from OTHER points of view as well.
Keep many OPTIONS on hand with you during your writing class. If they struggle with a topic or a type of task, have a more workable option available for them to try out.
P: Get students to understand the PROCESS of writing:
Thinking or if required, researching.
Planning.
Writing a first draft.
Looking it over, re-thinking or discussing it with someone.
Re-working the ideas and the arrangement to make it more coherent.
Addressing the grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.
Writing the final draft.
It may seem a bit daunting at first, but if you make clear to them that all their writing does not have to go through all the steps, then they may not be intimidated or reluctant to start.
Help students make their writing PERSONAL. If they put themselves into their writing, that personal touch shows and appeals to the reader.
Looking at things from another PERSPECTIVE also makes a huge difference. Read an anecdote to them and then ask them to think about it and rewrite it from a totally different perspective. (A humorous anecdote about someone fleeing from a spider could be written from the spider’s point of view and produce many more laughs, for example.)
Q: Encourage students to QUESTION the facts that are presented in their writing as well as question the readability, credibility and quality of their language and work.
Let them ask themselves some of these QUESTIONS – or more – about their writing:
Who am I writing this for?
Do I know what I want to say and how do I say it well?
How have I gone about organizing my writing?
Where and when can this writing be relevant?
Why would anyone want to read what I have written?
Rudyard Kipling’s words could be kept in mind and applied to all types of writing:
I keep six honest serving men
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are What and Why and When
and How and Where and Who.
But, really, there are innumerable questions that can be asked:
Will the theme I have chosen be interesting for my reader?
How can I grab the interest of the reader from the very first paragraph/stanza/line?
Will what I am writing next continue to hold the reader’s interest?
Is my ending believable?
Have I convinced the reader that what I have written could really happen – even if it involves space travel, aliens, witches or zombies?
…and so on…and on.
R: REMIND your students that READABILITY of their writing is important and their READER is the most important person in their lives when they write.
It is all very well that you have to read their class and homework assignments, but there could come a time when they have a reader who does not have to read what they write. How, then, will they hold that reader’s interest?
RE-WORKING, RE-DOING, RE-WRITING – these are not bad words. But for the newly initiated into the world of writing, these can be very intimidating, so RESERVE your judgment, tone down the use of RED INK, REITERATE the process of writing but do not enforce it every time. Sometimes let them keep aside their writing for REFINEMENT at a later date.
Encourage them to keep a RECORD of what they write. Preserve their writing. They will one day be their REMINISCENCES and will make a difference to their future work.
Encourage them to READ their work ALOUD at times. How it sounds, especially in the case of poems, makes a big difference.
S: STAY OPEN to their SUGGESTIONS, STAY ALERT when it comes to giving yours. When presenting suggestions to them, make sure there are several options so that you do not put your stamp on their writing.
Encourage them to use their SENSES, especially when writing something that is personal – like poems, anecdotes, journal entries, etc.
Help them SHARE their writing with the class. Maybe without letting them know whose work it is, share something of yours first for their feedback and then let them know that you are the author. This will help break the ice and will make them comfortable with sharing their work with their classmates.
T: Put a lot of THOUGHT into the TOPICS you suggest to students to get them started on creative writing. Stay in the same time zone as them; be up-to-date with the things that they are interested in. Then you can adapt any writing task to their interests and get them excited about attempting it.
Reiterate the importance of TITLES. Titles are an invitation to the reader to read what is written, so they should be catchy but not too revealing.
Sometimes, you could work with THEMES or genres, whether you are asking them to write an essay or a list of things to take to another planet. When you give them TIPS to help them write, avoid going into too much detail. Let them work out the details and figure out where to go in their writing.
TAKE CHANCES with writing. Sometimes an exercise may not work very well. That is okay. You could find a way to improve it later or you could just scrap it completely. Help students understand that they too should take chances with their writing and that sometimes it may work and sometimes it may not.
Keep a THESAURUS handy – and soon it will be a part of each one’s essentials.
U: UNPLUG their reservations and UNLEASH the force of expression. Sometimes, it is hard for some children to let go of their inhibitions. Ask them to recall a dream, or a what-could-have-been situation, and move on from there.
Help them UNDERSTAND that writing is not meant to be easy – they have to work at it and make sure that those who read what they have written find their writing easy to read.
V: Get students to VOLUNTEER to read their work and share their thoughts on writing with the class, the difficulties they experienced, what they disliked or liked about a particular form of writing, etc. Once the ball is rolling, a surprising amount of information may be forthcoming and this could help them with their writing and help you with later classes.
W: WRITE with the students on occasion. This will raise their comfort level. Be willing to share your writing with them and accept their critique. Your example will wrest them away from their shyness about sharing and their reluctance to accept suggestions for improvement.
Play WORD GAMES to help them build their vocabulary and feel comfortable with the language. Let them find as many words as possible to indicate walking or talking or anger or happiness, for example. Then ask them to write something using as many of those words as possible.
Ask them to collect words with interesting sounds, like ‘heebie jeebies’ or ‘discombobulated’. If each one gets just one word and even if a few students do not get any, there are still a lot of words to work with. Then suggest different forms of writing using these words: perhaps a poem or a song or a description of a character (depending on the words).
You may have some students who would rather tell you what they want to write than get down to writing it. Help them see that the best way to write is to sit down and write.
X: Avoid this sign – X – when you are going through the writing that is submitted to you. Your acceptance of a student’s writing, your suggestions for improvement, the suggestions of the rest of the class if the piece is read out to them, all the constructive criticism possible will make a huge difference to budding writers and spur them on to better writing.
Suggest that students keep XEROX copies of their work in a separate file for themselves, as a record of their writing. In later years, as they look back on how they thought and wrote at that particular age, they may find interesting insights into their writing that they can use to help someone else of the same age – or it can just be entertaining for them.
Y: YOU are an important factor in getting your students to write – so, make them understand the same thing about themselves.
Tell them: ‘YOU are the most important thing you bring to your writing. YOUR point of view, YOUR perspective, YOUR inimical way of looking at things, YOUR reactions, YOUR feelings, YOUR way of expressing yourself.’
By the YEAR END, hopefully, your students will have loosened up and will be ready (thanks to your guidance and example) to go through all the writing exercises they have done and discuss some of the better attempts and why they think they ‘worked’, some of the attempts that ‘did not work’ and why they think they did not.
Hopefully, also, the huge amount that they find in the year’s file will spur them on to more writing.
Z: Your zeal will motivate your students. Nothing brings out feelings and emotions better than an animal, so think ‘Zee for Zoogenics’.
Children who have pets or would like to have pets or do not wish to have pets or do not want to have anything to do with animals of any kind – all of them can be encouraged to put down what they feel when you give them an animal-based topic or situation to write about. They could look at it from various points of view – I can’t stand lizards, How I wish my building would allow pets, My pet is my best friend, Our visit to the zoo was the best ever/awful!
All views work. And that is the best thing about creative writing in the classroom. You put in a few ideas and options – and you get so much more to think about!
A – ads, anecdotes, answers, autobiographies, apologies, advice columns, articles.
B – biographies, bedtime stories, book reviews.
C – character sketches, certificates (best/worst (jest)/participation), couplets, complaints.
D – dialogues, descriptions, diary entries.
E – explanations, essays, exciting events.
F – fairy tales, fables, fantasy, fortune telling, folk tales.
G – greeting cards, graffiti.
H – headlines, horror stories.
I – invitations, interviews, introductions, instructions.
J – jokes, journal entries, job applications (imaginary or real).
K – kids’ stories.
L – letters, legends, lyrics of songs, lists.
M – movie reviews, myths, mystery stories.
N – nursery rhymes, newspaper articles, notices.
O – opinions.
P – poems, petitions, prayers, paragraphs.
Q – questions, quips.
R – riddles, requests, recipes (real or imaginary).
S – serial stories, slogans, speeches, sports stories, signs.
T – tall tales, thought for the day, tongue twisters, travelogues, travel stories.
U – unique features of someone or something, unique uses of an item.
V – verse.
W – wise sayings, warning signs, wanted posters.
X – X factor that makes someone or something interesting.
Y – yarns.
Z – zebra-crossing notices.
The author writes for children and adults. She has authored many children’s books – both fiction and educational, including a series of workbooks at eight levels, Fun with Creative Writing, from Cambridge University Press. She also facilitates creative writing workshops for children. She can be reached at cherbrag@gmail.com.