Topic: Teaching Writing, When?

10-second review: Teaching writing is a complex task, involving teachable moments while the children are writing—assessing what the children already know and determining what they now need to know.

Title: “Teachable Moments: Linking Assessment and Teaching in Talk-Around Writing.” K Glasswell and JM Parr. Language Arts (May 2009), 352-361. A publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

Summary/Quote: “Examining children’s texts for evidence of learning and as a source for thinking about what to teach next is a long-standing and worthwhile tradition in early years classrooms.”

Comment: In this article’s first- and second-grade classroom, the teacher must make quick decisions on what children know and what they need to know about writing as she converses with children while they write.

But the principle is the same at every age level. The high school teacher needs to assess what each student knows and each student needs to know about writing before marking the paper or while engaging in a writing conference. Worth thinking about. RayS.

Topic: Reading as a Writer

10-second review: A writer should read for more than enjoyment and education. A writer should read to note effects that are worth studying.

Title: “How I Write: Mark Bowden.” The Writer (May 2009), 58. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Summary/Quote: “If you admire a certain piece of writing, study it and re-read it often. I frequently copy passages of writing I admire by writing it out longhand to study word choice, rhythm, sentence structure.”

Comment: Reading as a writer. RayS.

Topic: Writing "Flash Fiction"

10-second review: Flash Fiction consists of stories under 1,000 words and requires a beginning that captures the reader’s attention immediately.

Title: “An Insider’s Guide to Flash Fiction.” M Miller. The Writer (May 2009), 46-47. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: You can find examples of flash fiction online. Type flash fiction in Google. Select a few interesting stories to copy as examples for your students. Then, as part of a short-story unit, ask students to attempt the genre. I agree with the author of this article that the beginning is significant. The article also supplies markets for this type of fiction. RayS.

Topic: Editing

10-second review: When should you edit?

Title: “Novel-Writing Insight for Beginners” (Review of A Novel In a Year: From First Page to Last in 52Weeks by Louise Doughty. HarperCollins, 272 pages). Chuck Leddy. The Writer (May 2009), 43. The Writer is a magazine written by writers for writers.

Summary/Quote: “Doughty is also a strong believer in editing as you go. She urges would-be novelists to begin each day by editing the previous day’s work. ‘If you can get in the habit of ‘editing as you go,’ it will save you an awful lot of time later,’ she says.”

Comment: At first, I thought ‘editing as you go’ meant line by line while writing. My experience is that that kind of editing keeps me from writing. But if I had used this technique of editing the previous day’s writing, I would not have fallen into the trap of having to edit the whole book I was writing under pressure to publish, causing me to overlook detailed editing, with subsequent mistakes in my self-published book. What the author is recommending is editing in chunks every day, much more manageable. Ouch! I wish I had known that. RayS.

Topic: Interviews

10-second review: Advice on interviewing.

Title: “The Most Common Interview Problems—And How to Get Around Them.” Norman Lobsenz (past president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, who has authored 20 nonfiction books and written 1,000 articles for national magazines). The Writer (May 2009), 32-33. The Writer is a magazine written by writers for writers.

Summary/Quotes:

1. “Have a list of questions, but refer to it sparingly. A casual conversation gets a person talking more freely than a rigid Q & A.”

2. “Save your toughest question for last.”

3. “When the interview is over, always say, ‘Is there anything else I should have asked?’ ”

4. “Finally, walk slowly when leaving, People often remember a key fact or the perfect anecdote just as you go out the door.” p. 33.

Comment: Useful advice from an expert. RayS.

Topic: Writing and Outlining

10-second review: Crime writer Robert Crais tells why he outlines when he writes.

Title: “Doing What He Loves.” Robert Crais (as told to Jeff Ayers). The Writer (May 2009), 18-21. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Summary/Quote: “Outlining allows me time to think…. I spend a lot of time outlining because I want the characters to come to life for me. I want to know who they are and why they’re doing these things and how it all fits together. …. Outlining is an organic, growing process.” pp, 19-20,

Comment: For me, outlining is thinking. RayS.

Topic: Writing and Publishing

10-second review: Some plain thoughts about writing and publishing by a published writer.

Title: “The Novel’s Cure Was In Throwing Most of It Out.” Peter Baird. The Writer (May 2009), 14. The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Quotes:

“Don’t ask nice people to critique your work. Find the bluntest bastard you don’t know to do that.”

“When you finish the day’s writing, set it aside, leave it alone, and let your unconscious do its work.”

“You will get more from writing than you will from publishing.”

“After publication, you will learn more about the cold winds of commerce than you ever wanted to know.”

Comment: For me, Baird’s thoughts on writing and publishing are thought-provoking. He published the novel Beyond Pelelieu about his father’s return from WWII “involving depression, alcoholism and violence.” Pelelieu was a horrific WWII battle. RayS.