Students Write Back
I have mentioned that I write regular letters to my students, and they write individual letters back to me. I recently wrote to them about how hard it is to get started writing sometimes. Here are snippets of some of their thoughts:
I enjoyed your letter. It expresses how many people feel when writing a paper or assignment. If there is no desire to write something, then it is hard to find something to write about…I may have an idea for one paragraph or only a few sentences, but the more I sit there in front of my computer, the more words just come spilling out of my head.
At the end of your letter you expressed thoughts about culture. I feel like that has been a very important part of my time spent here so far…I grew up in a small town, and there was not much diversity, if any at all… I came to college to experience different lifestyles and cultures. I was sick of being stuck in a small suburban town.
I enjoyed your letter, and it got me thinking about writing and what it means to me. To tell you the truth I have never been really fond of writing. Mostly because as a child I was somewhat forced to learn another language in order to adapt to a new country, making it a struggle to master reading or writing. The high expectations set upon me to learn how to read and write in a language different from the one I had first learned…was a tough one to live up to.
Letter writing offers an opportunity for students to be my writing audience and for me to be theirs. Letters give students and me an opportunity to get to know each other through the written word.
Comments
Yeah—I try to remind students that most activities require us to step in and start, even if we don’t feel like it. Students on teams know this feeling—they think they have no energy to play or run, but once they are on the field or the track, their body warms to the idea, and then they are in it. It’s so hard, sometimes, to get them to transfer those familiar feelings into this unfamiliar and scary world of writing. I like your idea of writing something about it. Writing, unlike other activities, often needs demystifying. Or maybe all unfamiliar activities have an air of mystery about them…
Jan Donley 30 October 07
Jan I like your sports metaphor. I feel something similar sometimes when I face a blank screen or page and try to start a new design. It helps me to just start doodling – I’m not sure if there is a writing equivalent to that?
Nora Brown 30 October 07
Nora, I love that connection—the blank screen, the blank page—and how doodling is a form of warming up for you. Jane comments that she wants to talk and write more about the act of getting started. I can imagine an edited book called “Warm Up” with essays by people from all fields, detailing their individual “warm up” moments.
Jan 31 October 07
I think the “Warm Up” anthology is a great idea! I want to steal it, or work on it with you. I’m imagining it in the form of The Practice of Poetry, by Robin Behn, which includes both a short essay and a writing exercise from each contributor.
Jane 4 November 07
I read a little bit about Behn’s Practice of Poetry. It does provide a good model for thinking about a “Warm Up” anthology. Would it be marketed as a text book for writing students? I don’t feel a particular ownership of the idea but would be interested in more discussion.
jan 4 November 07
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There must be something in the air, about how hard it is to get started writing. I’ve been hearing the same thing from students at my college in overwhelming numbers, enough so that it makes me want to (a) talk about it more and (b) write something about it, as a way of saying, “Yeah, we all feel this, and it doesn’t have to be a secret.”
Jane 30 October 07