Teaching

Most students come into a classroom hating writing…. and as their teachers, it’s our fault. In teaching writing, we’ve taught them to imitate dead formulae rather than to follow their hearts, worry about grammatical rules more than say what they honestly think…

Chalida, a student from Thailand dressed in pink everything, insisted: “I CAN’T WRITE!” I asked: “Why do you like pink? Tell your friend in Thai, then translate it into English.” The result: three beautiful paragraphs!

Many students come away from school writing assignments hating writing. This isn’t natural. As children, we loved to read and write. What happened?

Jonathan Maberry gives the Famous Writer keynote speech. What happened? He shocks and terrifies the LitCrit Industry with his F… Word! … Yes, I heard him myself …  and it isn’t the word you are thinking of.

When I hear about freewriting, it feels like … freedom…! Like a bird in the sky, a leaf in the wind, la ripple on the lake at dawn, the first sign of life, the first heartbeat of a baby in a mother’s womb …