You're Doing It Wrong

I just had an 'A-Ha!' moment.

Why do people hate, I mean, HATE!!! writing?  I never could figure that out.  It is such a pure outpouring of an inner tale that only you know of.  How could something so beautiful garner such a bad reputation?  And then my Daughter got her second writing assignment - and I was filled with dread.  Wait.  I was filled with dread?  When was the last time I felt like that? Oh, that's right, it was for her FIRST writing assignment a few weeks ago. Why was I reacting like many of my former students?  And it hit me -- are you ready?  English is not always taught by those who enjoy reading or writing.  The art of creating is a forced method employing the use of outlines, tables and rules to adhere to.  How can you create when you are boxed into a corner?

You can't.

I looked at the Kindergarten assignment.
Page 1: List of descriptive words involving all of the five sense
Page 2: List of more descriptive words involving all of the five sense.
Page 3: Table of the five sense to list descriptive words that pertain to the story idea (please include this completed worksheet with the final story).
Page 4: Context/constructing sentences using the descriptive words from pages 1-3.
Page 5: Directions for writing the story (implementation of the descriptive words).
Are you kidding me?  After reading those 5 pages, my own creativity was gone.  Yes, writing has rules - but those come in AFTER the story has been created.

I understand what the teacher is trying to teach: use descriptive words in your story-telling in order to more effectively tell the story.  Why complicate it with page after page of rules?
Somewhere, years ago, students were taught that outlines/parameters were necessary to writing.  It's a shame that many stories have gone un-told because their author/creator(s) stifled their voice in fear of violating the almighty edict of how a story should be told.

I have spent many years teaching the art of writing.  The first lesson always begins the same way, I say: You probably hate writing.  I know I did.  It took a wonderful teacher to tell me it was okay to write without an outline, without rules, even without punctuation.  I was told, "I want you to write.  I want you to unlock the stories in your head, as silly as you think they may be, and put them on paper.  They are your stories.  But, for my own sanity, I'm going to teach you the art of proofreading and editing.  You will discover that writing is a separate entity from proofreading and editing.  Writing is creating.  What comes after is just polishing.  You've been taught to polish as you go.  Are you kidding me?  Have you ever tried to dry your dishes before washing them?  It doesn't work.  The same goes for writing.  You can't create if you are worrying about the words before you have written them."

He was a damn good teacher.

I owe my writing career to him.

I'd then proceed to have my students cross out (or rip out) the first chapter of their 'How to Write' books -- they wouldn't need it.  In fact, the book was to be used to hold a window open until a certain topic in the book was being discussed.  Having it for a window stop would ensure that the student knew where to find the book when needed.  There were some good facts in the book, and we would use them, but they were, by no means, required to reproduce, ad nauseum, what another person had dictated as being the way to write.

At the end of each semester, I had a class full of writers.  Why?  Because they were told that they could write.

I took my own advice last night.  I threw the rules out the window.  My Daughter sat next to me and I typed as she told me a story.  When she finished, we read the story together and she decided where it needed to be changed or where ideas/words needed to be added/deleted.  It was fun.  She had created a story that came solely from her own imagination -- And it fit the parameters that the teacher had assigned.  Did she fill out pages 1-3 for her assignment?  No, she did not.  We discussed the importance of helping the reader 'see' the story, but we did not complete those inane pages.  I'm pretty sure that she's going to flunk the assignment because of it.  That is fine with me.  I would rather raise a child who loves to express what is inside of her, relate concepts that she has deigned worthy of putting down on paper, than a person who abhors the written word -- like so many out there.

Her story is also supposed to have an illustration to accompany the words.  Oh, jeez. 
Please go to your local library and take a book off of the shelf in the adult section.  Do you see any pictures?  Writers paint a world with words... and that is what my Daughter is beginning to do.

I'm pretty sure that the over-seeing teacher will pass my Daughter just to get rid of me.
That'll make a great story...