I, like many teachers, do a unit on creative writing where students create their own short stories. It is an opportunity for students to learn about genres, the components of story (including plot development), literary devices, and other skills through application. It also provides a space to celebrate imagination and collaboration through with their peers.
As a lead up to their final project, an activity I like to do is a quick write. I provide a visual prompt, give the students 20 minutes to write, 5 minutes to review, and then the opportunity to share. One of my favourite resources is the book "The Mysteries of Harris Burdick" written by Chris Van Allsburg.
I have never participated with them in this activity but took this task as an opportunity to try something that I ask my students to do. To be honest, I also chose this as I felt a little stumped as to what to write. Below is the prompt I used from the book (one that I have also had my students use):
Overall, I found this process enjoyable. I know that this may not be the case for others as creative writing can be very challenging; the most common question that I get is: what should I write? Another issue that usually surrounds creative writing is the mindset of not being "good" at it. This feeling may stem from assignments or feedback from the past, apprehension with writing due to struggles with spelling or grammar, or something that we may not ever find out. Building a growth mindset for students and celebrating their successes (big or small) is something that can help to build their confidence in this area. But I digress...
Manual writing is something that I do quite frequently but usually in the form of list making. I also like to write daily highlights and gratitudes as part of my end of the day routines. I enjoy the feeling of pen on paper as I feel more connected to my ideas. As we move forward in a paperless world, I have to say, I do still enjoy a hard copy. This daily practice is perhaps why I did not find it as challenging to write manually.
The biggest struggle I have when writing manually is what to do when I make a mistake. I like writing in pen more than pencil and mistakes in pen are harder to hide. Depending on what I'm writing on and if it is an option, if I make a mistake I will scrap the whole thing and write everything all over again. With this particular task though, I did not re-write anything but rather made edits one the paper once I had finished. Using a computer to write definitely prevents this issue from occurring (and saves paper!). It also prevents mistakes from occurring in the first place - as soon as that little red squiggly red or blue line appears, you know you need to make a change.
When it comes to what I prefer, it would depend on what I'm doing. Personal writing (like the list making and reflections) are something that I like to use a pen and paper for. Formal writing (for work or this course), I go straight to the computer. For me, there is a time and a place for a pen and I value that space, but I also value spell correct.
Below is the story I created...
"A Strange Day in July
He threw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back." He shouldn't have been surprised as it happened the first time and the second time too. Three times though, that made it real. He turned to look at his sister for reassurance; had she seen it too? Based off of the look on her face, she most certainly had.
He picked the stone up and examined it as he had done with the others. It looked like just another ordinary skipping stone: two flat sides, smooth edges, grey. He brought it closer to his one eye while he closed the other. It was so close that it blocked out the shimmer bouncing rom each wave as it made its way gently towards the shore. Nothings strange about the stone from up close. He smelt it. It smelled like the sea, as he expected it would. He shook it. No sound. He passed it to his sister and she examined it just as he had, mimicking his movements. She handed it back silently. "Not the rocks", he said in a whisper that is usually reserved for a library or a museum.
He stared out across the water pondering the options. How had it returned? Who, or what, had returned it? He raised his hand to his brow to block the sun beams from above. He was scanning, searching for a clue as to why the stones had returned. He turned slowly from side to side; he was swaying like the branches of the nearby weeping willow. "Once more" he thought.
He rubbed the smooth stone between his fingers, then slowly spun it with his thumb and index finger until it was in that perfect position. He bent his elbow and turned his wrist inward. In one fluid motion, he sprung out his elbow, flicked his wrist, and let go. One, two, three, four times it skipped until it took its final skip and sank.
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