Labels I Won't Use

 

Free Writing

 

Some teachers create a division between the types of writing their students do in the classroom. There is assigned writing and free writing. Assigned writing often begins with a prompt and emphasizes the use of conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation).

 

Free writing suggests that students may choose their own topics and fire away.  It's a label that implies that anything goes . . . anything will work.

 

Because assigned writing does not have a label (and free writing does) students know the true names: Writing that Matters and Writing that Doesn't.

 

Yikes!

 

When teachers tell me that they don't have time for Writer's Workshop, I realize that what they're sometimes saying is this: I don't have time for writing that doesn't matter.

 

Of course you don't have time for writing that doesn't matter! You DO have time for Writer's Workshop . . .if you stop seeing this unnecessary division.

 

Here are some points to untangle this knot:

 

1)   All writing should be done with goals in mind. Students should have targets and aim for them. You provide the target(s) during mini-lessons and with rubrics.

2)   A topic (or a prompt) is not a goal. Sometimes a teacher will say, "We're going to work on winter pieces next." My question is: Why? In other words: What aspect of craft will students work on?

3)   Exploration is a goal (some of the time). A student might try several leads, for example, before settling on the most interesting one. Exploration can be freeing.

4)   Students don't need prompts to produce writing that can be assessed.

5)   Not every piece of writing needs to be assessed. Students require daily opportunities to practice what they're learning. Whenever possible, have them choose the pieces to be scored.

 

 

Creative Writing

 

This label implies that some writing is creative and some is not. All writing -- whether a poem, a story, or an expository essay -- should be creative. All genres require creativity (inventiveness) in the following:

 

•  Focus
• Quality Details
• Organization 
• Voice
• Sentence Fluency
• Effective Word Choice

 

Instead of using the term "creative writing," I recommend using names of specific genres: poem, story, essay, article, or report.

 

When we use terms such as "free writing" and "creative writing," we subtly imply that some writing is fun and the rest is drudgery. Neither is inherently true. Ask me, when I've worked for several hours on the same opening paragraph of a story, if I'm having fun. (NOT) Or, catch me when I've just completed a brief article in which I share my views on writing terms I 'd like to see banned. (More fun)

 

All writing is . . . writing. Call it that.