On Being a Writer
By Susan Mandel Glazer

A circle map helps guide students to focus their writing projects.

I watched nine-year-old Jason preparing to write in response to a class reading assignment. He got a piece of paper, wrote and erased, wrote and erased again and wrote and erased once more – finally creating a hole in the paper. He got up from his chair, reluctantly staggered over to the supply shelf to get a second piece of paper, and the ritual began again.

Eight-year-old Samantha knew she was expected to respond in writing after reading literature. Her anxiety about this ongoing assignment exhibited itself from the moment she came into the classroom each morning. "I forgot my reader response journal," she reported at least once weekly. "I cut my thumb when I peeled the carrots for dinner last night, and now I can't write," was another. Once, the distressed youngster put her head on her reader response journal and fell asleep, or at least it appeared that way.

Jason and Samantha were good students. They seemed, too, to be sincere about wanting to become better readers and writers. But when it came to spontaneous writing in the classroom, strange behaviors surfaced. Why does this occur?

Ramping up to writing
Writing can be lonely, intense and often frustrating. Although I've written many manuscripts and for a long time, I find myself using a variety of avoidance behaviors before beginning to write each morning. I phone my mother at least three times, get a second and third cup of coffee and even go to the bathroom when it's not necessary. I reposition my desk chair at least a half-dozen times, ritualistically rearrange the objects on my desk and readjust my computer screen so that it's tipped at just the right angle. I've discovered that without going through these actions I am 1) unable to begin, 2) unable to stay on task and 3) unable to produce text. There seems to be something sacred about writing and I must go through a series of ritualistic behaviors in order to get myself started.

Many kids are similar. They appear to ponder, tinker with pencils and other objects seemingly to avoid getting started. But, are students really trying to avoid writing? I've come to the conclusion, after writing for publication for more than 40 years, that getting ready to write requires prewriting rituals. You might ask, "Isn't all this activity time-wasting?" My response is a definitive "No." Those children who squirm, resharpen their pencils and get drinks of water need to physically change their environments so they can alter their behaviors in order to create text. Fitting into the setting prepares us for the activity that lies ahead: creating text that we truly love.

Know your audience
But will others love what we write? The realistic response is that some may, and some may not. The way, however, to insure that there will be some who want to read your creation is to guide yourself and your students to write with a specific audience in mind. Giving students a writing assignment without specifying an audience creates discomfort, ambiguity and lack of purpose for creating text. I've used a circle map to chart topics in social studies, science and other content areas and then encouraged students to select the subject in which they'd like to become expert. Self-selecting with constraints guides students to focus without floundering and asking, "What should I write about?" Self-selecting also creates enthusiastic writers who generate that enthusiasm so others will read their productions.

Passionate purpose
Finally, I hear many of my students say, "I'll spend tonight writing my report." Or, "I'll dash it off on the weekend. I'm too busy to write the paper until then." These statements suggest that writing is a quick process. Sometimes writing happens easily and quickly, but most times it does not. When we have something to write about -- when we feel a passionate purpose for constructing text – it usually happens more easily. If the content or genre is difficult, the motivation to create text pulls us through since there is a desire to produce.

Susan Mandel Glazer is the Director of the Center for Reading and Writing at Rider University in Lawrenceville, NJ.

March, 2007, Vol.37, No.6