Observation Day 4

I spent day 4 of my observation getting my student to continue with the writing process. In our previous session we established some basic themes and nuances that he'd like to include in his story. This session I wanted him to actually put part of the story on paper. We started by trying to write an introduction paragraph. He was having difficulty with this, because he knows that an introduction has to encompass the vast majority of the material that you're going to cover within a few lines.

Personally, I've never liked writing introduction paragraphs, so I gave him a tactic that I faithfully employ to this day. Instead of starting with the introduction, I had my student go right into the body of his story to start writing. I find this approach easier, because it removes the restraints that an introduction paragraph, line, scene, etc can place on a writer. Starting with the body and working your way out to the introduction and conclusion works with any type of writing assignment.

My student agreed with me after he started writing. It went against some of what he was taught, be he told me how easy this was since he didn't have to spend time thinking about what he was going to write. I believe that creative minds are at their best when they can just react. Too much thinking can be a bad thing in the creative process. There can be a tendency to over think. Sometimes you're better off putting pen to paper, letting your thoughts flow, and editing the resulting work later.

I gave my student the entire period to put down as much as he wanted to in his body. After our last session he was anxious to get started with the writing, so I knew that he would have a lot to say once he was allowed to begin. My student finished a few minutes early, so I was able to read over what he turned in. One aspect of his writing that jumped out to me was particularly strong language for a child of his age. I also noticed many small grammatical errors. There wasn't enough time left for me to address these different issues, so I decided to make a note of them and leave them for the next session.