The creative energy of Day 1 of NaNoWriMo fuels my students’ writing like Red Bull with an espresso chaser. They’ve been planning their stories for so long, they can’t wait to get writing. Sometimes that energy carries them through the next few days, but for many students, their enthusiasm (like the promise of a Red Bull) wanes fairly quickly.
If you have 20 or 30 students in your classroom at a time, how can you support individual writers when their energy crashes? How can you encourage a few without interrupting the work of others?
Over the years I discovered a few strategies that have made that possible:
Online docs: Since we write our novels in Google Docs, I can jump into their drafts while they are writing without interrupting their work. I insert a positive, encouraging comment on every student’s doc within the first week of writing so they know I am reading and can help via comments.
Equally important is to check in again if a student appears to be slowing down or is stuck in their process. I might insert a suggestion to add more detail to a scene, clarify a confusing situation, or spice up some dialogue. These comments are not for proofreading or editing (back off, inner editor!)—at this point my goal is to encourage writers so they can keep writing and add to their word count each day.
Daily schedule: Nearly every day in November we work on our novels, but those big blocks of writing time need to include breaks. We need time to take our heads out of our stories, move our bodies, grab a drink of water, and talk with friends about our writing. My students work much better when they know those breaks are coming, so I post the daily schedule on the board, including how many minutes for each section. I have even seen students write with more enthusiasm and speed when they know that we are coming to the end of a writing block.
Resources: Sometimes writers need resources during our quiet writing time. It’s valuable training for students to learn to work independently and access resources without interrupting others. To encourage that productive work, I provide resources around the room that students are welcome to use any time they need them: stacks of writing prompt cards, books of writing tips, art supplies for doodling ideas, quiet fidgets, and access to water. It doesn’t take long for them to learn to get what they need without interfering with others.
Try some of these strategies so a struggling writer doesn’t become a Red Bull in a China shop, crashing into all your other writers!