Subject: Friend, let's talk about the discipline of writing, NaNoWriMo, a transcript question
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
The Everyday Educator 31 October 2011 In This Issue
Dear Friend, November begins tomorrow, and if you have been with me for any amount of time, you know that the big event in November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). If you have a student who is interested in writing, or who thrives with a challenge, consider letting them do the NaNoWriMo challenge -- write a 50,000+ word novel in the month of November. It's a huge incentive to sit down and put words on paper (or into the computer, for most of us), and it really helps students learn that writing is all about sitting down and writing. Not planning, not hoping, not wishing, not thinking about it, not talking-- just sitting and writing. You can read more about it in the feature article below (it's also in the blog archive, and you'll find the link below if you'd rather read online). The second thing I have for you is the answer to a reader's question about transcripts. You'll find that right below the feature article, and I hope you'll find it helpful. Enjoy your week! Blessings, Janice Campbell FeatureThe Discipline of WritingI was sitting at a sidewalk table last week, enjoying a cup of coffee, when I overheard a group of twenty-somethings at the next table talking about the writers’ conference that was starting over the weekend. The conversation turned to the art of writing.“It just takes so long to get inspired…” “I get stuck making the first paragraph perfect, and never get any farther.” “I get this great idea, then the phone rings, and it’s my friend, and I end up going out and when I get back the idea is gone, and I don’t have anything to say.” “There’s just not enough time. I get home from work, and it’s dinner, catch the news, work out, go out with friends, walk the dog, call my mom, whatever. There’s just not enough time to write.” “When I write, I have to get my music going, light candles, make sure everything’s perfect, then I can get in the the mood, and it will all flow.” “I can write pages and pages, and I know it’s good, so I don’t even have to go back to read it. Someday, I’m going to sit down and write a whole book.” Anytime I hear a conversation about writing, I’m fascinated. Writing is my avocation– something I’ve done steadily since childhood, at one level or another. Although I started with some of the same ideas as the young people I overheard, I’ve since learned a few things. If you wait for inspiration, you’ll never write anything. If you stop to perfect the first paragraph, you’ll never get any farther. If you don’t stop distractions, they will stop you. If you don’t take the time to write, you’ll never be a writer. You have the same 24 hours a day that everyone else has. You choose how you’re going to spend it. If you wait for the perfect mood, moment, and method, it’s likely that you’ll still be waiting when the undertaker arrives. If you fall in love with your words as they spill unedited onto the page, you’ll never write well. An 1879 article from the New York Times (download in PDF) eloquently elaborates on Byron’s point that “easy writing is cursed hard reading.” Almost anyone can learn basic writing skills; many people can learn to write well; a few will become writers. The foundation for each level of skill is not talent, but discipline. If you want to learn to write, you must do two things:
It’s that simple. Sit down and write using whatever method is at hand. Don’t wait for a new computer, a soft leather notebook, new purple pens, 27 years of backstory, full biographies for all the supporting characters, the perfect name for your main character (just use “Fred” until inspiration strikes), complete details on the historical context, or the stars to align. Just sit down and write. When you have written, it’s time to edit and rewrite. Evaluate your prose; cut the fat; sharpen your verbs, tighten the narrative. If you have trouble evaluating your own writing, find a manuscript evaluator* or editor that you can trust, and get some feedback. If you aren’t writing, you can’t be a writer, no matter what you
If you aren’t doing it, you aren’t a writer. If you want to write, sit down and write. That’s how Jane Austen did it. That’s how Victor Hugo did it. That’s how you’ll have to do it, if you really want to be a writer. You may or may not have the creativity, knowledge, and skills needed to become an Edith Wharton or a C.S. Lewis, but if you have self-discipline to sit down and write, whether or not conditions are perfect, you’ll grow in the skills you need to become a writer. Teaching WritingIf you are teaching students to write, the two best things they can do are
For writing practice, there are many things students can do beyond essays and reports. They can write letters, journal, blog, publish a newsletter on a topic they love, and more. The blog is a good place to practice the discipline of a regular writing schedule. My blog serves as one of my rough draft “notebooks.” I capture ideas in my blog posts, and often develop them later in articles, workshops, or books. Now there’s an idea you can use! http://www.janice-campbell.com/2008/10/14/the-discipline-of-writing-nanowrimo/ Answer to a Transcript QuestionI received an interesting question and thought I'd share it, along with the answer, here in case anyone else was wondering about this. Question Answer (briefly summarized): The short answer to this is that the student earns 1/2 of a Carnegie unit and quality points for each standard semester of study. For those three examples, here are the details: The Analysis and Interpretation of Literature CLEP is worth 6 college credits (for colleges that accept CLEP credit, of course), which is two college semesters worth of work. It was recorded on the transcript during the semester when it was taken, but it received the whole Carnegie unit of dual credit and the weighted grade points for the two semesters of work that went into studying the subject. The two college classes involved a judgment call (based on the syllabus, the textbook, time spent, and a brief e-mail to each of the professors) about the amount of material covered, and the equivalence to high school courses for the purpose of awarding the dual credit. The accompanying cover letter can provide an explanation if you do something similar with your student's transcript. The Pre-Calculus class with Trigonometry covered an entire textbook, which at the high school level counts as the completion of an entire Carnegie unit. Time spent on class work was at least 120 hours, which is another way to measure units. According to the professor, the class covered the material that would be covered in an advanced math class at the high school level, so the unit and quality points were awarded on this basis. The French classes were one semester each. French I was intense, and covered material at the same level as the precalculus class, so it was awarded units and points in the same way. The French II class was the same, but due to a typo, the quality points were not doubled as they should have been. I'm sorry for the confusing information there! One semester of language at the college-level language classes is usually equal to one year of high school language for dual credit purposes. The bottom line is that each college will refigure the grade point average of all the transcripts it receives (not just homeschoolers) using its own system. Some allow weighted grades and some don't, but it's nothing to worry about. Use them if you want to, and the college will do as it pleases, which is a very freeing thing to know. One last thing-- my correspondent alerted me to the fact that the e-mail address in some older editions of Transcripts Made Easy book is jc@everydayeducation.com, which is no longer in service. It should be jceved@comcast.net. AnnouncementsIt's almost time for SATs, and the registration deadlines are coming up soon. I've had inquiries from near Charlottesville and near Yorktown about doing a Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop there. I don't mind doing them, but we'd need someone to "host"-- just find a meeting room and take registrations-- in exchange for free tuition. Let me know if you're interested!I hope that you've enjoyed this issue of the e-zine. If you have questions you'd like to have answered, please feel free to e-mail me, and I'll do my best to get you an answer. Please feel free to forward it in its entirety to anyone who may enjoy it, and invite them to subscribe. Thank you! |
||||||
P.S. Your reward for reading down the page is a photo of my sweet granddaughter, Imogen Violet, who just turned one year old;-). She's been such a joy to all of us. 
One thing to remember is that input must come before output. Your students must read well-written writing before they can be expected to produce quality writing of their own. Reading good writing not only helps fledgling writers to develop an ear for the rhythm and cadence of well-constructed prose, but it also teaches them how to express big ideas in concrete ways.