Quick-Writes: Creativity First, Rules Second

Take a moment, and ask your child what comes to her mind when she thinks about writing. How would she define writing? What kinds of ideas and emotions—or even worries and fears—does the word stir up? Students with a natural affinity for writing may consider it "fun," "interesting," even "easy." But other students find writing difficult and rule-bound. They fret about following each grammar rule, to the point that their own creativity and ambition pays the price.

Of course, correct grammar and spelling are incredibly important. It's a sad fact that fewer and fewer schools offer grammar as part of their core curricula. But while grammar is a key part of a term paper or a college-admissions essay, it shouldn't turn into a daunting roadblock that keeps kids from expressing themselves creatively. This is where writing differs significantly from such disciplines as algebra or chemistry. Success in math and science relies upon adherence to a series of steps. While there's plenty of room for outside-the-box thinking by mathematicians and scientists, you can't exactly get creative with a geometry proof or a chemistry solution (unless you want your eyebrows singed off).

Writing, on the other hand, welcomes and rewards creativity. If you sense that your child is becoming bogged down in the rules of writing, to the point where he's reluctant to express himself on paper, consider adding quick-writes to your tutoring sessions. Quick-writes are what the name implies: brief writing sessions (typically no more than five or ten minutes) that place a premium on ideas, not grammatical perfection. The goal of a quick-write is to jot down as many ideas as possible, in response to a certain prompt. The ideas can be linear (i.e., in a story or essay format), they can be in diagram form (such as a table or spider-map), and they can even include drawings. While grammar is very important to the finished piece—the paper that your child turns into his teacher or submits to the essay contest—it simply is not that crucial in the early stages of writing.

What is crucial is freedom and creativity. When you place a premium on creativity, you are telling your child that her ideas are important and valued. This type of subtle encouragement can move a child from a fear of grammatical imperfection to a love of creative expression.

And here's the thing: There's no need to sacrifice technical correctness. Once your child has finished the quick-write activity, you and she can work together to put her ideas into a story, essay, or poem format. Then, the two of you can collaborate in fixing any grammar, punctuation, or spelling slip-ups. By completing the steps in this order, you are sending the very important message that your child's ideas are valued first, and only once she has expressed herself do the rules and regulations come into play.

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