Sacred Writing Time
So, I should have been writing. I should have been revising or scribbling or otherwise generating. I did not do what I should have, though. I read. I read an article about how to navigate narratives war veterans might write regarding their military service. The overall premise is safety first for the writers, and allowing them freedom to write about those stories if they so choose. The advice was against a war-story theme for a course, and I agree that could be very traumatic and troublesome. Create a safe environment for students to task risks.
The article got me thinking about the vets I’ve had in my classes and how many of them did not write about those experiences. I never expected them to; trauma is something a writer has to be ready to write about, not something to be forced. The original trauma is forced, so why create another layer of trauma unncessarily? It would have the opposite effect. I’ve seen that in my Personal Writing class. When I push too hard, I can create an environment of perceived hostility. Sometimes our dedication to the product as teachers comes across as uncaring about the writers as people.
The author of the article reinforced the value of a practice I have: Writing with the students. He does not share his drafts with students, but I do. He writes with his students to understand the complexities and challenges of the assignments, to help identify potential minefields and trouble spots, which is why I do it, too. It just makes good, sound practice, because how do you know the impact an assignment has on students if you, as the teacher, haven’t tried it out yourself? I think that keeps us thinking about our assignments in a more authentic, real fashion. The more I teach writing, the more I long for deeper authenticity. Granted, there’s a certain level of artifice to whatever we assign, but what I mean is that I want students of writing to be able to delve into themselves to find something of motivation and interest in whatever writing situation they find themselves in.
I’m seriously toying with the idea of not creating a defined course schedule this fall, of being more organic. I always end up changing things around, anyway, so why not allow myself, and my students, some flexibility when it comes to creating and assigning projects? As long as I meet the outcomes and objectives of the courses, I don’t see the problem. Well, except for the more anal retentive students. They’ll adjust.
Namaste… MS
