Details, Endings, Beginnings, Organization

I find a loose progression as learners become more skilled. At first, it may be only a single detail, a couple of words that catch your attention in a piece that is mostly disorganized and vague. Something in the description of a person or animal stands out, and I can point to it as a good detail that makes me see a picture, or that adds something more specific to the information the writer has already given me.

I find that good endings come sooner than good beginnings, because learners often start a piece without a clear idea of where it’s going, but gather steam as they go along, and finish more strongly. Their piece will have a good ending, but a weak beginning. (Later they will spend some effort thinking about their whole story before they begin to write, or they will go back to edit their beginning after they finish their draft.)

When I’m looking for things to comment on, I find good details and strong endings even in the work of the least skilled writers in the group. Details and endings are important to every writer, and I am happy to keep reinforcing their importance.

More skilled writers also have other things to offer to the group, such as good beginnings, and good organization. So likely I will not comment in the group on their details or endings; instead, they provide examples of these later-developing skills for everyone to look to.

Of course, this timeline is only an approximation. Sometimes a learner who is only beginning to write is a great storyteller and produces a beginning with a real hook, or organizes the story to a surprising conclusion.

One year a learner, talking about the difference between her former school experience and this one, said: “We are all teachers here.” I asked her to make a banner and we hung it up at the front of the room.