Since 2019 marks the
10th Anniversary of this blog, on Fridays this year, I’m updating and
re-running some past posts that sparked conversation or that I think still have
a lot to offer people teaching or writing nonfiction. Today’s post originally
appeared on May 18, 2016.
their writing.
process of creating No
Monkeys, No Chocolate and the 6.5-year process of creating Can
an Aardvark Bark? so that teachers would have an engaging way to show young writers that professional writers revise. A lot.
students that revising our writing is really no different than practicing a
sport or rehearsing for a musical concert.
practice so they can develop the skills they need to beat rival teams.
perfectly when they perform in front of an audience.
preparing for what’s really important—writing the final draft, the piece the world sees.
elementary audiences, and sometimes, well—not so much. And so I’ve been
searching for an analogy that really hits home for kids, and I’ve finally
found one—renovation.
Some students have lived through a home
remodel. Others have seen dramatic renovations on HGTV. So when I show them
real BEFORE and AFTER photos of a house, and ask which one they’d rather live
in, the kids don’t let me down.
rough draft, and the AFTER house to a final draft, their eyes really do light
up with understanding. It’s a beautiful thing.
But that’s not where my analogy ends. I explain that before someone starts
remodeling their kitchen, the room might leave a lot to be desired, but it still functions. You can cook a meal in it.
But after you pull out the cabinets and counters and appliances, the room is a
bigger mess than when you started. And in fact, it doesn’t function at all. You
have to cook in a microwave in the living room and wash dishes in the
bathroom sink.
The same is true for revising a manuscript. In the middle of the process, the
writing might be a big mess. Maybe even worse than the first draft. It takes
time and patience to focus on one challenge at a time and slowly create
something better than the original.
In a home remodel, first the new drywall goes up (structure). Then the new
cabinets, countertops, and appliances are installed (writing style, voice,
point of view). The walls are painted (word choice), and finally the new
window coverings and accessories are added (conventions). If students go
step-by-step through the revision process and accept that it isn’t always easy,
they can end up with the manuscript of their dreams.
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3 Responses
Eureka! Glad you found the right metaphor and thank you for sharing it!
Love this analogy!
Such a perfect comparison, Melissa. Congrats on 10 years of blogging and al the work you've done to demystify NF and make it fun! Cheers to you.