Linda left a comment on my last rereading post reminding us about the voices we ask kids to turn off when they are writing. You know the voices — the monsters that tell you evil things like: This is dumb; You can’t write: Why are you writing those words?
These monsters must be squelched. This was my biggest ahha when writing Day by Day. Before then, I can honestly say the Little Monsters didn’t talk to me much. They were loud and clear when I first started drafting Day by Day. In fact, I attempted to write for three weeks, with nothing to show for it. Finally I realized I had to fight back. I learned to turn them off and since then have taught many young writers about the monsters in our brains.
The Little Writer in my brain isn’t like the monsters. The Little Writer is good and tells me important things. I think sometimes young writers think they already know what their writing is about so when they reread they “check out.” The Little Writer can help them focus and pay attention to places revision or editing can take place.
Here is the image I shared with fifth graders this week, when teaching them the difference between the Evil Monster and the Little Writer in their brains.
Here is the list the fifth graders generated during the share session after listening to the Little Writer in their brains.
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Were your boys engaged? I can imagine that they were with your cartoon illustration and the image of a monster. They can attack in battle, something that they might not even have recognized. I appreciate you sharing how the evil monster has interrupted your writing. I learned a lesson today as well. Thanks.
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The Evil Monster visited me yesterday when I wrote the 3rd part of my “building” post. I said to myself, “Who really cares about my childhood home?” This morning without saying anything about my post, my oldest son Eric remarked that my posts have really been good, lately. I looked at him with surprise. He said he is finally finding out things about me and my family that he never knew. The Evil Monster goes down again!!! I’m back!!!
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I like that you showed a way to teach the difference. It makes so much sense to explain both ideas to students, and using cartoons is a good way to illustrate the difference, too. They will help cement the ideas in a playful way.
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I love how you presented this idea of the “Little Writer” and the “Little Monster” in our brains with a cartoon drawing. My class is full of cartoonists so it would be great to see how they could illustrate the “Little Writer” inside themselves.
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