2005 Interview Project Analysis

  1. Unless the writer has strong confidence, teacher/peer criticism can be counterproductive.
  2. Teacher interest in the particulars of our writing can be stronger than praise
  3. Family involvement (audience, models, cheerers-on) is a powerful presence in writing.
  4. Writing events that give students real audience and purpose increase motivation, even events that precipitate nothing more sophisticated than letters, or surreptitiously passed notes.
  5. Confronting writing demons gives them less power.
  6. When students don't have room for choice in topic/format, they are forced to write for a grade, for what they think the teacher wants from them, and don't find writing to be a voicing experience
  7. Writers vary in the genres that they prefer and are often anxious about writing in those with which they have had little success.
  8. Procrastination is a serious writing problem, perhaps a habit brought about because the writer too often had no wish to do assignments in the first place or feared the hyper-critical teacher.
  9. Writers have very different conditions that facilitate their concentration: loud music, no music, music with lyrics and without, T.V. in the background, hustle bustle in the background, severe isolation, friends in proximity to try things out on.
  10. Writers have developed different processes that work for them, often very different from one another.
  11. Writing is much more fun/creative in elementary school and often becomes a chore in secondary school; students seemed to regain voice sometime during college
  12. Students all liked to write in some circumstances but realized that they were the survivors in the school systems if they wanted to be teachers of writing.