Goodbyes and Some Last Bits of Advice
Well, here we are. It’s spring, you are in the middle of exams and I am packing up. It’s been a wonderful year. I’ve been amazed by all the work I’ve seen, all the poems, stories, plays, essays and unclassifiable bits and pieces you’ve brought. Sometime in the future, I’ll be cheering from the sidelines and saying proudly I met them when…
You are all very brave. Thank you.
And, not only that, but you’ve sent me some questions for my last week. So here’s my answers:
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Question:
How do you give feedback to a person who has poor writing? E.g. lack of plot structure, unclear character intentions, clunky grammar and dialogue?
Answer:
Be kind but not enabling. Really try to see what they were attempting, and push them in that direction. Try to find a few things to praise without hyperbole. And then be frank without brutality. It will help them. To be honest, I have sympathy with the bad writers. I think it’s a developmental stage to work through. Honestly, I was a terrible writer when I started to write (this is not false modesty. I have the poems somewhere. They are awful). And it took a long time to get better. Give them the kind of feedback that will encourage them while making them understand they need to push themselves harder or they don’t have a snowball’s chance.
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Question:
How to live life when you’re this busy? I only read 3 books this year because of too many assignments!
Answer:
You will graduate. It will get better. Three books a year is not bad. Make sure you also make time for things that aren’t reading (and for more reading).
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Question:
How do you balance school work and personal writing?
Answer:
By the discipline of short busts of personal writing. Set a realistic goal. 300 words a day is usually mine when I’m teaching or busy with other things. That’s a short paragraph. You’ll find it adds up. And keeps you in tune with what you want to be writing. That said, work for school is also writing, and can contain the germ of something useful. It’s all part of developing what playwright Alan Bennet calls “The habit of art.”
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Question:
Don’t leave us, Kate!
Answer:
Thank you. Be well. I can’t wait to see where you all go.
