After the End

Teaching and Learning Creative Revision

By Barry Lane

In school we teach children to write research papers that often end up being lists of facts nailed together instead of a legitimate inquiry into a topic. Barry Lane suggests that personal curiosity makes writing more interesting and encourages the habit of asking questions, which we can then be answered. He encourages the use of detail saying it is the best tool any writer has to bring writing into focus and find deeper meaning. The more a writer struggles to describe something, the more it comes alive. We need to develop new habits of seeing. Once writers develop the habit of questioning to find more details, imaginations usually meet the challenge.

Barry has a lot of practical suggestions in his book to help bring out this "rich" kind of writing. He likens writing to having a magic camera that can point at the world and create snapshots that contain smells and sounds as well as colors and lights. Barry writes about many useful ideas including the idea of not grading a paper but rather the progress a student makes over time. He suggests praising children's writing specifically so that the class can relate to the comment and not feel that they need to seek the teacher's approval. He has many ideas that I would like to try. I think this is a book I would love to own.