Write to Reward Your Reader is by Bill Birchard and was just published at the Harvard Business Review.
And, it’s a real interesting one.
He basically repackages (with some twists) what a lot of us teach our students about writing in a neuroscience framework that is very concise, emphasizing that good writer should follow these rules:
Keep it simple
Keep it specific
Keep it stirring
Keep it social
He offers helpful suggestions and examples for each one.
The short article could easily be divided into four bite-sized pieces and taught as separate engaging lessons.
I’m adding this post to Best Posts On Writing Instruction.
The same day this article came out, two other writing-related tweets came out that I thought I would add to the is post:
I’m adding this tweet to The Best Resources On Getting Student Writers To “Buy-Into” Revision – Help Me Find More:
Ninety percent of writing is rewriting, dear writer.
— Brent Staples (@BrentNYT) November 19, 2020
And, then, there was this “beauty”:
I’m waiting for a student to use that response to me when we are conferencing about his/her essay. https://t.co/AfMp6lTxCO
— Larry Ferlazzo (@Larryferlazzo) November 19, 2020
Thanks, Larry. This is a great article, and it dawned on me as I was reading it that thanks to your sharing it, I will use these methods. Not only with my students who, like yours, I am sure, hate writing lessons but love writing. But also in my own writing, which will get better and better as I use these pointers.
That was my first attempt!
Thanks again,
Gordon