All Things Writing Northwest

Writers are advised to, "trust the process." A more broadly relevant bit of advice is summed up as, "You are what you do." Mastery of language tasks is a matter of time, whether reading, writing, or speaking. If the task is in the form of a test, the shortcut is to be very familiar with the test format, and then to study up. These steps can take you a long way, but they can't fully make up for years of not reading or of rarely writing a polished piece of work. Diverse classroom environments, especially, should provide ample time for students to read and write --ideally with as much choice as possible. If children read and write, they will get better at it. Teachers and tutors then put the ideas in context, helping students to join the human conversation we began to record around 700BCE.

How to improve writing? Read! Or try this ... Listen! Research shows that listening to audiobooks is the next-best-thing, and is even very effective at improving both literacy and writing. I was shocked. The way it works is by developing one's familiarity with conventions of written dialogue, textual rendering of lived experience, and with the construction of a narrative. Eyeballs are still important, and our brains' ability to decipher printed text will only improve with practice, but now we have even more reason to fill our commute, housework, and yardwork with literature!

Preparing for the SAT/ACT? There are a couple of tricks to doing better, but the most effective approach is to practice. 1) Get the College Board's latest SAT prep book, or the "Real ACT" book. These are from the companies that writes the tests. Barron's is the next best for each of these. 2) Take the test multiple times. The SAT "super-scores" results for each section, throwing out the lower scores from multiple attempts. It's also super important to be familiar with the format. 3) On the SAT, do not read the entire reading comprehension passages -except for literature. Read the intro that precedes the passage, then read the first and last sentence of each paragraph. Then summarize the passage for yourself before moving on to the first question. The most important thing to know is what the passage is about, and how it's structured. The guts of the paragraphs develop the ideas, while the first/last are the outline of the arguments.

PhD Dissertation or Masters Thesis?

Your research and expertise—the culmination of years of work—deserves a high degree of polish. You can ensure that your final document has the organizational and rhetorical directness to give it the power you need. I will lend my trained eye to work with you, reviewing documents for effective word choice, sentence structure, clarity, flow, and navigability. Publication demands editing and proofreading, and even the most accomplished writers have many readers who help them maintain a standard of professionalism.

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It's rare that teachers will take the time to comment upon a student's work. This is because it's a grueling process, and because students are usually not required to do anything with the feedback.
But what if they are required? A multi-draft assignment can make a huge difference for a large percentage of students. A child learns that words and their audience matter. A child will think critically about the choices available in making meaning and will see the role of conventions, mechanics, and structure in reproducing his or her voice on a page. This, ultimately, is the point.
What's a parent to do to ensure a child will experience success? Ensure every child reads every day. Have your child read his/her/per work to you. Insist upon second drafts. Hire a tutor. Statistically, children with tutors do 20% better in school.
And if the teacher is "missing something," don't be shy about asking for a conference. Meetings are inconvenient but essential. At least you'll know what's really going on there.