March
18
Creative Writing: AR Reflecting on Growth in Writing
One of the most important parts of learning is the reflective process for the learner. It’s like a feedback loop or a litmus test of sorts – when you continue to look at recent or current work and assess it asking yourself questions like:
- is this work I’m proud of?
- is this writing piece a good representation of my abilities as a writer?
- is there anything in what I’m writing that’s challenging me, my development of ideas, my creativity, or my style of writing?
- what’s my attitude towards the work I’m developing? Am I doing it with intent or am I falling into passively writing without being thoughtful or purposeful in it?
- what is my goal in my recent and future writing pieces? am I focusing on improving syntax (sentence structure)? Am I trying to develop more consistent use of punctuation and mechanics? Am I focusing more on a full story or realistic characters, over careful sentence development?
- am I trying to write like anyone else? Am I feeling self-conscious of what I’m developing? Am I comparing myself to another writer who’s invested more time in their writing style than I have?
- am I doing this just for a grade (in Creative Writing class) or am I doing it for some personal reasons/enjoyment?
In your ELA classes, this type of Metacognitive practices (learning about yourself as a learner) are called AR Tasks (Assess and Reflect Tasks). Here’s your first one in Creative Writing 20.
Consider these questions in relation to the last 1 or 2 writing pieces you’ve developed, based on the Senses Image Cluster work.
To remind you of those steps, you’ve recently done the following:
- selected a location with ambient sounds and used it to brainstorm and Freewrite the 5 sense elements you’d expect in that sound environment (volleyball tournament, country garden, camping location, or fireplace setting, for example)
- You developed a Writing Activity #1 based on that Freewrite and sensory elements. There was formative (during the writing) feedback given.
- You developed a Writing Activity #2 based on the same sensory focus and received formative feedback on this as well.
- You’ve taken some time to review and make edits/corrections to your writing and should start recognizing the types of common errors you’re making in the writing as well as some of the positives/strengths in what you’ve developed.
Now, consider the following questions for your AR Reflective Task:
- What are your main errors in the writing you’ve recently developed? Are there constant errors you can identify as well as some occasional errors?
- Do you recognize/understand how to avoid some/all of these errors? Explain what you need to do instead to avoid some of the biggest/most constant errors.
- What do you like about what you’ve written in these recent samples? Identify a few specific things you like most.
- What could your goal(s) be to improve in the short term (near future)?
- Identify one change in story direction you could have taken with your writing piece.