When my daughter, Jaimie, started Grade One, she struggled in many areas. In addition to her sensory issues, she also dealt with praxis issues (which means she wasn't able to learn or follow tasks that had too many steps); she would often get 'stuck' on a specific way of doing a task and not understand how to branch out or learn it in a new way; and she struggled with verbal instruction. You can imagine how frustrating learning could be for her when she had all of these hurdles in her way.
With the help of an awesome occupational therapist (OT) and an amazing bunch of teachers, we learned tools best-suited to Jaimie's needs that have helped her bloom and grow. One of these tools was a 'Word Flower', which not only helped Jaimie with learning words and writing but also helped me with my writing! And I thought it would be something that could help all of you too.
This is is a tool that taps into visual learning, gets you branching out beyond your regular line of thinking and really gets those thinking juices flowing. I'm sure many of you have heard of different ways of doing this but I loved the concept Jaimie's teacher used.
See the flowers above? Think of an everyday word you use frequently (eg: sad) and write it in the middle. Then think of five other ways to say that word. For example, Jaimie came up with glum, sorrowful, down-in-the-dumps, unhappy and downcast for her Word Flower for 'sad'. It sounds pretty basic but, you know what? As a writer, I've found this tool useful and I write the words I come up with for my own personal thesaurus I keep beside my computer. And as an editor, it gives me a way to help an author using a specific word way too much to branch out.
Another great writing strategy is creating 'Word Choice Lists'. Jaimie's teacher created a table with headings like 'Speech Words', 'Movements' and 'Loud Sounds' with tons of words listed under each. Or, you could create a table where you have two headings 'How It's Said' and 'Words to Substitute'. Write subheadings under the 'How It's Said' column such as, 'In a happy way', 'In a sad way', 'In a tired way', etc. then list different action words you'd use to show 'sad' or 'tired' beside the subheadings.
Jaimie's teacher got the kids to create a folder where they'd glue their Word Flowers onto as well as keep their other tables I suggested above. This is the place they'd keep their journals and other writing booklets so they had easy access to their writing tools when they struggled with writing assignments. These strategies helped Jaimie's writing so much. And on top of that, it also helped her learn to expand her way of thinking and looking at how to complete an assignment.
Today, she's doing so well on her own that she doesn't even need to use her writing tools as often, which is awesome because I've claimed her folder! Who says we can't learn from kids?
Feel free to share your own writing tools and strategies. Branch out beyond the usual Thesaurus or Dictionary and get those writing juices bubbling.
Happy writing, everyone.
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By: Robyn Chausse,
on 7/31/2011
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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By: Robyn,
on 5/12/2011
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writer's Tools, editing services, Robyn Chausse, DARedit, AutomatedEditing.com, Don Russell, Add a tag
I love to write. Taking in the information from the world around me and transmuting it into what I hope is a cohesive structure that others can understand and relate to gives me a sense of purpose and connection. Once I feel that I am close to being finished though my enthusiasm takes a dive—it’s editing time. All the time spent reading and rereading the same document hoping I don’t miss a mistake and knowing that I probably will—it’s such a grind! If the editing process lands you slumped in despair banging your head with your mouse you need to check out AutomatedEditing.com.
The summary states character count, word count, sentence count and how many errors were found.
By: Robyn Chausse,
on 5/12/2011
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writer's Tools, editing services, DARedit, AutomatedEditing.com, Robyn Chausse, Don Russell, Add a tag
Anything that says "cut and paste" sounds like something even I can handle, so I gave it a whirl. I fed it emails, .pdfs, text from Blogger, and Word .docs complete with embedded links and highlighting. Here is what the readout looks like:
The summary states character count, word count, sentence count and how many errors were found.
The detailed report shows errors in punctuation, improper word usage, participial phrasing, clauses of reason and more. Hard Errors are those known as problems 80% of the time; Flags are suspected errors that need a discriminating eye. Copy the analysis and save it in your own file. Knowing which areas to review and which ones are clean frees up time to devote to those processes of editing requiring human evaluation such as Point of View. Read more information on DARedit’s capabilities at the end of this page.
By: Jill,
on 1/16/2011
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: writing tips, writing, Jill Earl, Writer's Tools, trade magazines for writers, Add a tag
Writer’s Digest. The Writer. WRITERS Journal. Poets & Writers. These are the trade magazines for writers, and great additions to your tool kit. With the latest industry news, trends, and interviews with established and emerging writers, they offer techniques and other resources to build your skills. The magazines also have websites with additional content, many times only available online. And of course, they have market listings to submit your work, including the mags themselves. Following is a quick rundown of each.
The veteran of the group, The Writer, calls itself ‘The essential resource for writers since 1887’. One feature,‘The Writer Archive’, focuses on an element of the craft of writing from past articles. There are reviews of newly released books to browse. You can check out their blog to get into the minds of the mag’s staffers. And now, registered users can post comments on any columns or articles in the ‘Columns and Articles’ sections of the site.
With the motto, ‘Write Better, Get Published’, Writer’s Digest (WD) is a favorite of many writers. Highlights include the ‘101 Best Websites for Writers’; ‘Writer’s Workbook’, which covers specific areas of writing; and the WD contests in Popular Fiction, Poetry, Short Short Story, the International Self-Published Book Awards and the annual Writing Competition with multiple categories to enter.
My favorite is Poets & Writers, the largest nonprofit serving creative writers dedicated to taking writers ‘From Inspiration to Publication’. There’s always a comprehensive list of upcoming conferences and residencies, and awards and grants recipients; In addition, there’s a continuing series where agents and editors share their experiences and their wants from writers. And readers can start applying what they’ve learned from ‘The Practical Writer’.
To wrap up, there’s WRITERS’ Journal, ‘The complete writer’s magazine’. Offerings include contest listings, including ‘Write to Win!’; columns on how to break into niche markets, promoting your writing properly, and photography how-tos, among others. And the ‘Books for the Writer’s Bookshelf’ area always has a selection to whet the appetite.
So, if you haven’t already, add one, a couple--or all of these trades to your tool kit. They’re the tickets to equip you to be the best writer you can be.
By Jill Earl
Photo credit: Microsoft
By: Robyn,
on 10/30/2010
Blog: WOW! Women on Writing Blog (The Muffin) (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Finding Inspiration, Reference Books, Writer's Tools, Robyn Chausse, Confessions of a Reference Book Junkie, Build your Library, building your reference library, Add a tag
I like this visual approach Chynna!
So agree with usefulness for writing, too.
Think that is why mind mapping really appeals to me--the visual, even colour!
Thanks for sharing the ideas.
Hi Patricia! Glad you liked these ideas. I'm very visual too and found these so helpful. I learned about mind-mapping in psychology, ironically enough. But I loved how Jaimie's teachers borrowed the concept and made it kid-friendly. =D
Thanks for your comment! 'See' you again soon, I hope!
Chynna
Oh my gosh - this is such a great tool! I will definitely use it, because it creates a visual for me that is so much better than just making a list - which is what I do now. Thanks to you and Jamie for a great idea (p.s. My main character in The Christmas Village is named Jamie, not quite the same, but almost!)
Hey, cool idea!
Thanks for sharing, Chynna.
I like the idea of keeping all of this in a folder too.