When it comes to writing stories, either for homework or for leisure, do your kids ever complain that they don’t know what to write about?
In this blog I am going to discuss why a child may feel that they have an overwhelming feeling of brain fog or writers block when it comes to creative writing and what we can do as parents and teachers to help them.
Don’t Know What to Write About!
Even when there is a set story line or plot to a story that a child is required to write about, children will often fret or grumble that they don’t know what to write. Not knowing what to write can happen for many reasons. Some of these reasons I will now go onto explain, and give you a few ideas of how we may be able to overcome them.
Do They Understand the Task?
Firstly, we need to make sure that the child understands the assignment. This can be done by asking the child what they have to do and allowing them to answer in their own words as well as a further explanation should they require it.
Writers Block and How to Overcome It.
Writers block is basically when you can’t come up with any ideas what to write about, and is very common amongst writers, who feel the pressure to come up with original ideas and story lines.
Luckily it is more acceptable for children to steal a few ideas from other stories and make them their own. After all children have fantastic imaginations.
One way to conquer writers block or brain fog, as it is also known, is to read more as well as watch more movies, however reading does have a few more benefits such as exposure to new words and how they are spelled.
One thing that I like to do when I have writers block is to close my eyes and imagine a scene in my story that I want to explore and write about. I then ask myself a set of questions, for example;
How would my character react?
What happens next?
Where do I want my story to go?
How will I get there?
How does my character feel?
Also by thinking “what, when, how, where, and who”, this will help us to answer some questions that are stopping us from coming up with ideas.
Being confident to ask these questions and explore their creativity and imagination, without the fear of making mistakes will help children to share their ideas.
Lack of Confidence.
When it comes to story writing one of the biggest things that can hold a child back is confidence. Children may worry that they will be judged for writing something that is different, voicing an opinion that may not be popular or not getting their spelling or grammar correct.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
This can stop a child from being creative and exploring different, more exciting story lines because they are concentrating on getting their spelling, grammar and punctuation correct and not standing out.
The best way to overcome lack of confidence in writing stories is to encourage creative writing where the focus is on the imaginative story and not the spelling, etc. Doing this will build a child’s confidence. develop independence within their work and help them to learn new skills. The more children practice and develop their skills in creative writing the less they will worry about making a mistake and the better and more confident they will become in both inventing imaginative stories and in their spelling, grammar and punctuation.
In this blog I have discussed why a child may not feel confident when it comes to creative writing and how this will often present itself as writers block or lack of interest. I have shared a few ideas of how we as parents and teachers can help children to become more confident creative writers, explore new ideas and be open to making mistakes.
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