Letter to a Young Blogger

Dear Young Writers, 

I'm writing from Strum Hall at the University of Denver, after a day of attending lots of cool--or at least cool to me--presentations on how to create community writing projects that are reciprocal, meaningful, and promote a better, more just world. 

View of University of Denver campus from Strum Hall (my photo)

In between sessions, I started reading your summaries of the articles, stories, and TedTalks you'll be writing about in your first blog posts. And I quickly realized that despite your uncanny ability to quickly and fairly summarize events in your life, movies, and TikToks, when you are asked to write a summary of an article, or a TedTalk in the context of a school assignment, your writing muscles inevitably tense up, and your writing becomes as stiff as my forty-four year old right knee. It's not your fault. You've been conditioned to do what you are told in school, and so your problem-solving skills are a bit rusty.

The summary is but one piece of your blog post, a way to introduce this "thing" you will be analyzing, reviewing, exploring in your blog post for the week. The best way to think about what you write then is to ask yourself these questions: 

• What questions might they have as the start reading my post?
• What does someone who may not have read or watched this thing I'll be discussing need to know first? 

Let's say you bring a friend to a party. Let's call this friend Stranger for clarity's sake.

Photo by Kelsey Chance on Unsplash

Now, Stranger only knows you, which means you might find yourself saying something like "This is Stranger. We've been friends since middle school, so be nice to her, Okay!?" throughout the night to introduce Stranger to other strangers. 

And so you should introduce this thing you've read to your blog readers in the same way that you would introduce them to Stranger. 

Your summary should give your blog readers some basic facts about the text you'll explore and share with your readers. 

But the summary (the introduction) is only the beginning of a conversation. To go back to the party metaphor, as the night progresses, and Stranger becomes more familiar with your other friends, you are likely to start sharing more intimate stories about your friendship. For example, you might share with your friends your favorite things about Stranger, what you've learned from her, why you value your friendship, etc. 

Likewise, as your blog post progresses from the intro to the body paragraphs, you'll probably want to explore your answer to questions like: 

• What is your overall reaction to the text you chose to write about? 
• Do you agree with the writer's arguments? Were you moved by the story? Why? 
• What memories does this text trigger for you? 
• What insights can you provide for your readers that will allow them to listen more closely, more openly to this story or TedTalk you've been listening to? 

In short, what have you learned from reading this text? 

Then, you can explore what you've learned from this writer about writing as a craft that is at its best when writers carefully consider their audiences, purpose, and the genre they are working with to accomplish their personal goals for that target audience. 

This means exploring questions like 

• What did you notice about the writer's choices of organization. For example, is the text organized as a narrative that moves in chronological order or is it a series of claims that are then supported with different types of evidence? Or does the author use a combination of storytelling and point-to-evidence structures? 
• What did you notice about the writers' stylistic choices? 
• How would you describe the writer's tone? Friendly? Casual? Conversational? Formal? Accessible? 
• How would you describe the writers' word choices? Do they use words that a typical reader might have to Google? Do they use emotionally charged words or neutral words? Consider for example, why an author might use "incarcerated person" instead of "inmate"? 
• What do you notice in terms of the writer's craftsmanship that you think makes this text rhetorically successful?

In short, what have you learned about writing from your interactions with this text?

Then, you need to say your goodbyes, no? Otherwise, you are plain rude. That's what the last paragraph is for. Think of what you might say to your friends as you walk out of the party. 

I know this exercise might seem a bit contrived, a bit artificial, and it's because it is. 

As your writing coach, I'm giving you a writing scenario so you can practice reading like a reader but also like a writer, so you can become a better writer yourself. 

I'd love to stay and chat a bit more, but dinner awaits me. 

Photo by Church of the King on Unsplash

The party is over! Go home!

Tania