©Angela Stockman, http://makewriting.com. May be reproduced for classroom use only.

make writing.

Many writers need to move, and they need their writing to move as well. They write best when they are out of their seats and on their feet, spreading their ideas across white boards and tables, lifting pieces of them up with their hands, cutting them apart, randomizing them, and tacking them into new and completely unpredictable forms. They build their stories using blocks and boards. They blend plot lines using sticky notes and grids. As a writing teacher, I’ve learned that those who can typically do, and those who can’t? Well, they make. The moves below describe how that happens at the WNY Young Writer’s Studio in Kenmore, New York. Interested? Please visit us online at makewriting.com.

1. GET INSPIRED.

What’s your big idea? Who do you want to write like?

2. Get your hands on THEIR STUFF AND BREAK IT APART: physically.

Pick one technique that you’d like to copy. Read through this lens.

Forget highlighting. Rip out the details that matter—use your hands. Break the text into bits that you can study close.

3. Tinker.

Display those pieces on a board or a table or the floor. Move them around.

Figure out how they work. Take notes.

Ask questions. Test what you learn.

Play a little. Commit to nothing.

Be open to the unexpected.

4. Write-like your mentor.

Bit by bit. Use sticky notes.

Index cards. Move them around.

Figure out how you work. Take notes.

Get feedback. Write differently.