The Incident That Triggered My Book on How to Teach Writing

“Since attention follows interest, it is folly to attempt to gain attention without first stimulating interest.” -- John Milton Gregory, The Seven Laws of Teaching

Like many American boys, I grew up playing baseball, football and basketball. We had pickup games throughout the year and intramurals at school. Many of us even earned our varsity letters in one sport or another. Soccer was not one of them.

With the exception of California it seemed there were few, if any, organized soccer teams--high school or otherwise--when I grew up in the Fifties and Sixties. So it was an interesting experience becoming a soccer coach when my son took an interest in this exhilarating sport at age six or seven. His first attraction, I believe, was the international character of the game. Soccer cards depict every nationality and the corresponding flags of a multitude of nations.

Though I'd only a modest relationship with soccer, I accepted the responsibilities of coaching and determined to excel at it. To do this I did what I usually do: I visited our local library and found books on the game. I studied the drills and exercises to develop my players’ skills. And I learned the rules.

At one point I also attended a clinic for coaches conducted by Buzz Lagos, head coach of the Minnesota Thunder professional soccer team. It was from Mr. Lagos, or “Coach” as he preferred to be called, that I learned what I consider to be the most important principle for writing teachers.

During the clinic we spent most of our time playing various games designed to teach soccer skills and develop our awareness of key principles. At the end of the evening we then gathered for a question-and-answer period.

During this Q&A one of my fellow coaches asked a question that was undoubtedly a burning issue for a number of us. “Sir, what skill level should my kids be at when they are 10 years old?” Here it was. What are the benchmarks that our boys and girls should aspire to as they advance in age? How deft should their ball handling be? How strong and true should they be kicking? How skilled in passing and receiving? How effective their ball control and other maneuvers?

Coach Lagos stunned me with his answer. He said, “Don’t even think about it. Only one thing is important, that they enjoy the game.”

Interesting answer.

We all know it’s true. The key to success in any endeavor is motivation. And that’s how our kids are going to become better writers, not by being forced to write but by wanting to and learning to enjoy it.

Your student or child will write more if she enjoys it rather than hates it. Think about this as well. The more they write, the more sentences and words you’ll have to grade or edit. You’ll also gain insights into your child's thinking. You’ll receive glimpses of who your students and children really are.

Though I created the exercises in my book to be fun, their aims are serious. Kids will learn not simply to write in sentences. Rather, they’ll learn some of the methods professional writers use to create interesting sentences. Kids will learn how to use the tools that help professionals become better writers.

Good writing is more than simply writing technically correct sentences with proper verb tense and punctuation. Good writing is writing that engages readers.

I strongly believe that learning how to communicate by means of the written word is a key component of any successful career. Kids who learn to write well will obtain more career opportunities and find more open doors than those who neglect this vital skill.

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Writing Exercises: How to Teach Writing and Prepare Your Favorite Students for College, Life and Everything Else is available here at Amazon.com.

Find information on all my books at Eds-Books.com.

Anyways

Did you know that the word "anyways" is considered an error in English usage? The book Common Errors in English Usage, revised edition, states that both "anyways" and "anyway" are not a good idea.

“Anyways” at the beginning of a sentence usually indicates that the speaker has resumed a narrative thread: “Anyways, I told Matilda that guy was a lazy bum before she ever married him.” It also occurs at the end of phrases and sentences, meaning “in any case“: “He wasn’t all that good-looking anyways.” A slightly less rustic quality can be imparted to these sentences by substituting the more formal anyway. Neither expression is a good idea in formal written English. The two-word phrase “any way” has many legitimate uses, however: “Is there any way to prevent the impending disaster?”

This struck me because when I talk with my Mom on Saturday mornings it is a word that she uses frequently to fill a lot of the gaps between thoughts and sentences. I mean, very frequently.

There are some other phrases we use too often or incorrectly. The phrase "you know" is not, for example, intended to be a conjunction, you know, because people, you know, don't like hearing it used over and over again, you know.

You know, this is the kind of thing that probably doomed Carolyn Kennedy's run for the U.S. senate last winter. I'd read in Harper's magazine that she used the phrase "you know" 130 times in a relatively brief interview with the New York Times and according to this Daily News story from December 29 she said "you know" more than 200 times in a 30-minute session with The Sun.

I'll never forget an incident at my house while growing up when my brother Ron had gotten into the "you know" habit. The incident is vivid in my mind. While we were seated at the dinner table Ron was telling about something that had happened that day, perhaps at school. The number of times he'd said "you know" was adding up and it put my dad right over the top. "We know! We know already!" he shouted with a red face, "Get on with your story!"

The "you know" habit was shamed right out of him on the spot, I believe, because I can't recall Ron ever saying it again to this day.

Anyways, the thought I was having was that maybe if Carolyn's dad had been around when she was growing up, he might have helped her deal with it. Hopefully in a somewhat less painful way than my brother's lesson.

To Carolyn: keep doing your best to make the world a better place. There are some things more important than sound bites.