Practice the Sound of (keys softly clacking)...Silence

Like a piano player at the keyboard, a writer at her computer can be furiously working--only instead of the clashing of chords, we hear the faint clicking of keys.

I'm often tempted to compare my sessions to music lessons. For example:

Parent: My daughter loves writing so much. She's trying to write a novel.

Me: Great! She probably needs a writing coach, don't you think?

Parent: Perhaps. But I think I'll let her write on her own for now.***

On the surface of things the parent's response sounds plausible. However, can you imagine the reaction this would get in a music scenario?

Parent: My daughter loves playing the piano. She says she wants to play a concerto.

Me: Great! Are you going to get her a music teacher?

Parent: No, I think I'll let her tackle Beethoven on her own for now.

More often than not, I wonder how far the learner got on her own before giving up and the whole thing was forgotten. (Sad. :( )

Here's another thing people see differently when it comes to expectations about writing sessions vs music lessons. They walk by the room where their child is having a writing session and hearing silence, except for the faint clacking of keys on the computer. They think: This is not good, they think. What am I paying all this money for anyway?

However, imagine they walk by a music lesson and their child is blowing into her tuba. All is well. Music is being practiced. But...isn't it the same thing?

Perhaps, in their minds, the problem is this: While my daughter's working away, the coach isn't doing anything. She's just sitting there. I would ask in return: what the music teacher is doing when the student is playing a piece? Yes, it's pretty much the same thing.

My first priority is always to get the student writing. Just like in a music lesson where little can happen if notes are not being played, nothing can happen in a writing session until words are on the screen or down on paper.

This is often how I start with adults I work with--especially harried moms who feel so guilty carving out some time in their day for themselves. The nerves are jangling the first handful of sessions. The mind is unfocussed. But gradually the writing time during a session takes on the relaxed feel of focus and calm.

The other thing that happens in our sessions a lot is brainstorming. A successful brainstorm, usually involving a discussion of "what happens next?" resulting in a flood of ideas. The student needs to capture everything--sometimes seamlessly entering into a flow of the work. I do my best to let them focus so they can get it all down on paper before it's gone, reminding them, if needed, of something we mentioned that they may have forgotten. It sounds like a lot of nothing, just the quiet clacking of keys.

Now, I have plenty of students who do write on their own. This is excellent! When we meet for sessions, we can go over the writing, correcting and revising, while I teach craft as needed along the way. We'll have plenty to edit in our sessions. It's definitely the most efficient use of everyone's time. But it's not my expectation. Writing outside our sessions requires more time, focus, and energy. If you've got it--great! If you don't, don't let that stop you.

If the learner is too busy to write at other times of the week, or too burned out/overwhelmed to have the inner initiative to write on their own, then we're going to spend a lot more time writing in our sessions. After they get a chunk of writing done, I'll look over what they write, make corrections/adjustments as I edit their work, and discuss what's coming next. But most of that time is spent getting words down first.

However, let's say you are a parent wanting your child to use their writing sessions more efficiently. Or let's say, you're an adult who wants more rapid progress in their writing. The problem is not silence in the sessions. The silent student who is typing away in a session is highly engaged and in a creative flow. Silence in this regard is fabulous! No--the problem is setting up other times for writing during the week.

But this doesn't mean that I expect anyone to write outside of our sessions without some kind of support. For adults and older teens, this may mean building habits or rituals to support their writing practice. One fun way to super-charge these writing moments with energy for adults, teens, and kids, is to have writing sprints. If the learner knows what they want to write and enjoys competition, they can see how many words they can get down in an allotted time--and see if they can make that number grow. X (formerly Twitter), for instance, has all kinds of writing sprints for people all across the continent.

So for parents, when it comes to music lessons, especially in the beginning, a music instructor often looks to the parent for support in making sure that practicing occurs during the week. Maybe this means helping to set up a regular practice time. The parent can also take out the music stand, set up the music and take out the instrument, set it up. Then the student comes flying in and practices--sometimes at first only for ten minutes. I'm realizing more and more as I write this that I should encourage the parents I work with to support writing during the rest of the week.

Yes, just like a music teacher, I will try assigning practice sessions to all my students. Now, what I've done up until now is ask my students if they have more time to write during the week and negotiate with them what is a reasonable amount they think they might be able to finish. Some students need a deadline. However, I will experiment with this morning forward. In the future, I shall request parents of younger students and younger teens to prompt the student to open up their manuscript and begin trying writing for ten minutes or so on their story at least one other time during the week. Parents, too, can set up a sprint for their learner and increase the fun factor.

I'll start engaging with one set of parents of one student. It will be an experiment, and I'll report back here on how it goes. :)

***I completely understand that considerations of money, scheduling, etc. can also be why writing sessions are out of reach for now. (BTW, I also have a sliding scale.)

Bye, my friends! I hope this was helpful. Have a great weekend. Feel free to leave comments or questions below. As always, if you or someone you’re raising is interested in writing a big project, you can let me know in the contact form and we can chat about you/your learner and the project to see if I can help.