Ruth Ayres hosts the weekly Saturday Celebration blog round-up. She is also the co-author of Celebrating Writers. I received my copy this week. I have been using the writing workshop model for almost 20 years, so I wasn’t sure I would get more information from another book on writing. Of course, I was wrong. We are always growing and learning. Ruth has put into words so much of my own thinking I feel like we must be friends. Her writing style is like that, friendly, clear, and unpretentious.
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I am happy to report that without really knowing it, I celebrate writers daily. She writes about the importance of response in celebrating writing. Like Ruth, I love blog comments (hint, hint), but I didn’t realize that I need them, too. Comments nudge me and strengthen my writing. Response does this for my students, too. Comments are a necessary part of the writing process.
My students use kidblog. The last few weeks they have been working on writing a fiction story with nonfiction elements. They are posting chapters on the kidblog site. I encourage each student to comment to two students each week. Celebrating Writers helped me nudge them into more meaningful comments.
I talked to Matthew about the meaning of comments to his own writing. He said, “You are a great writer when a reader sees a mistake. It means they are really reading your story.”
Today, I want to celebrate writing. With two free days this week and the nudge of nerdlution, I wrote every day. I love to write poetry, but coming up with an idea can be difficult. I am celebrating all the prompts I got this week from these sites:
Clare Martin at Orphans of Rain and Dark posted this prompt just for me because I had to miss Acadiana Wordlab last weekend.
On Thursdays, Laura Purdie Salas posts 15 Words or Less writing prompt. She posts an image and her own response and calls for others to contribute. This stretches my writing muscles and connects me with other writers.
Poetry Friday is always a rich round-up of poetry to read and prompts to try. This week Amy Ludwig Vanderwater posted on Poem Farm an original poem and a prompt to begin with a line, “Once somebody asked me.” Then as I read further down, I discovered I won a book giveaway. (Do a happy dance!) Thanks to Amy and Jeannine Atkins for View from a Window Seat: Thoughts on the Writing Life. Can’t wait to get this wonderful surprise gift.
And last, but not least, my students are reading, reading, reading! Here’s a group of them, lined up side by side reading on Friday morning. What a wonderful site! And the room was so quiet!
Reflections on the Teche 