Pre-Writing

When I get a writing assignment, I cannot get it out of my head. I mull over what to write every day. It occupies me when I am driving, walking, shopping, all the time (I am not kidding!). I do not necessarily pre-write my ideas, but rather think about ideas.  I know I have found the right topic, when I think about the topic and it feels right.  If an idea does not feel right, I immediately dismiss it. I am a strong believer in listening to my heart, in all aspects of my life.  I could not write something wholeheartedly, if I feel reticent, for it then becomes a struggle.

For example, we have an assignment for our Children’s Literature class. We have to pick a genre in children’s literature, research it, and write a paper on the research, followed by a paper in which we write an original piece of writing in the style of the genre we picked. I have been struggling since we were told about the assignment, on which genre to pick.  An ABC book would be fun to do, but I feel I would be taking the easy way out.  I also was thinking of doing a picture book. Which child does not love to listen to a story and follow along with the pictures? Even as an adult, I enjoy reading them and listening to them being read.  So what makes me go back to poetry all the time? I am not good at writings poems at all. If anything, my poems are childish and awkward in character.  I do not like to read adult poetry. It is all gabberdiegook to me. It intimidates me, and I always find my intellect lacking for not being able to understand what the poet is trying to convey.  However, I LOVE children’s poetry! I love the play on words, the humor, the rhythm, the nonsense words, and the way the words are arranged on the page.  I don’t only love to read poetry to children, but I love to write poetry with children.  I remember one instance, where we wrote a poem on “Fall”.  Each child would give me one word that described Fall.  This resulted in a beautiful descriptive poem that we hung up in the classroom, and which the children often read.  This example is what made me decide to do pick poetry as my research topic.

I make sure I have my sources printed, read, and highlighted. Then I do my pre-writing, which for me is more of a ‘free-write’. During this free-write I do not worry about the quotes, but I concentrate on what I want to say in my paper. It is a big mumbo-jumbo, sort of a mess. But when I am finished and I read what I free-wrote, the message of what I want to say comes out loud and clear.  This free-write gives me focus. It tells me what my angle is, and gives me clarity on how I want to organize my paper. The thinking part and the free write are actually my two favorite parts of writing, for I do not need to worry about topic sentences, the correct punctuation or the dreaded thesis sentence. This free write is just for me!

Now that I found my topic and did my free write, it is time to start with the ‘real’ work. I am actually looking forward to writing about children’s poetry, and I am even more looking forward to writing some poems myself. I am already thinking about it!