Dialogue is very important- after all, writers rely on inner
discussion to generate and improve their writing: this very
sentence has been thought, developed, constructed, queried and
revised as it was written.
This process is basic to writing, so
basic that adults can forget that they do it, but children need
help to concentrate on each stage: you are the memory they cannot
hold long enough in focus and the questions they do not ask
The Project's poem-writing games, even the simplest, provide basic
information or starting-points for discussion. These can be used
first to establish a clear subject, talking through possibilities
until the child knows what the poem is to be about, not in vague
terms like "rain" but focussed, as on "the rain on the window while
I was in maths last Tuesday thinking about not being able to go out
This discussion can now continue allowing useful detail and
perception to emerge. Try to remember all that the child says, and
if a good phrase pops up, or a fact or image surfaces, get it
written down. To help, you have to be what they are developing - a
critical memory. Help them to pursue lines of thought, to build up
ideas and inventions by asking "what if?", to draw out factual or
fictional information from themselves.
You are trying to help them explore and control not only language but
also their imagination.
At first you can expect general statements, like "in a room". You
have to encourage them to look for significant details by drawing
the thought out: what room? where in the room? what else is in the
room? - those bits of information that will inform the reader, give
a sense of being there, even in fantasy.
These details may well
include speech, their own or others, and thoughts.
Try to find
adjectives and adverbs, many children tend not to use them more
from indolence than style. They may be unnecessary and edited out
later, but thinking about them helps form a clearer mental picture.
This is also true of choosing accurate verbs, for actions are often
expressed in a weak form.
Some consideration can be given to figurative language - the question
"what is it like?" or, for example, "what else is round and yellow?",
will lead to suggestions which if followed by a consideration of the
effect of the comparison can enhance the poem, but pressing such matters
is often pointlessly time-consuming since the child is most likely not
to be using comparison because (s)he has not practiced inventing metaphor
or simile either in everyday life or class.
The use of comparison
and of precise vocabulary is the result of taking pleasure in
language and of acquiring, as for arithmetic, a trick of the mind.
Time needs to be spent playing independently with these aspects.
It is important to read widely yourself, to be aware of the wide
range of possible forms a poem can take. This will help you to
suggest options as the poem develops.
In the beginning you will be
trying to get the ideas out, to get a rough shape; but often the
child will need help in choosing a course and you can show the
different effects so that the possibilities are understood.
the draft aloud (but not out loud) trying to show the rhythms in
what has already been written, helping them to improve phrasing as
they get deeper into the poem so that they can feel the work as a
whole, can apprehend the sense, sound and feeling and be encouraged
by where they have reached and to "see" and develop the rest of the
Please help them to write in their own words and word order as much
as possible, making them aware of their natural rhythm.
to feel they can use their own inner and spoken voice rather than
mimicing some poetic voice. If awkward, it can be sorted out later,
as with spelling and punctuation .. getting the first draft down
swiftly is important, concentration is limited.
If you are keeping
them focussed on the poem they will be less likely to waffle up
blind alleys - once they have chosen the point, the direction of
the poem, help them hold to it.
Spend as little time as possible in assistance with spellings.
Many children use spelling enquiries as a time-wasting ploy, others
don't write the word they are actually thinking of, either because
they can't spell it or because it "feels" difficult to spell
Certainly their final draft should be corrected with
dictionary and rewriting, but first improve their confidence in
simply getting their thoughts out onto paper by encouraging them to
write first and tidy up later.
Obviously some children have great
difficulty in shaping letters, and for these it may be better to
take dictation - they can revise or copy from that.
You should make it clear from the start that there will be several
drafts and explain why. If the children become used to the practice
they will become more willing to make an effort to consider
improvements, rather than sticking with their first thoughts simply
because reworking seems to need too much effort.
Although the development of a poem is extremely individualistic and often
interesting work will emerge unexpected, there are some aspects of style
that enhance or weaken a poem.
As is often the case, the positive points
are harder to define than the weaknesses to avoid, but include imagination
and honest recall of experience, the expression of the writer's own voice and
feelings, use of clear interesting or playful language, the ability to create or hold to
a structure and fresh or inventive ideas.
The weaknesses are more precise and causes
and cures can be suggested:
these usually arise either because the writer has set up too
tight a structure or has been too rigid in following one way of expressing
an idea. Suggesting a looser rhyme pattern and discarding the weakest phrases
is often more help than reworking one line since the problem tends to recur.
Plagarism or hackneyed obvious phrases:
Stating the obvious (wet rain) is
usually cured by finding a more lively adjective. Plagarism or the use of
well worn `poetic' phrases is sometimes subconcious, sincere imitation or a
song or phrase "stuck in the mind". Bear in mind that a child may be unaware
of how overused some phrases have become, but deal with it as a false voice.
Parts of songs can sometimes be made effective by making the lines into a
quotation around which the child can develop a poem of their own.
Occasionally some children will offer a complete copy of something they've
memorised. I feel it depends on the particular child whether this is a
success, however misplaced, or a total lazy scam. If the latter the problem
is psychological not poetic.
Part borrowings can be cured by pointing out
the relevant bits or ideas and suggesting that they are used as a model to
be built on or rewritten to make it their own. There's nothing wrong in this,
a lot of famous poets have done it.
Since one of the best things about a poem its brevity,
filling space needlessly is to be avoided. Waffle is often caused by an
attempt to approach a poem in the same way as an essay. The cure is polite
pruning until a healthy shape appears. If caught early enough the child
will usually be more grateful than protective, especially when they see the
best bits standing out freed from the dead wood.
Pointless repetition of words, use of overworked or weak words:
largely a matter of insufficient vocabulary or inability to hunt out the
best word. Discuss, suggest, poke the memory. The search for the best, the
vivid, word is so fundamental to poetry that there is no other cure than to
say: this doen't tell me what it was really like, now what word would
give me a better picture or idea of what you're thinking about.
Lastly, a special effort is needed to bring the poem to a decent end. There
is no need to hunt for a perfect epithet or to settle into a comfortable
convention (the then-I-woke-up syndrome) but a poem that peters out or
drifts on in confusion is not satisfying.
Often possible endings will surface early and will only need recording or
re-arranging, but in poems that tell a story it is worth at least enquiring
about the ending quite early on, if not actually demanding a plot; and in
most poems the ending is best considered before weariness sets in.