Children experience writer’s block when they run out of ideas in the midst of writing. Sometimes, this is because they have not read enough stories that inspire them. Or it could be because the stories that they read were not retained for making the creative connection that keeps their brain juices replenished. It takes effort to generate ideas but with practice, it can be done more naturally. Parents and teachers tend to be frustrated when students are unable to produce a storyline (but we have to show them the language-to-idea connection).
Fret not, here are three tried-and-tested strategies that my teaching mentor, Carean, and I have applied to teach our students how to overcome these common challenges.
1. Play “Sentence Hangman”
This is one of the most effective ways to encourage children to write. In class, besides getting my children to learn the spelling of the more challengings words by drawing blanks on the board, I use this approach to help my students learn how to expand their sentences more independently too. They are encouraged to think about synonyms for over-used words and also complete the sentence by coming up with more details.
For example, instead of writing
“John ran to the kitchen to get a chocolate bar as he was famished.”
(leave the words “ran”, “chocolate bar” and “famished” blank and get them to fill in the words based on their own thoughts.
You will be surprised at how creative students can get!)
One of my students wrote:
John dashed to the kitchen ahead of the other children, eager to get the largest chocolate bar as his stomach was rumbling.
When this simple exercise is done in class, other children can also learn or recall words that their friends have shared. Of course, you may leave out more blanks such as “John” and “kitchen” depending on the child’s writing competency.
The key is to let the children start facilitating their own learning too!
2. Facilitate brainstorming session – ‘What ifs”
Before sharing any ideas on the story, get your child to share his or her idea first. Brainstorming can be done in the form of a mind map where ideas are categorised based on a picture or topic at hand.
A creative writing brainstorming method used at Writers Studio School of English for lower primary students.
An effective mind-mapping method that I use to teach my students is the “pillar method.” (We use this a lot in Writers Studio’s lower primary classes!)
You can input headers such as feelings, actions, dialogues and what-ifs.
The what-ifs approach helps students think about alternative introductions, story plots and endings.
Remember: There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to creative writing. Like I always share with my students, “There are no bad ideas, just good or better ones.”
3. Encourage children to empathise
Children often find it difficult to write freely because they find it difficult to understand how others are feeling. Guiding the child to think from another point of view is a skill. Empathy helps us to build social connections with others. By putting ourselves in the shoes of a character, it allows us to be more intentional and thoughtful when writing. I will encourage my students to relate it back to real-life situations to help them write more fluently. By drawing connections with practical experience, it can help children overcome that writer’s block.
At Writers Studio School of English, teachers hold annual drama-writing camps which allow their students to act out story scenarios during the process writing phase. This encourages the students to step into the shoes of the characters. Teachers also teach students a wide range of vocabulary to describe the various emotions of their characters.
Afterall, childhood is a phase when children are at their most creative.
Writing can be fun and engaging when we start thinking out of the box! Teaching your children to write without inhibitions takes time and patience. Instead of watching a cartoon, why not take up the challenge and pick up that pen!