More on Your Encouragement & Student Writing Voices

Ernest Hemingway. Ralph Ellison. J.K. Rowling. These are just a few more of the names among an endless list of unique writing voices. They provoke our thoughts, stir our emotions, and even get us talking. Last week, we saw how crucial your encouragement is for cultivating the voices of your young writers. The tips we shared were such a hit with all of you that we wanted to give you a couple more to help you nourish those young writing voices.

Encourage Them to Discover Their Audience

This tip is probably one of the more important when teaching students to write in their unique voice. When you support them in finding their audience, the one that gets them fired up, you’re guaranteeing their voice will develop. Why is this the case? Because every single audience is different and because those audiences grow and change over time, the voice needed to reach them also evolves. It also has the benefit of energizing your writers by reaching that audience that matters most to them.

Encourage Them to Plunge into the Unknown

Writing isn’t unlike a trek through an exotic, lush, and danger-filled rainforest. Whenever your students pick up their pens, they’re driving into an as of yet unexplored world. As we educators and fellow writers know, there’s much to uncover! And exactly like when an adventurer finds a new, strange species or a hidden, unidentified tributary, your students can make their writing an expedition of discovery. And is there anything better than that? 

“They provoke our thoughts, stir our emotions, and even get us talking. ”

Ready to encourage them even more? Try Writing with Design in your class by giving us a shout!