Recently I dug out a pile of writing I did when I was at school, along with some of the worksheets (I don’t know why I still have those). There was so much emphasis placed on planning stories and essays.
I can remember that I used to cheat – I would write a story or essay, then write the plan. It was hard when we had to submit the plan first, and when I had to do that first, the finished product bore little resemblance to the plan.
The last couple of weeks, my 9 year old has been sick and home from school, and his teacher sent some work home for him. One of his tasks is writing plans for short stories! He asked me how I did plans, and I told him how I cheated – I also told him that it wasn’t the way to go while at school and that he should do the plan first.
It’s exciting to see his writing style developing, and how he’s helping me with my writing. He is helping me with my Jimmy James stories.
So, do you write a plan first, or do you just write?
