Today I gave my students this writing prompt:
Write about something that didn't go the way you expected.
It was less than a minute before I heard my least favorite question as a teacher of writing. "What if this never happened to you?"
"Really?" I asked the culprit. "Everything in your life has always gone as you thought it would? Every. Single. Thing?"
He nodded optimistically, hopeful that this response might get him off the hook for the assignment.
"Well," I said, "What did you think would happen when you asked that question just now?"
His expression changed. Now he was looking a little worried. He shrugged.
I raised my eyebrows. "Is this conversation what you expected?"
"Not really," he said.
I clapped and gave him a cheery smile. "Well there you go-- instant writing topic!"
Believe it or not, he wrote about something completely different, and it was pretty darn good.
Write about something that didn't go the way you expected.
It was less than a minute before I heard my least favorite question as a teacher of writing. "What if this never happened to you?"
"Really?" I asked the culprit. "Everything in your life has always gone as you thought it would? Every. Single. Thing?"
He nodded optimistically, hopeful that this response might get him off the hook for the assignment.
"Well," I said, "What did you think would happen when you asked that question just now?"
His expression changed. Now he was looking a little worried. He shrugged.
I raised my eyebrows. "Is this conversation what you expected?"
"Not really," he said.
I clapped and gave him a cheery smile. "Well there you go-- instant writing topic!"
Believe it or not, he wrote about something completely different, and it was pretty darn good.
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