Kate De Goldi on writing

Here is the link to Kate De Goldi's post on the NZ Book Council blog as follow up to her visit to Northland schools in 2008, with her advice for children on becoming a writer...
http://bookcouncil.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html

How do you become a writer ?

1. First you must be a passionate, attentive and wide-ranging reader…
   
2. A good writer is second of all A Noticing Person - a good writer is alert in the world, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, smelling...
   
3. A good writer Records : you must note down everything you observe... keep a notebook...keep several.
   
4. A good writer Connects: once you get into the habit of noticing and recording, inevitably you start making connections between things...
   
5. A good writer takes what they have observed, recorded and connected up and gives it back in surprising ways... Two of the best tools are simile and metaphor…

And a bit more detail on encouraging that "noticing" from a talk Kate gave to teachers at REAP:

• All writers are readers and they are also incredibly observant people – they use their senses – need to encourage children to do this too – list the senses
• Ask the children to write down everything in the room that is red – from biggest to very smallest things…
  
• Then listening – their bodies, near them, in the room, outside…
  
• Be observant, notice…
  
• Smell – list a smell they love, one they hate… try to avoid bodily functions – no fart smells, also try to think beyond food - think about the smell, describe it in detail, what it is about it that they like, if it had a colour what colour would it be, what shape…
  
• Encourage children to be in the world in a sensory way and to include this in their writing… Start the day recording 5 things they noticed on way to school.