A Memorable Writing Method that Gives Results Not Overwhelm

Introducing the WRITER framework- a writing method that gives YOU and your students results.

If you’re a teacher, then you know how much “connecting learning to the real world” is pushed. We talk about why students need to know specific standards and how learning these skills and topics will help them in the future. And I’m here for it… I agree that our students need real world applications for the skills and concepts they are learning. Otherwise, what’s the point? This leads me to the big question….

If our goal is to prepare students for the real world, why are we teaching writing the same way it was taught 30 years ago?

Think about how you learned to write in school? For me, I don’t really remember learning to write. I remember reading and discussing the passage. I remember diagramming sentences. I even remember taking writing tests in 5th and 6th grades… but I don’t remember being taught how to write.

I learned by doing. I always had notebooks and scraps of paper on hand. When I spent time with my grandmother, she encouraged me to write stories. 

It wasn’t until middle and high school when I realized there was a “formula” to writing. I went to a private, Christian school in Middle Georgia. During my time there, the school was working to become SACS accredited and part of that accreditation required writing samples from students in all subjects. Each year from 8th grade to my senior year, I had to write a 5 paragraph essay in every class. Yes… every class.. PE, math, art… everything counted. 

But it was that repetition and creative stretching that helped me really grow as a writer. I learned how to format my essay for purpose. I learned how to create and use a simple organizer because our writing was timed. Most importantly, I learned how to write about multiple topics… something that is truly real world based. 

Rethinking the Writing Method

So, why are we still teaching writing like we did 30 years ago? While my 5 paragraph essays taught me something as a writer, that can’t be said for all students. In fact, I was the weird kid that enjoyed our SACS writing time while my friends would roll their eyes and complain. 

I took what I learned through those writing exercises and applied them to other types of writing in college and beyond. But there was never a formal instruction on how to do apply those skills…. And that’s the problem with writing instruction today. 

We’re teaching students how to create sentences or build paragraphs… but we aren’t teaching them how to find purpose for their writing. We give students organizers to support them… but we aren’t teaching them why they need to create their own organizer and how it can help save time when writing.

We’re teaching students about 3 specific types of writing (narrative, informational, and opinion)… but we aren’t teaching how those types apply to their life online or how they can use those three types to be a better communicator. My solution, the WRITER framework.

The WRITER Framework

This framework is not revolutionary. It’s not anything you haven’t heard before… but what makes it great is how it shows students the path for their pieces and it gives them ownership in their work. 

W- Who is it for?

What does your audience like, want, or need? Knowing your audience is the first step to crafting any type of communication. This step is key to organization, word choice, and presentation as you edit your work.

For too often our students write for us, their teachers. They want us to like their work or be happy with how they did. It’s our job to remind our young writers that their audience might be different for each piece they write.

This is where we help students envision the person who will be reading their work. Should they be entertained, persuaded, or informed? What is their age group and what do they like to read or watch? Having the audience in mind as you work will make the next couple of steps easier.     

R- Rough outline

Sketch your organization and visuals. How will it flow? What will your audience “see”? There seems to be “one” way to do a rough draft… and it’s usually the whole piece written out by hand. Why? Not every brain thinks in a linear way and not every student wants to write all their thoughts on paper.

Rough drafts, or outlines as I call it, can look different for everyone. Mine usually take the form of a list or boxes with arrows. I’ve seen students use mind mapping and word clouds. Sketch notes are also a great way to think through ideas. The point of a rough outline is to process all the information swirling around your mind so you can craft a great piece of writing without wasting time. 

I- Include Details

Use details that make your story or information POP! This is where knowing who you’re writing for is important. What types of words does your audience like? What references or phrases do they want to hear? What emotions do they need to feel? All these details make your writing stand out… they make your writing you! They also ensure your writing is personal and not something that sounds like an AI bot wrote it.

Details are everything from adjectives and verbs you use to the way you organize your writing. As teachers, this is where we can help students really hone in on what makes them unique and teach them how to share their perspective in a powerful way. 

T- Test it

What’s the feedback? What works and what doesn’t? Testing a piece of writing is the same as peer review, just reframed to sound less scary. While some students are excited to share their pieces, I’m willing to bet most are not.

Writing is a vulnerable process, even if it’s just a short piece full of facts. When you share your writing, you’re letting someone into your brain… How you think… how you see the world. That can be scary. But letting students know they are going to “test” their work like a science experiment takes the personal attachment out of the equation. They are simply finding out how their audience responds to a piece instead of how their friends respond to them. 

E- Edit and Revise

Make changes based on your feedback. What did your “test” reveal about your organization or word choice in the writing? What would happen if you substituted new words or included a different piece of information? Students get so stuck on the spelling and grammar of a piece that they miss the point of writing.

The point is to communicate… to share ideas and information with an audience. But, grammar has rules. It’s right or wrong, so it’s easier to know if you did something “right” and it’s easier for teachers to grade and correct. This step is at the end for a reason. I truly believe it should be the last thing we tackle, not the first. I would rather students spend days crafting their idea with purpose than spend days “editing” a lackluster sentence. 

R- Retest or Restart

Decide to retest after you edit or start over with a new topic. This is pretty straightforward. Students have a choice once they’ve completed a piece. They can retest their work with their audience again to gain more feedback and insight about what’s working or they can restart this whole process with a new topic or idea. 

This framework can be used with any piece of communication. Narratives, short stories, poetry, opinions, etc. because it’s a path for writers, not a rigid checklist.

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