Positive self talk is writer's muse
Struggling writers need upbeat scripts

Struggling writers believe they are doomed to failure before they pick up a pencil. Before you can teach them to write, you have to convince them that writing is something they can do.

Assuring Caitlin and Joshua "you can do this" is like talking to the wall. What they need is little voices in their heads repeating positive self talk while they attempt writing activities that promote success.

Alone, either the writing activities or the self talk is inadequate for struggling writers.

Struggling and reluctant writers have a library of self talk scripts they use as a defense against the likelihood that they are not going to be successful with a writing assignment.

We will look at three types of these negative self talk scripts and consider some positive alternatives.

Is writing an imposition or a choice?

When struggling writers talk about writing to other people, they usually use negative language that suggests they are powerless, such as:

• "I have to write this."

• "I ought to write my paper."

• "Ms. Inky Fingers says we have to write this."

If they say such things aloud, you know they are telling themselves that they are helpless victims. That's hardly the way to be successful, is it?

By contrast, successful writers see themselves as choosing to accept the challenge of writing. They use positive self talk language such as

• "I am writing my paper."

• "I am starting my paper early so I don't have to rush."

• "I am writing my working thesis before I go to soccer practice."

Notice that successful writers don't focus on what they are going to do in the future. They concentrate on what they are doing right now.

Can only talented people write?

Struggling writers constantly compare themselves to other writers. In their comparisons, the other writers are always better. Writing always is easy for those other writers. Those other writers have talent. And Ms. Inky Fingers always like the other writers better.

Even if each of those comparisons is true (sometimes they are!), that does not mean struggling writers cannot learn to write well enough to handle the writing tasks they have to do in a job or training situation.

Struggling writers need to scrap negative self talk scripts that emphasize difficulties of writing:

• "I never do good in English."

• "I'll never learn this stuff."

• "Writing is easy for Eric. He always gets A's without working at all."

Instead, they must use positive self talk that focuses on what they can do right now:

• "This looks like a hard assignment so I better break it down into easy pieces."

• "I can do a better job on this paper than on my last one."

• "Every time I write, I get to be a little bit better at it."

• "I have to work pretty hard at writing, but I am proud that I don't give up easily."

Is writing too big to handle?

To reluctant and struggling writers, every writing assignment looks like a huge project requiring a lifetime commitment.

Struggling writers say to themselves (and to anyone else who will listen) things like:

• "This is a really hard assignment."

• "I don't know how to do this!."

• "This will take hours!"

The task often looks so overwhelming that the struggling writers can't even get started. You will teach them strategies that will help them get started, of course; however, students need to motivate themselves to use those strategies.

Again, the key is to replace negative thinking about what the writer cannot do with positive self talk about what the writer can do. For example:

• "This assignment looks hard, so I better break it down into easy pieces."

• "I'll start by doing the parts of the assignment I'm sure I can do. Then I'll figure out the harder parts."

• "I do much better work when I don't work too long. I'll set my timer for a half hour and see how much I can get done before it rings."

The combination of can-do thinking and activities that are small enough to allow students to experience success turn struggling writers into successful writers.

OK, I hear you thinking, "How do I get students to exchange negative thinking for positive thinking?" For that, you need to model positive self talk scripts.