Blog Post #3 (Experience as Writing Coach)

So far my experience as a writing coach has been interesting, although less involved than I had anticipated it to be (at least so far). I have received responses from 3 of the 6 students I have reached out to, and the back-and-forth responding has been sporadic. That said, it has been somewhat difficult to stay on top of each writer as an individual because the timing of when I receive their writing has been alternating between student, which class they are in, and what their specific writing assignment is about. Overall, managing those nitty gritty aspects has been mildly challenging. When I have received responses, the interactions are always beneficial and constructive for myself as a writing coach and hopefully for them as the writer. Seeing as they are a handful of years younger than I am, I can visibly see the difference in exposure to writing. It’s not their fault that I am several years older and have more experience reading/writing, but their level of understanding does seem to reflect a high school level status. Some of the writers have put forth more effort than others, and that effort certainly shows in the strength of their narratives. Those that have given more time to how they want to phrase their stories have provided more to work with than those that showed minimal effort. As their coach, it has been my job to point out the areas that did work (despite the overall quality of the paper). The main thing to keep in mind is that they are not professionals and neither am I. It’s nice to be in a position to offer insight, but I have stressed in my comments to them that my comments are suggestions and not the gold standard of writing. What these writers have shown a need for is an interest in what they have to say through their writing. I have done my best to draw connections to their writing by adding personal comments about how I could see myself in their shoes in certain scenarios that they have written about. The main thing to keep in mind for me as a coach is to not be overly judgmental of their skill level. I have been more focused on getting them to expand on the thoughts and ideas that they have already expressed.

For this week’s post, I found an article from Thought Catalog titled ’10 Tips For A Novice Writer (From a Novice Writer)’. I see this article being helpful in terms of receiving concrete advice and adapting a game-plan when writing. Thanks for reading! https://thoughtcatalog.com/ayodeji-awosika/2015/07/10-tips-for-a-novice-writer-from-a-novice-writer/