Can blogging be a tool for teaching good writing practices?

A gift for your favorite blogger
Last night I picked up the recently released illustrated version of Strunk and White’s classic book on good writing The Elements of Style.

The original has been an old friend of mine since college when it was required reading for a basic comp class. And skimming it again (concentrated reading to follow), I’ve decided S&W’s advice should be required reading of all bloggers. And required re-reading for those of us who have been writing for public consumption for some time.

How can anyone go wrong with commandments such as:

• Use the active voice.
• Use definite, specific, concrete language.
• Omit unnecessary words.
• Write in a way that comes naturally.

Bloggers, given the less formal tone of the medium, may have problems with admonitions such as:

• Place yourself in the background. (Hey, isn’t this blog all about ME?)
• Revise and rewrite. (You’ve got to be kidding.)
• Do not inject opinion. (But what would I write?)

Pick up a copy for yourself or your favorite blogger.

Can blogging be a tool for teaching writing?
There is a raging debate on the usefulness and appropriateness of blogging as an educational activity throughout the blogosphere right now. Granted, I can’t say I’ve read every blog out there – far from it - but I am finding little about blogging as an effective tool to improve writing abilities and style of K-12 students. (Barbara Ganley at bbblogging  addresses the issue at a college level with experienced writers doing creative writing.)

On the positive side (this is the old English teacher speaking), I see blogging as having some genuine benefits:

• We know students display a higher level of concern about the quality of their writing if there is a public audience.
  
• Technology is sexy to kids and blogs may motivate them to write more. And the more one writes, the better one tends to get.
  
• Blogs allow a simple and immediate means of responding/critiquing others’ writings and ideas.

On the negative side, I see blogging as having some significant drawbacks as well:

• Unless we ask kids to compose first, and then paste their writing into a blog, the critical revision/re-writing stages of the writing process is missed.
  
• The technology skills attainment may overshadow the purpose of the activity itself – good writing skill attainment. (We’ve certainly seen this happen with PowerPoint.)
• This activity does, of course, require technology. What happens when the inspiration strikes a student and a computer is not available?

I’d love to see blogging addressed by someone who is deeply knowledgeable about writing “best practices.” Any places that you, dear reader, might send me to locate this sort of information?

FDA approved
Sundays I take the liberty of using this forum for more personal matters. I took a few minutes and did some counting. Since the early 1990’s, I’ve published:

• Four books (one which has been revised – and another that needs it).
• Over 100 magazine articles and book chapters (at least that I've kept track of).
• Over 100 columns in print magazines.
• And now,  already 80 blog entries since starting this nonsense this August.

I've tried to articulate this sickness at "Why I Write for Publication." I also take even greater pride in the fact that I've encouraged quite a few other educators to write for publication as well. (And if you have an idea, let me know. I'll encourage you as well.)

Readers, this is good news for you. My writing has long been approved by the FDA as a non-addictive sleep aid! Insomniacs, take note!

Comments

[Frances Jacobson Harris]

I haven't seen the new Elements of Style, but heard excerpts from a very critical review in the October 14th issue of the Wall Street Journal. Your post prompted me to go looking for the complete treatment. A couple of choice quotes:

"The 1979 "Elements" will be studied long after the post-White versions have been filed under "mortifying mistakes" and forgotten."
and...
"Feminist language, pseudo-intellectual literary criticism, an elite cultural establishment at odds with plain old middle-American patriotism, a politically corrected version of "The Elements of Style" -- they are all connected. Mr. White would have taken one sniff and beat it home to Maine."

Ouch. So what do you think, Doug? Seems a little over the top to me. Guess I'd better pick up a copy myself.

Hey, congratulations on your marvelous output!

[Doug Johnson]

Wow! I will definitely be re-reading with a more critical eye. I am not sure I remember the older versions well enough to compare them with this one.

Heaven knows we don't any of this left wing boo-rah infiltrating our language. ;-) Customer reviews are overwhelmingly popular at Amazon. Must just be a bunch o' left-wing pinko, tree-hugging, feminazis writing them.

Truth be told, I just bought it for the pictures.

As an aside, I thought I detected a subject/antecedent error in the introduction to the new version. Let me know if you see it too.

I guess we English majors (as Garrison Keillor calls us) are necessary, but you wouldn't want to invite us to any parties.

Doug

[Sara Kelly Johns]

I heard the review on NPR of the new version with the illustrations and will pick it up the next time I get near a bookstore...or maybe I'll just download a few pages from Amazon. My son Ryan has my old copy at work at TC; I'll see if I can get him to bring it home for comparison at Thanksgiving. He's read and re-read it many times; I've even caught him grinning and chuckling over it more than once as I did with Eats, Shoots and Leaves!

[Christopher Harris]

Doug,

I wanted to comment on some of the concerns you brought up in an attempt to show what I have taught and done to get around them when blogging both myself and with students.

Unless we ask kids to compose first, and then paste their writing into a blog, the critical revision/re-writing stages of the writing process is missed.
This is why I love David Warlick's Blogmesiter. It manages the workflow by placing blog posts into a review line. Other options include using a content management system that includes peer moderation before something is approved or, at the most basic level, encouraging students to make use of the "save as draft" feature in most blog systems. This lets the author ponder, spellcheck, and re-write before posting. I tend to have a couple drafts going at any time.

The technology skills attainment may overshadow the purpose of the activity itself – good writing skill attainment. (We’ve certainly seen this happen with PowerPoint.)
Ugh...PowerPoint. I will be the first to admit that I tend to putz around with the layout on my blog quite often, but it doesn't usually affect my writing. Using a simple piece of blog software that has an MS Office-like WYSIWYG editor should help with this. Other than that, something like Blogmeister's limited selection of pre-created themes allows choice but avoids the PowerPoint syndrome of putting fluff over content.

This activity does, of course, require technology. What happens when the inspiration strikes a student and a computer is not available?
No answer here. I jot notes on my handheld, but don't always get back to them. But then if blogging is the "frame of mind" and not the technology then a blog post can be drafted on paper and turned into open and connected writing when internet access is available.

Great thoughts on the positive side! I just set up an appointment for 2 days from now to go get another one of my member libraries started with student blogging so this was very timely.