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Such an amazing, thoughtful response from @finiteeyes to Why They Can't Write. Causes me to see my own book in a different light. What more could someone ask for. finiteeyes.net/pedagogy/why-t…
I'm really interested in thinking more about @finiteeyes picking up on their being an absence of writing as "play" in the book. I don't disagree. Some of this is by design, a wariness that people not think I'm setting up a clash between "creative" and "academic" writing.
I don't think there's a clash at all, putting me very much in line with @finiteeyes, but I didn't want to being susceptible to criticism that I was promoting "happy clappy pedagogy" as in the words of one of my Amazon reviewers.
In hindsight, I wish that rather than trying to avoid the charge, I'd taken it on more directly because I think @finiteeyes is picking up on an absence which, if addressed, would strengthen the argument. If I'm going to get tagged in some quarters with the label, take it on.
.@finiteeyes is also right that I'm not a fan of They Say/I Say, though his description of how he uses it makes me less troubled by it.
I am glad to say that The Writer's Practice: How to Build Confidence in Your Nonfiction Writing, my attempt to put the philosophies of Why They Can't Write into action is filled with much more examples of the kind of "play" that @finiteeyes identifies. amazon.com/gp/product/014…
The Writer's Practice starts with an assignment to write instructions for a PB&J. It has one on writing topical jokes, another on something like an advice column, a tribute to an individual. Overall, I think the book does a good job of exploring the range of writing.
I wrote Why They Can't Write and The Writer's Practice somewhat simultaneously, hopping back and forth, and @finiteeyes has helped me see that I was using The Writer's Practice as my "play" while I was wrestling with Why They Can't Write.
