“Spanish university students do not know how to write.” This is a mantra that all teachers have heard at some time. This problem, far from being trivial, can have important personal and social repercussions. Not knowing how to write can limit the labor insertion of students and the international projection of Spain in spaces in which academic and […] … learn more→

To begin with, I will invite the readers of these lines to pick up a pen and write on a piece of paper “What does the writing hand do?” », That is, to experience writing intentionally and consciously of the gesture. It is very likely that, just like the more or less willing students to whom […] … learn more→

If you are drafting, it is pretty easy to find a lot of advice about the benefits of free writing. Lots of people find that timed writing sprints help to generate content. Unstructured writing is useful to work out what you want want to say. The pomodoro sprint works really well for many academic writers, […] … learn more→

At some point in the writing process, most writers develop a plan. Some writers may already have, before they plan, chunks of text or a crappy first draft that needs to be beaten into shape. Other writers begin with the plan, perhaps making an outline. Regardless of the point at which the planning happens, the […] … learn more→

In a second grade Primary Education classroom (7-8 years old), before confinement, students were struggling to write a story from reading articles in a digital newspaper and another on paper. The girls and boys, sitting in pairs, discussed what title to put and what content they wanted to capture in their own text while occasionally consulting […] … learn more→

When I write, I write for myself. I put myself on the pages. I put myself in the edits. I write so that I can understand, explain and express. I don’t know if my words will be heard, I don’t know if my words will resonate. I don’t really think about that when I write. […] … learn more→

Advice. Loads of it. Coming out of our ears.  And on every possible topic, including research and writing. Advice needs readers. But we readers also need to be, as Ernest Hemingway put it, “crap detectors”. Howard Rheingold has worked up this idea, using Hemingway’s terminology. Rheingold has developed a little protocol that can be used to […] … learn more→

I’m working away from my desk, as my out of office assistant puts it. But I’m still very much working. I’m writing out of place. I don’t have my usual working set up. And not just for a couple of days but actually for quite a lengthy period of time. I’m writing on a netbook […] … learn more→

Ask a child why they write and you might receive a common response: the teacher told me to. Kids often lack confidence as writers and find it emotionally draining. The problem might be the classroom and its detachment from what writers do in the real world. In some classrooms, students learn writing techniques and then apply them to a […] … learn more→

You often hear writing described as a skill. And a skill is the capacity to do something well, to use expertise built up through practice. Skills are often seen as merely technical, but a skill requires specialist knowledge and often years of training. However, it’s the capacity/ability to apply and use that knowledge that matters. We often […] … learn more→