{"id":548,"date":"2011-05-01T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/another-step-on-the-writing-path\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T12:00:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T01:00:57","slug":"another-step-on-the-writing-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2011\/05\/another-step-on-the-writing-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Another step on the writing path with kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

Mr7 and I have been talking about description lately. His English classes at school are beginning to move along from straight recount – we did this, and then we did this, and then we did this – and into writing.<\/p>\n

His teacher has been trying to encourage some description. He is not keen. He feels the descriptions distract from the story.<\/p>\n

I understand how he feels. I’ve read too many books in my time that required me to wade through pages and pages of adjectives before I could spot any semblance of plot.<\/p>\n

But it’s also difficult to build a writerly picture without it. The Cat Sat On The Mat. Straightforward plot. But what kind of cat was it? What colour? Long-haired? Short-haired? White socks on its paws? Was the mat a deep-pile oasis of luxury, or a rough, hairy, rubber-backed doormat?<\/p>\n

You get the picture.<\/p>\n

We went for a little bushwalk on Saturday, during a break in the weather, as raindrops dripped off leaves around us and we jumped over the puddles (or through them in Mr4’s case). As we walked, I asked Mr7 what he could smell.<\/p>\n

He took a long, hard, seven-year-old sniff.<\/p>\n

“Air,” he shrugged.<\/p>\n

“Remember we were talking about description?” I asked. He nodded. “How would you describe the smell?”<\/p>\n

He sniffed again. And again. “I don’t know, mum,” he said, desperation in his voice.\u00a0He likes to get things right.\u00a0“Is there lavender in there somewhere?”<\/p>\n

I laughed. “Can you smell the rain on the leaves?”<\/p>\n

Yes, he could.<\/p>\n

“Can you smell the fresh, tangy eucalyptus oil from those gum trees?”<\/p>\n

He nodded.<\/p>\n

“Can you smell those soggy leaves, rotting on the ground?”<\/p>\n

He nodded again. And thought.<\/p>\n

“That’s description, isn’t it, mum?”<\/p>\n

Yep. Lesson over. We’ll save the other senses for another day.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about description in books? The more the better, or do you prefer just enough to keep the story rolling along?<\/i><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Would you love more writing advice for kids? Check out my Creative Writing Quest, a 12-module online course with the Australian Writers\u2019 Centre that takes kids, step-by-step, through the process of creative writing \u2013 from idea to producing an edited story. <\/strong><\/p>\n

All the course details are here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mr7 and I have been talking about description lately. His English classes at school are beginning to move along from straight recount – we did this, and then we did this, and then we did this – and into writing. His teacher has been trying to encourage some description. He is not keen. He feels […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,14,5],"tags":[703,736],"class_list":["post-548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pink-fibro-life","category-reading","category-writing","tag-parenting","tag-writing-tips-for-kids"],"yoast_head":"\nAnother step on the writing path with kids - Allison Tait Author<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Writing tips for kids: a lesson about description in writing is incorporated into a bushwalk as Allison Tait shares writing tips with her son.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/allisontait.com\/2011\/05\/another-step-on-the-writing-path\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Another step on the writing path with kids - 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