Invention in Writing
And Why Is It Important?
- Invention is one of the most important skills we can model and teach our students. It is worth taking the time to teach invention techniques and practice them regularly. (FSU English Department, 2003).
- "The shift of focus from writing a finished piece the first time to concentrating on the process of writing allows for a freer flow of ideas and creativity." Taking the pressure of correctness off the pre-writing process allows students to be more creative and take more intellectual risks with their brainstorming. (Pearce, 1988, p. 1).
- Invention frees students to "try various approaches to a topic without interference of critical judgment." (McGlinn, 1990, p. 1).
- Writing in general, and invention in particular, are recursive processes: idea creation leads to development, drafting, refinement, further invention, further drafting, etc. - in whatever order works for the individual student at a particular time. (FSU English Department, 2003).
- The instructor should take the rolw of "writing partner, guiding the students to the clear expression of their ideas," rather than as an arbiter of "correctness." (Pearce, 1988, p. 1).
- The instructor should teach invention techniques by name. "Students often feel the most in control of their writing and their texts when they have words and ideas to explain what gets their writing started and what keeps the writing coming." (TAMU Writing Center, 2004).
- It may help for an instructor to introduce one new invention technique for each writing assignment. This insures sufficient instruction and practice time on each new technique. (FSU English Department, 2003).
- Invention, particularly freewriting, should not be graded. (FSU English Department, 2003).
- Invention work "should be structured in a number of configurations: individual work, working together, small groups, large group invention with one or two students writing ideas on the chalkboard." (FSU English Department, 2003).
- At the beginning of the invention process, the teacher should encourage students to take chances. Later, the students will begin to make choices among their ideas. (UT English Department, 2004).
- Invention, when approached as a dialogue with another person or a group, improves consciousness of audience and context. (Hunt, 1999, p. 1).
- Although some invention techniques, such as tagmemic heuristics, can be difficult to learn and apply, "students appear to produce more inventive, thoughtful papers after completing these heuristics." (Brostoff, 1983, p. 1).
- Invention empowers the student by helping him realize he has many good ideas from which he can select the best or most appropriate for his paper. (UT English Department, 2004).
- Invention can help cure writer's block. (Tompkins, 1988, p. 1).
- Weblogs, as a form of daily journaling, help loosen the student's tongue. "If we write 20 or 30 times a month, we will have thoughts that would not have materialized without the blogger's writerly habits of mind." (Smith, K., 2004).
- Inkshedding: After students freewrite, they exchange papers. Each student marks sections in which the writer said something that seemed interesting or new." This kind of feedback helps the writer see what "works" with the reader. (Hunt, 1999, p. 1).
- Other invention techniques (to be covered in more detail on the Educator's Tipsheet) include brainstorming (including techniques such as listing and mapping), freewriting, journalist's questions, webbing, cubing, and heuristics. (Hunter College R/W Center, 1998, and Newman, 2004).
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