Why a National Conversation on Writing?
Public discussions about writing and writers rarely focus on the reading and writing that real people do every day. From essays for school to text messages, from grocery lists to business memos, everyone is a writer.
But these everyday acts of literacy--and the work that teachers do to help develop flexible writers who understand and can use different kinds of writing in these different situations--get little attention in policy reports and the mainstream media stories that are generated from them. Instead, we hear "what Johnny can't write (or read or do)." As a result, many stories about real writers and writing remain untold. This neglect affects not just the ways that writing is taught and learned, but has long-term implications for the future of literacy education. It also affects who is included in--and excluded from--the discourses of American democracy.
The National Conversation on Writing (NCoW) is a venue for writers - teachers, students, everyday people - to contribute their stories about what writers do and can do. Collecting artifacts - films, audio interviews, writing, visual documents - about peoples' experiences with writing and literacy can provide a rich database of material attesting to the real work of real writers. NCoW is an invitation to everyone to share what we know about writers and writing.