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When Authors Drive the Author's Chair

3/18/2017

11 Comments

 
Picture
In the Author’s Chair, the author is the authority. 
    She sits in the chair,
    She directs the response.
    And the audience responds accordingly. 
 
An Author may sit in the chair and say,
    “Today I seek suggestions.”
    He reads his piece aloud,
    And the audience provides thoughts about revision.
    The author ponders the suggestions and revises.
 
An Author may sit in the chair and say,
    “Ask me questions.”
    She reads her piece aloud,
    And afterwards, the audience asks questions they want answers to.
    These questions often tell an author what parts are missing,
         And she uses those questions to fill in gaps during revision.
 
An Author may sit in the chair and say,
     “Please recall a memorable line.”
     He reads his piece aloud,
     And the audience remembers a line from the piece that stood out.
     This tells the author he picked the perfect word or crafted a vivid phrase.
           And he needs to continue thoughtfully playing with his words.
 
An Author may sit in the chair and say,
      “Help!  I need ideas!”
      She reads her piece aloud,
      And the audience, acting as co-authors, gives her ideas.
      Sometimes writers just need other perspectives, a jolt of ideas.
           And the chair can be a powerful place to gather them.
 
An Author may sit in the chair and say,
       “Find connections between my piece and yours.”
       He reads his piece aloud,
       And the audience considers how their pieces are connected to his--
            How their lives connect to his life.
      Because writing is a communicative act.
              And it is meant to bind us together.
 
An Author may sit in the chair and say,
     “Offer me some compliments.” 
     She reads her piece aloud,
     And the audience lavishes praise on the author.
     Because sometimes that’s what authors need to hear,
     To keep them going, to keep them hungry, to keep them pursuing--
          down the long, harrowing road towards publication.

11 Comments
Sonja Schulz
3/18/2017 02:59:15 pm

I love the repetition of the first line---it makes such a strong impact. Great information, brilliantly conveyed.

Reply
Brian Kissel
3/18/2017 05:01:39 pm

Thanks Sonja! :)

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Wendy @ Falconer's Library link
3/18/2017 04:46:17 pm

I dream of a classroom where students felt the kind of trust and confidence to pull all that off. I teach middle schoolers, so it would take a lot of work and patience. Your descriptions of what each option mean are very evocative.

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Brian Kissel
3/18/2017 05:05:52 pm

Wendy--try it out. You would be surprised. I've done this in all sorts of classrooms--with all ages. Once I did an Author's Chair in a middle school classroom where two boys completely connected in an unexpected way. The teacher turned to me, tears in her eyes, and said, "I have NEVER seen this happen before in my classroom!" So, give it a try and tell me how it went--good or bad. :)

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Donna link
3/18/2017 05:56:53 pm

"to keep them hungry, to keep them pursuing--
down the long, harrowing road"
Love this...

http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com/2017/03/a-jealousy-post.html

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Laurie Pandorf link
3/18/2017 08:52:56 pm

I LOVE this! I've already printed it out to share. So clever to use the one page info from the text and run each strategy into a well written stanza. I have so many favorite lines including, "Sometimes writers just need other perspectives, a jolt of ideas./ And the chair can be a powerful place to gather them. Thanks for this evening gem

Reply
Brian Kissel
3/18/2017 09:41:29 pm

I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for the nice comment! :)

Reply
Heidi
3/18/2017 11:51:59 pm

What a wonderful poem. Have you shared it with your students?

https://wordsmithing2017.wordpress.com

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best office chair for back pain link
9/23/2017 12:40:09 pm

Very awesome!!! When I seek for this I found this website at the top of all blogs in search engine.

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Mindy Passe
11/10/2018 10:22:56 am

LOVE your poem about the Author's Chair!!! Must share it with the class!

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Olga Cancino link
11/15/2018 08:52:46 am

The power of Author’s chair offers a collaborative work where the “interaction” between the writer and the audience is a “mutual” support to develop writing skills and induces both, writer and audience, to think as writers ( in my understanding: to weak up feelings, passion, thoughts, inspiration….)

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    About the Author

    Brian Kissel is an Associate Professor of education at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  His focus is writing instruction.  He lives in North Carolina with his wife, Hattie and three kiddos: Charlie, Ben, and Harriet.
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