A dyslexic author's writing tips for dyslexic kids
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Version 0 of 1. Would you like to do a piece offering some writing tips for dyslexic children they said. Sure, I said, I mean, how hard can it be? They it dawned on me, isn’t that like asking someone who’s colour blind for decorating advice? Tip 1: sometimes the things we struggle with can be the most rewarding. Although I’ve only just started this article, so let’s not pat ourselves on the back just yet. I’ll level with you, I have a weird relationship with words, mostly I love them, but sometimes, just sometimes they drive me round the bend. Between them falling out of people’s brains and landing on the page, something happens, the become lost or begin to dance around on the paper. Tip 2: never be afraid to think visually. It’s like I’m seeing them for the first time. The strange thing is this comes and goes. I have good days and bad. One minute I can be reading the most complicated thing in the world, I feel like I’m surfing along on every sentence, the next minute, I struggle to read the most simple of picture books to a child. Sometimes one I’ve actually written myself. I know, it’s embarrassing. Tip 3: Try not to get annoyed and throw a book/custard pie/tantrum at anyone who corrects your reading*. *That one’s more of a general life-style tip. Despite all this, as a kid I loved stories, I loved jokes, and I loved TV (an author is allowed to say that out loud, right?) I used to read the same books over-and-over again. I still do that. I mean you wouldn’t listen to an album once right? Tip 4: don’t be afraid to surround yourself by what you love. I’m going to say something that’s going to shock you now. You might want to sit down, no, go on, really sit down. Spelling isn’t important. It really isn’t, people get hung up on it. Being able to spell has nothing to do with being a good writer. Being able to know how a car engine works, doesn’t make you a racing driver. It’s about having something to say. It’s about feeling the wind in your hair. Tip 5: if anyone goes at your work with a red pen, grab it off them, snap it in two and throw it out of the window, then ask them to read what you have written, rather than correct it. Corrections can come later, when you have bought them a new red pen. Give poetry a try. What I hear you cry?! I know some of you think that poetry is lame, but it’s not. If someone as cool and bad ass as me likes it, then it’s okay for you to like it too. Poetry can be anything, it can be an emotion, and idea, a joke, a thought. Whatever pops into your head. Tip 6: poetry often works to a structure, you know that a certain line rhyme with another, it makes you think about words. It’s like the foundations of a house are laid out in front of you, and you have to add the walls and roof. If you’re not feeling particularly wordy somedays, write without any. Use pictures. Comic strips are stories, they have a beginning, middle and end, they just don’t need any words. Tip 7: don’t be scared of a blank piece of paper, it’s the best thing in the world. At some point everything started out as a blank piece of paper, from your favourite book to the computer I’m typing on, they all started out as nothing and became something. You should never be afraid to talk about being dyslexic, whenever I tell people, they’re mostly interested, and I get asked all kinds of question. In fact the more I talk about it, the more it feels like I’m getting to know myself a little bit more. Tip 8: learn about what dyslexia is, read about it, you’ll find yourself going “I totally do that!” quite a lot. There are many others like you, all of them probably have felt isolated, stupid, like they didn’t belong at some point too. Don’t ever worry about being wrong. getting things mixed up. I’m going to shock you again now, but teachers are pretty lovely, I know they hide it well, but they are. They will always help. Tip 9: writing is about you, they are your thoughts, the things you have to say, and those can never be wrong. Being dyslexic is who you are, and who you are is brilliant. Tip 10: stop reading this and go write something amazing. |