In my future ELA classroom, I would love to have pubished authors come in and talk about writing, talk about their struggles, and talk about their successs. Most of all, I would like students to experience real authors, and to ee that they are human, they are fallable, and they don’t get it right or easily the first time. Not to mention the fact that most authors have to go to more than one publisher before anyone will invest in their work. This is all important to share with students, so that when they experience writer’s block or frustration, they realize that it is not just them, it is not just their peers, but that real published author’s also deal with the same trials and obstacles.
Hearing from pubished authors would m=be meaningless, however, if students didn’t become published authors at some point! Daily writing without structure is important, but it is equally important to go through the process of editing, changing, and finalizing a piece of writing. Having students become pubished authors helps give them motivation to write well. It is encouraging to know that others will read and enjoy their words, and it can boost their writing confidence to know that they have written something that is “good enough” to be pubished.