Our creative process.

So, we went paragliding (it was a surprise gift to the little one, our 7-year-old girl, Kymaia) over the weekend. This is an account of the exciting first-time experience in her own words. She wrote it in collaboration with me, like all her essays.

How do we collaborate? Do I write stuff down for her to copy? Do I dictate to her as she writes? Do I tell her what to talk about? None of the above.

The way it goes is this:

1. We first discuss and she decides what she is going to write about.
2. We have a storytelling session in which she narrates it to me, sometimes with actions and dialogues (this is the best part).
3. We pick out keywords and she writes them on the glass board with a marker pen. For complex spellings, she first tries to construct the word, and I help her (because English is indeed a funny language) if she needs me. So, at the end of this session, we have a structure and a glass wall with all the keywords and their spellings written.
4. She then writes the first few sentences and we read them together. I tell her where I think the direction she is taking will end up, and she makes corrections in the next few sentences if she wants to change it. Else, she continues. Once in a while, she is stuck, and we have to go through an extensive question-answer session to get her mind unjammed and her thoughts flowing again.
5. Once she finishes, she lets me read it, and makes minor corrections if I point out some obvious (mainly spelling and punctuation) errors.
6. She puts the date on it, draws some stuff on the sidelines, and that is that.