Is it safe to say, without evidence, that most writers don’t write for the pleasure alone, but for money? And if they write for money, as part of their work or to publish, then their end goal is financial remuneration, so they can make a living wage? (No, no it is not…see note at the end of this piece).
With that in mind, is it not unrealistic to expect any student that knows that to write in the way suggested below?
The truth is that the advent/rise of AI changes nothing about the basics of teaching writing. If you create a community of writers with writing as the centerpiece of your work together then you will reduce the lure of AI. If you regularly engage the writers in your care in authentic writing then you will lower the temptation to fall down the path of AI. If you show your students how to be writers engaged in real writing tasks by being their guide on this journey then you may just save your students from falling prey to AI. (Source: Deanna Mascle, Metawriting
This seems like wishful thinking. Three out of four workers don’t write because of a community of writers or the joy of publishing. They write to a deadline and will use whatever means necessary to get that writing done. They are desperate to write because they must produce copy that is good enough.
**Jen Roberts does the opposite** of what the author, Deanna Mascle, in that quoted piece above suggests or at least does something she disagrees with. Her approach is a bit more realistic.
Still, I want Deanna’s point to be true. I taught writers in my own writing workshop for fifth graders in Cotulla, Tx. My first year of teaching when I knew nothing except writing workshop and ignored my mentor teacher and the grammarians on my grade level. It was magical.
The conditions for it never arose again. The reason why was curriculum and instruction demands, top-down mandates, and later, the micro-management of teaching. And I became a different teacher.
That is why Jen Roberts approach will succeed while the other will fail to materialize, like waiting on fantasy unicorn to appear given the right conditions.
But, if I could, I would cast aside the reality of AI and write for pleasure, the sharing circle, and jam a shoe in the machinery of publication for social media mongering.
Note
An AI’s conclusion about my opinion in paragraph one:
…the evidence does not support the claim that most writers write primarily for money over personal pleasure or satisfaction. The sources suggest writers have a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, with making a living wage from writing being difficult for the majority. Claiming money alone is the primary motivation for most writers would be an overstatement not well-supported by the research provided.
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