One word, one story, one voice…

It takes practice to be a good writer. While some student journalists enjoy the process of creating, organizing, editing and publishing, and others even feel like it all comes easily, there’s no arguing that practice makes perfect.

There are many different drills and exercises a journalist can do to help improve his/her skills and one that this class has enjoyed doing is an exercise called “1 in 20.”

Yes, every once in a while, students take a break from ideating, interviewing and AP Style and just let the words flow. Students have fun with writing and just see where it leads.

Here is how “1 in 20” works.

First, students randomly and blindly choose a word which will serve as their basis and guide their writing. The word choices are – resilience, trust, love, friendship, belonging, persistence, struggle, hope, victory, loss, surprise, connection, discovery, stress, anticipation.

Next, they think about how that word relates either to one event or occurrence or situation or milestone in their life (or in society if they prefer not to make it personal).

Finally, using one voice (i.e., first or third person) students write a story or a passage or journal entry or news report based around the meaning or interpretation of their chosen word. Students get creative and have fun with it. The sky is the limit.

Here’s the catch. They only have 20 minutes from when they pick their word to brainstorm and write. (Nothing like a little bit of pressure, right?)

And when they finish, students share with each other, peer edit, offer pointers and tips and just have fun sharing their creative work.

There is beauty in writing just like there is in art and music and nature, too.

And as the advisor, it is so beautiful to watch the creative spirit of student journalists flow during this exercise.

When you empower student journalists to explore their creativity and give them permission to write without constraints beautiful things usually result.