When it comes to creative writing, I feel scaffolding is especially important. Scaffolding writing–whether with worksheets or through techniques–is especially important for struggling writers. When students, who are uncomfortable with putting their ideas on paper, find themselves in a creative writing class, scaffolds are even more important. But what does it mean to scaffold writing? And what does scaffolding look like in a creative writing class?

What is “Scaffolding”?

The term scaffolding comes from construction work.

When new construction projects begin, usually supports are erected to help construction workers move materials, to give them a foundation to work on, and to otherwise aid in general construction.

Likewise, when students are constructing their new projects, they, too, need scaffolding; without it, they have to create with very little support.

Scaffolding is the supports that we, as their teachers, put up to support student writing.

In the classroom, scaffolding can take shape in many ways. It can be the outline for an essay or the sentence starters for a classroom discussion. One of my favorite scaffolds is a graphic organizer.

Anything you do that helps students get ideas on paper can be a writing scaffold.

In a creative writing class, however, where rules are meant to be broken, providing that scaffolding can be a challenge. How, then, do you guide students and provide support without limiting their creativity? Do you even really need it at all?

Why Should We Use Scaffolding in Creative Writing?

If the purpose of creative writing is to let students experience more freedom in writing, why even bother with scaffolding?

1. Scaffolding Writing Builds Confidence

Even my best writers are often unsure of themselves. Providing some guidelines, requirements, or outlines reassures them that what they’re writing is “right.”

Often, my students struggle in a class that has “no right answers,” so providing scaffolding helps ease their anxiety about writing a “wrong” poem or story.

It’s crazy, but a blank page and no rules really makes some students anxious! Especially when they’ve been trained their whole lives to regurgitate “correct” answers in order to make teachers happy.

2. Scaffolding Writing Gives Students a Starting Point

If students know they have to get from point A to point B, generally they can at least get started. Too much freedom can cause students to freeze up, write forever with no stopping point, or spend too much time brainstorming ideas and not actually writing.

Scaffolding helps students get started and guides them through the process of making it to the end.

3. Scaffolding Writing Helps Struggling Writers Without Holding Back Advanced Writers

One of my biggest struggles in teaching creative writing has been the huge difference in skill, talent, and confidence between my lowest and highest achieving students. Some students have been writing creatively for years and need little guidance; others are not even sure what “creative writing” is or why their guidance counselor signed them up for it.

I struggled with how to guide students through their writing without also stifling them.

Scaffolding gives struggling writers the help and guidance they need to embark on learning a new skill, like writing for pleasure.

When I used Kwame Alexander’s writing as a mentor text (a scaffold in and of itself), I told students exactly what to talk about in each stanza of their own writing. This really helped my students who had never written a poem prior to the class.

It also helped them grasp the concept of blending others’ style and techniques with one’s own writing. I worried, though, that such formulaic writing would stunt and bore my writers who needed to be challenged.

However, I quickly realized that my advanced students weren’t letting the scaffolds stop or restrict their writing at all!

I find that when students are inspired, they have no problem throwing away my scaffolds entirely or expanding on the structure I set in place.

Now, I encourage this with every assignment and let students know that if my outlines feel restrictive, they should follow their little writer hearts.

4. Scaffolding Writing Prevents Writer’s Block

At some point, every student will say, “I don’t know what to write next.”

When that happens, it’s great to have a handout or a graphic organizer to point to and say, “Well, what’s next?” or “What question haven’t you answered?” Usually, that’s enough for writers to begin again.

Without those scaffolds, I would have to invest a lot of time looking at each piece of writing and trying to assess what the author may want to do next. The scaffolding not only cuts down on teacher time, but gives the students the tools to solve their writer’s block independently.

Ok, so we can all agree that scaffolding is a great tool for any class, even creative ones. But how can it be put in place when the assignment’s final products can vary so much?

How to Use Scaffolding Techniques In a Creative Writing Class

Ok, but how do we scaffold writing in class? What can we do to help our students not only, start, but persevere, finish a piece, and aim for even better results next time?

1. Graphic Organizer Worksheets

When I was a student, I hated outlines. They seemed like a dumb tool for people who couldn’t remember their ideas for very long.

When I started teaching, however, I saw how immensely beneficial they were for my students to organize ideas before writing, and now I use them all the time myself!

Graphic organizers are my favorite way to have students brainstorm and consider a project before beginning. They’re great for visual learners and allow students to come up with all the “elements” of a piece before putting it together (which I think makes the final product less daunting).

For example, when we write cinquain poems in my class, students fill out a graphic organizer before writing the poem, even though the final poem only consists of eleven words!

They write down their topic, adjectives, synonyms, and other details, so that when they write the actual cinquain, they can choose the very best words for the finished product. It’s a great lesson on precision in language.

My free “I Am” poem lesson is another example of a graphic organizer. Students just need to fill in the blanks, and they end up with a whole poem!

2. Examples and Mentor Texts

It’s tough for an architect to build if they don’t know what the building is supposed to look like eventually.

The same is true for young writers.

If they don’t have a great example of what to shoot for, they won’t challenge themselves. This is where mentor texts come in.

For example, the poetry of Elizabeth Acevedo makes for excellent mentor texts in a creative writing class. Not only is her poetry mind-blowing, but her performances are as well.

In this lesson, we watch her perform one of her pieces, read another, and then write our own poem based on personal experience, just like Acevedo does. Watching her performance stays with my students, and they will occasionally remark on her performance even weeks later!

Knowing just how good an end result can be, gives students something to aim for, rather than having them settle for something mediocre. And. really, who among us remains uninspired after witnessing truly great art?

Our students deserve the same level of inspiration in their lives.

3. Guiding questions

Guiding questions are great to do on the fly when talking to students who are stuck. I sometimes incorporate them into worksheets and graphic organizers as well.

For example, when we write short stories, the possibilities are endless!

Some students write horrors while others write romances. Some stories start and end on a page while others go one for twenty. It’s difficult to structure an assignment with so many variations, so I use a lot of guiding questions that students can pick and choose from.

When they work on character development, I provide a bunch of questions students can think about to get to know their characters better.

Guiding questions do just that–they guide. They give students’ thoughts a jumping-off point, and once their mind gets going, they often find their direction.

4. Goals

Providing goals is another great scaffold because it keeps those struggling on track, while pushing those who are more advanced. What do I mean by “goals?” I mean targets to aim for other than simply what students will be graded on.

For example, when we read Elizabeth Acevedo, I encourage students to think about rhythm while they write.

When we study the poetry of Kwame Alexander, we talk about rhyme and I encourage students to use it.

When we write odes, I tell students they have to include at least three examples of figurative language.

When students get stuck, I just point to the extra goals I’ve given them.

How can you create more rhythm? What can you tweak to fit in an internal rhyme? What figurative language techniques haven’t you used? Knowing where and how to push themselves helps students to stay on track.

So, what do you think? Where in your creative writing classroom can you add scaffolds? What can of writing scaffolding do your students need?

If you’re not sure how to get started, I recommend checking out my “I Am” Poem for High School lesson. It’s FREE!