I am part of a few professional learning networks on blogging. It helps me stay focused on #BLOG365 and be positively accountable to a group. One challenge that many of us sometimes face is the need for perfection in blogging, the feeling that we can’t post until our writing is perfect. I definitely felt like this at the beginning of the blogging process, but I have learned to Let It Go!

I do enough writing where I need to be precise. My blog doesn’t need to be another place I strive for perfection. Daily writing is more important. If I get caught up in every detail, every punctuation mark, and sentence I will move away from my purpose.

I am a big proponent of writing workshop in classrooms because it hinges on the idea that writing is about the writer and not the writing.

I am going to preface this next statement I make by saying I was an English major in college.

I loathe grammar.

I’m not saying I haven’t seen some beautifully crafted sentences before. I have, and I have taken note of them.

I am saying out of all the strategies and skills we teach in English Language Arts grammar  is one that needs to be put on the back burner more often than not. Underline this transitive verb once and circle the object. Diagram a sentence. Is that an adjective or an adverb? When we spend time on these low level assignments, we lose the big picture. We lose the beauty of writing. We squash ideas. We teach in isolation. Application is ignored.

In order for our students to thrive as writers we have to let it go with grammar sometimes. We have to let it go in order to allow students to see themselves as writers, see the beauty in creating a mood, or developing a character. We have to let it go so they can see the connections between reading and writing. We have to let it go to provide the conditions for success.

Words are lovely. The power they have is magical. That power doesn’t always come from the linking of words into perfect sentences with perfect punctuation and spelling. That power comes from the meaning behind those words, each specific sound represented by a letter placed together with other letters to carry meaning.

So, I think, as writers and as educators, sometimes we need to let it go.

I promise it will be ok!