CHAPTER 7:
HOW WRITERS WRITE: TESTIMONY FROM AUTHORS
PHILIP PROWSE
PRESENTED BY:
NEGIN MADDAH, FATEMEH GHAFFARI,AND AREFEH FALLAH DARYASARI
Introduction
This chapter is about the process of materials writing from the writer’s
perspective. It uses two snapshots: one taken in 1994 and one taken 15
years later.
The meeting of ELT materials writers from all over the world in Oxford
in 1994 for a British Council Specialist Course with UK-based writers and
publishers was the first snapshot.
The second snapshot was 15 years later that four leading ELT
materials writers were asked to read the former ideas and reflect on
their own practice.
Writers’ perspectives in 1994
writing together
The points mentioned here are the accounts of ELT materials writers in
1994. they highlight importance of team-building, as well as
separations in working practice.
Large teams
 Writing together means: sitting down at a table together. Although
the actual writing process happens in the same room, collecting
materials is writer’s task.
 Each one draft a unit: First each person draft a unit then each reads
the other’s unit and criticizes.
 The actual writing definitely takes place individually. First the team
of writers meet and agree on an overall approach and
methodology. Then they go away to write their own chunks. Then
they meet to comment on each others work to improve their chunks
with the benefit of the feedback.
 Sometimes the size of the team is rather unusual and lots of people,
teachers, inspectors, trainers. For example the textbook team that
made up of 13 members.
 In team-working, team players should be frank and accept
constructive criticism and being confident but not arrogant.
 One of the writers mentioned that working with co-authors who are
virtual strangers and who are representing the country for which the
book is intended is a relationship full of stresses and strains which
result from approaching the project from totally different angles.
Drawbacks of team-working:
 Mismatch between individual working styles
 Mismatch between individual writing styles
 Unstandardized units
 A longer than usual time for decision as we must give credit to every
one’s idea in order to reach solution agreed.
Advantages of team-working:
 Variety of ideas
 Wider range of information and methodological sources
 getting together from different parts of the country and sharing
different areas of interest, conceptions and ideas.
Decisions taken from the whole team
 Content of the book
 The topics to be covered
 The balance of skills
 The treatment of vocabulary and grammar
 The culture and civilization input
Project coordinator and UK consultants’ job
 Planning
 Setting up deadlines and seeing that these are met
 Updating all members and persons related to the project on
progress of work and results
 Organizing piloting of the materials
 Ensuring standardization
 Avoiding overlap
 Reviewing the materials
 Workshops (organization, management and reports)
 Relationships with the publishers
The mode of working the writers agreed on:
 During a first workshop : the group decide on different parts of a unit
then units are allocated to each member.
 writers devise units accordingly, send them to the project
coordinator for checking and
the consultants get them for
suggestions as well.
 In about three months the group meets again with the project
coordinator and the consultants and common agreement for all
lessons is obtained.
Pair working
 One of the writers believe that working at a distance is better. To
avoid serious disagreements and to work faster. After writing a draft
the co-author comment on and adapt it if necessary.
 Some writers in collaborative writing first decide on the topic to work
on then collecting materials and ideas. Then pool the materials and
decide about order and usefulness. Then trying things out and
reverse them. In some team-workings a member of the team
becomes scribe and writes what others dictate to him/her after
elaborate discussion.
 One of the good ways to work in a team is, using compatible
computers. First they have meetings and then each works on
different units. Then they post the disks containing the rough draft to
each other and instead of commenting on it rewrite the lesson and
send it back and then they sit down together at one computer and
get the lesson all in order.
How to work together is clearly something which occupies materials
writers. In the points given here we can distinguish pairs who works
closely together, pairs who compliments each other, and larger teams
where management of the writing process becomes as important as
the writing itself. As a writing team gets larger, the benefits it receives
from diversity can be outweighed by the negative effects of personal
and professional disagreements, but a larger team can draw on
deeper reserves of energy and experience.
The creative process
In this process writers mention that: the real work for them is
originating the drafts of a lesson. Although it’s a hard work, no work is
more rewarding. The process begins with checking the course design
requirements for the lesson to be written. And deciding in which
authentic context the target structures or vocabulary are likely to be
heard or read. After thinking about this, the writer looks for input texts
(listening/reading materials in the lesson) from old newspapers, going
to the library, etc. Then he decides on the stages of the lesson, and
covers the principle and secondary syllabuses. Everything should occur
in activity sequences with a beginning, a middle and an end. So that a
communicative context is established and this usually involve an
ingenuity.
Of course, there is a lot of polishing, revising and finishing to do, which
is usually done in collaboration with an editor.
Writing is not just sitting down at the table and working. The ideas and
intentions boil in writer’s mind, and take quite a while to mature, then
at some point the writer feels he can start writing.
 Writing is fun, because it’s creative.
 Writing can be frustrating, when ideas don’t come.
 Writing brings joy, when inspiration comes, when your hand cannot
keep up with the speed of your thoughts.
 Writing is absorbing― the best materials are written in trances.
 Writing improves with practice, but everybody needs a bit of a push
to face up to their first writing assignments.
 Writing is addictive― after you have completed your first job you
keep asking for more
Writing is a tortuous activity. A writer think a lot, not about the
mechanics of writing, but about making a bonafide beginning, and
about keeping things organized while he writes and for a writer planning
takes place everywhere.
The main difference is that, in materials writing the writer needs to start
from the germ of an idea. Then he might just let it simmer a way, give it a
stir from time to time, and then at a certain point have a closer look at it.
The writer draws heavily on his own experience. He might look through
what other people have done, but he basically rely on his own intuition.
Two unstated assumption should be mentioned here:
 The syllabus precedes the creation. An alternative view is to base
lesson materials on topics and activities which are of interest and
value in themselves, and derive the actual syllabus from the
materials, using checklists were necessary to ensure sufficient
coverage.
 Coverage is another unspoken assumption, as if teaching materials
can encapsulate the whole of the language, rather than offer a
series of snapshots of it.
Working with publishers
These days major course book series are usually commissioned by
publishers rather than suggested by authors.
The typical writing process includes:
Initial stage
 Research on new level by talking to teachers and looking at/
teaching materials.
 Meeting with co-author to discuss and draft the basic rational. This
includes book and unit structure, and a draft grammar syllabus.
 Creation of draft unit, planning of unit usually together and then
divided up and worked on them individually. Done on computer
and faxed backgrounds and forward for comments. At this stage
editors are not involved.
 Submit the draft unit/grammar syllabus to publisher and send out to
readers to catch diverse opinions.
Meanwhile
 Building up ideas for other syllabuses, vocabulary, writing in terms of
activity type and topic. Also build up a bank of authentic texts
which we feel we can use or adapt.
 Meeting with the designer and art editor to discuss about the “look”
of the book.
 Meeting with the publisher and project manager after receiving
comments to share ideas and views.
First draft
At this stage the author should not be worry about writing to the
page, detailed art briefs, recording, keys, etc.
The authors send the first draft to about 14 readers, and after
receiving their comments there is a meeting with publishers (when
changes in content and philosophy may occur). At this stage the focus
is on big issues rather than silly ones.
Second draft
This stage is done over an intensive period and involve a lot of
changes: Finding new texts, cutting out presentation, adding other
activities, etc.
At this stage the author starts to write ‘to the page’ with an eye on
design and layout. This draft sent to readers and they comments on
the micros (details). At this stage the Workbook and Teacher’s book
should be written.
Third draft
At this stage publishing team are involved. The finished unites which
the author write will be copy-edited and sent back usually requesting
drastic cuts. There are also meeting with designers and editors.
Finally
When the author finish working, there is six stressful months of
production work, specially in the area of design, cuts and rubrics.
The writer refers to the publishing team which consist of a publisher, an
editor, a designer and one or more editors(work on materials in detail).
Two new developments are: input from marketing and the rise of the
freelance editor.
For the most UK publishers the influence of the marketing team is
important. Particularly, more market-specific courses are produced. It is
input from marketing that sets the parameters of writing.
The relationship between writers and editors is as important as the
relationship within the writing team. In the past materials were
produced by the publishers own staff cost pressure and ‘down-sizing’
lead to the increasing of freelance editor. It is neither good nor bad in
itself, but in a major project can lead to the authors having to relate to
an increasing large number of ‘new’ people, with the consequent
‘getting to know you’ phase occupying more and more time.
Designer and illustrator
The design of the book is important for authors, so a design for the
book of the students page is finalized before writing, and the writer
write to fit the design.
There are sometimes problems for illustratrators:
 The maxim of illustrator: any one illustrator can either read or draw.
So either she read or draw but the learner’s won’t be able to do the
corresponding exercise because some of the elements of the
illustration are wrong or missing.
 Suspension of Gricean maxims: you can’t assume anything with an
illustrator. Learning to write a tight art brief may be the most difficult
subskill of the EFL writer’s trade.
For example if the writer want to say ‘desert scene’ it is better to
specify the features of desert.
While the two problems as happening are not common, it is clear
that in publishing the design and illustration can make or break a book.
Technology
Using the text through disk as well as paper was the norm by1994.
Publishers desire to set text direct from disk was because of the disks
that have to submitted without any wonderful design and layout.
Now a days, none of the authors would like to go back the days that
they use manual writing with pen, pencil and typewriter.
A time and place to write
Another factor that the authors consider when they want to write is
time and place.
Authors’ idea about time and place is different.
Some points that authors said about time and place are:
 Distractions
 A special and calm place
 Private time
 Private place
Conclusion
A different set of prompts
different responses
Our concern is if this prompts had focused more on learning
principles and objectives, and less on syllabus, ideas, and procedures.
And also we are interested in learning more about a relationship
between writers and the classroom, the publisher’s view of writers, the
teacher’s view of materials, and the learner’s perception of the whole
process.
Reflections 15 years later
The influence of the market
 Don’t write for yourself.
 Remember you are writing for a market.
 Know the market (get as much information as you can about the
market and write for the market)
Course books which the writer is involved should be researched with
repeated visits such as:
 Classroom observation of lessons
 Discussions with students about their interests
 Individual and focus group discussions with teachers
 Meeting with educational advisers and planners
 Discussions with methodologists and teacher trainers working in the
market
Finally when the course is published, a market visits continue for
promotion but also see the materials in action and gather feedback
for further editions.
The ELT writer and technology
The original article focused on the technical aspects of writing.
Pete Sharma emphasizes the use of technology by writers to research
the language itself and the content of materials. World Wide Web as a
source for text is vastly improved access to authentic text.
Authentic text : the best source of rich and varied comprehensible
input for language learners.
Before the revolution in corpus linguistics it was common for writers to
invent sentences to exemplify a grammar point, or present a lexical
item.
Now a days, such artificial sentences would be ridiculed because writers
can access real examples of how language works.
A corpus is a ‘collection of texts, written or spoken, stored on a
computer’. To study a word in context, the writer can simply go to a free
web concordance, type in a word, hit ‘enter’ and then look at a resulting
concordance line. Coursebook writers use professional concordancing
tools such as WordSmith and MonoConc or subscribe to programs such as
Sketch Engine which can provide detailed profiles of words.
Using the internet
The World Wide Web is a rich source of knowledge for writers, as well as
inspiration on every topic imaginable. Search engines such as Google
make searches quick and painless. Sites such as Wikipedia provide
information instantly, and are largely accurate. Texts from websites can be
cut and pasted into a Word document. This makes us able to re-purposing
an original piece of writing. Texts from different sources can be merged. Of
course, it is much easier for any writer to plagiarize. On the other hand it
could be argued that it has always been possible to copy other people’s
ideas and words; technology has just made it easier.
Writing together
In this two contributions Sue Kay and Jeff Stranks reflect how coauthors work together, coming to differing conclusions about being in
the same room. The Writer’s experience is that working face to face is
essential for the initial planning, brainstorming, creative phases as well as
for discussion of material and reviewing. But new technology can mean
that authors can ‘virtually’ be in the same room.
Sue Kay’s experience : Their starting point was finding that they both
had the same ideas about what was missing in the market, and what
sort of course book they would like to use with the students. As they were
not manufactured by a publisher. Their open minded publishers
accepted their unsolicited manuscript.
With the help of some highly creative people, they managed to write
a course that stands up to the ‘litmus test’ they wrote down over ten
years ago before they had written a word: ‘does it work in the
classroom? Are the students having fun?’
They couldn’t write in the same room cause they were close friends
and they couldn’t concentrate on writing. So they brainstorm ideas
together. Then she would type lots of ideas into a word document and
send them to her writing partner for his reaction.
They would choose the best topics and texts together. One would
work on reading texts and audio content, and the other one would
work on the language development aspect of the course, using these
texts as springboard.
She says that they can’t imagine writing a course with someone who
lives on a different continent. Regular editorial meeting had given
impetus to the writing process.
Jeff Stranks’s experience: he worked with more than one co-author
so things can vary a bit. The primary one is that of synergy― just being
in the same room helps! Writing is a creative process of course, but that
also varies in degrees. So when it’s the really creative staff then there is
nothing to beat thrashing it out with one or more co-authors and that
requires being in the same room― not always easy when you live
continents apart, but if you have sympathetic publishers the distances
can be regularly overcome.
There are also the less creative moments such as :
 Writing the grammar exercise
 Producing the questions for a text
 Checking and polishing a manuscript before delivery
The above tasks need careful attention but don’t require much
creative energy or synergy.
Much of those tasks can be done alone, but its better if your
colleague is in the same room cause firstly, it’s a sense of working
together and secondly, (personal idea) the avoidance strategies are
more easily diverted.
They put away almost all of their hobbies, so more work gets done
and hence deadlines get met or better still, beaten.
So work together whenever feasible. Email, Skype and the like are
great, but, as in any relationship, eventually a poor substitute for being
there.
Creative process
Jeremy Harmer’s insight into how the creative process works for him
chimes with Mishan(2005: 59) recommendation: ‘what is suggested
here is a text-driven approach, one that is … learner-centered and
works in a converse fashion [to PPP], in that it starts with (authentic)
texts, and drives the language features to be studied from these’.
It differs from the experienced task designer quoted in Johnson (2003:
93): ‘I guess I am going to try to put together ideas that I have already
used in some new way or put together ideas that I have seen in books,
in resources elsewhere, and combine them in my own way. That’s how
I usually do these sort of things. And maybe something new and
revolutionary will turn up in the process’.
Harmer’s conclusion compares writing to teaching, and at the end,
the comparison of how writers write now and 15 years ago.
First of all he looks for a topic or approach that engages students and
teachers. But the danger is that he will fill the book with what interests
him or people like him in the society and geographical reality that he
inhabits.
Then he starts to question his choice to see if it has a chance of
involving other ‘different’ people. When he fixed on a topic, it is time
for what he named as classroom-in-my-mind and he tries to bring the
topic into that classroom.
First he concerned about the engagement and now what language
he should focus on and, what words and grammar he can mine for the
texts and situation.
Writing a coursebook material is like having all the resources
available but you have to locate them without a map, while you cant
see or move. You know what you look for but it’s difficult to find, and
even if you find it’s difficult to ‘knock it to shape’. Also you know there is
no guarantee that other teachers and students will see things the way
you do, or understand what you were hoping to achieve.
And then there ‘s the issue of how much you can expect students
and teachers to ‘dialogue’ with each other if and when you offer them
topics to explore or conversations to create; there are issues of how to
make a book live in an age when YouTube and podcasts are there for
everyone to use, and when the governor of California wants to cut
costs by replacing textbooks with the internet. Is a book the right kind
of teaching aid anyway, and if so, for who? these are the thoughts
that lurk at the back of consciousness ready to invade us with doubt
and uncertainty whenever we have a moment to stop and think!
Coursebook writing has always been like this: a genuine wish to
provide material that will brighten any class, a desire to offer reliable
material for the most put-upon teacher; a matter of excitement and
compromises; an act of creativity that all too often seems suffocating
and doomed. But when, against all the odds, and in light of linguistic
and methodological constraints, you actually manage to make
something that you know will work, the feeling is fantastic. It’s not
actually that much different from teaching; we don’t always teach
great classes ,but when we do we want to shout it from the rooftops.
That’s what it’s like on the rare occasions when coursebook writers get
it right’.
So, whistle much has changed in 15 years, the essential truth that
coursebook writing is a creative rather than a mechanical process
remains. The digital revolution may mean that in the future the ‘print’
coursebook as we know it vanishes, and the electronic materials which
replace it are multi-authored packages assembled to meet the
requirements of particular group of students.
Coursebook writers may increasingly be paid fees for sets of materials
rather than sharing the risk of creating a whole book or series with the
publisher by getting royalties.
Nevertheless, the act of writing will remain an art which can provide
satisfaction for the author as well as contributing to the learner’s
education. Publishing reaching materials will also remain a team effort
involving people with a range of complementary skills, even if those
team members may not be in the same room, or even continent. The
reward for writers will also continue to be the same: not pecuniary
(except in a few lucky cases), but personal, as in watching a class use
your material successfully or meeting a student who says with a big
grin, ‘I learned English from your book’.
The End