A famous writing coach named Donald Murray (now, sadly, deceased) kept a Latin phrase, borrowed from artist James Whistler, on his desk to remind him of the importance of discipline in writing: Nulla dies sine linea, which translates to “Never a day without a line.”
A way to just get a class moving as writers is to assign them to write exactly 100 words per day for a week. They simply open a Word document, make a header with the date and write EXACTLY 100 words, then stop and save for the day. The next day they make a new header, write another 100 words, and save. Etc.
In a week, they have 700 words. You can have them print to assess (I just gave them points for doing it). No restrictions on the writing in terms of topic or format. I have had kids write poems, essays, diary entries, short stories, rants, dialogue -- who cares? Sometimes the entries hook together. Other times they are as random as thought. The assignment is to write, and fluidity is the goal.
And, of course, I share my own 100 words per day with the class through Google Docs (perhaps through a blog this year), and that serves as a gentle reminder to get to work.
By the way, there is even a web site devoted to writing 100 words a day. You can check it out at http://www.100words.com/about.php
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