Writing simply sucks for some kids. And that sucks for parents and teachers to watch.

As a school psychologist and learning specialist, writing difficulty is one of the most common reasons I work with kids.

So why is writing so painful for some? 

The reasons are not the same for everyone so the first step is to figure out what aspect of writing is causing the most difficulty.

The easiest way to find out is to simply ask. Some kids can tell you exactly why they dislike writing. Other kids may have no idea, they just know that it makes them feel bad.

If your kid falls in the “I don’t know” camp, try some of these guiding questions to get them thinking about it.

• What does it feel like when you are writing?
• Is writing hardest when you first start or the whole time?
• Is there anything you like about writing?
• Is it easy or hard for you to think of ideas?
• How do you feel about your writing when you finish writing something?

If you have an idea of what the obstacle is, put it out there, “When I see you writing, it looks like you are working really hard to get the words down, and maybe that gets in the way of your thinking.” They will usually tell you if you are wrong. If all else fails, make an educated guess. 

According to this BBC article, one in five boys said they do not like writing at all and nearly one in ten girls said the same. Even more kids report that they do not write unless they have to. Why is writing reviled by so many kids? 

The top five reasons kids say they don’t like writing

1. Idea development – Kids who struggle with writing often report difficulty coming up with an idea that they like – or any idea at all. 

2. The physical act of writing – Fine motor skills are later developed in boys and writing “takes forever!” I even find myself feeling their pain when I watch a youngster spend five minutes on a single sentence. I would probably hate it too.

3. Perfectionism – For kids who struggle with perfectionism, any task that doesn’t have one right answer can be anxiety-producing.

4. Difficulty focusing – Some kids struggle to sit still for writing. Still, others are not able to focus for long periods of time. A lot of kids will label this kind of writing difficulty as “boring.”

5. Embarrassment – I was surprised to learn that embarrassment is cited as one of the big reasons for disliking writing.  Embarrassment? This is new to me but so, so good to know. This was mostly reported by younger boys. I wonder how many kids who struggle to identify why they dislike writing actually fall into this group? 

Some of these reasons may overlap or work with (against) each other. For example, a perfectionist may struggle with idea development because they never think it is good enough. The fidgety kid may also struggle with fine motor skills. You don’t have to pinpoint one reason and ignore all the others, but pick the one that seems the most troublesome and focus on that one. 

Fortunately, there are a lot of things we can do to help. Finding the right thing or a combination of things may take some trial and error. Also, remember that changes don’t happen overnight. It may take several weeks to see improvements. If something doesn’t seem to be helping after a few weeks, try a different approach. 

I cannot stress this enough – trying something one or two times with no results does not mean the strategy won’t work. Unless the strategy seems to be adding a lot more stress to the writing process, keep it up for a while.

Tools and strategies

For kids who struggle to come up with ideas

Provide a writing prompt – Writing prompts can work wonders. They can be a starter sentence, a topic, or an interesting photograph. 

Provide a structure for idea development – For example, writing about your summer vacation may be way too open-ended for these kids. Instead, ask them to write about three things that they did over the summer. Include ideas – did you…play a sport, go on a vacation, see relatives, play with a friend, etc. You can structure it even further by asking for one sentence about each one and a follow-up sentence about what they liked most about the activity. 

Listen for ideas that they could use later – When they tell you about something, say, “That sounds like a great story. You could save that idea for writing time.” 

For kids who struggle with fine-motor skills

Have them learn to keyboard – Keyboarding is a critical skill in our technology-based world. Most kids find it fun. Keep it light and have them practice for just a few minutes each day. Online teaching tools that gamify the process work well to keep kids engaged in the process. 

Speech-to-text software – You used to have to buy expensive programs for speech-to-text. These days, most word processing software comes with speech-to-text as a standard feature. Students using speech-to-text software will need to create a routine of reading and editing their work to catch the mistakes that the software makes. 

Play! Even though writing is a fine motor skill, upper body strength plays an important role in being able to engage those fine motor muscles. Playing on monkey bars and other activities that build upper body strength helps develop fine motor skills. 

Give them choices – Let kids use whatever writing utensil they prefer. Some kids don’t like the resistance that they feel from a pencil. Try letting them use a dry-erase board for writing. This can even work for older kids such as working out math problems on a dry-erase board. Try a slant board. There are fancy ones but a binder flipped sideways works great. Let them write while standing.

For kids who struggle with perfectionism

Create a growth mindset (Simple right?) If you don’t know about Growth Mindset, check out some articles like this one or this one. (LINKS)

Ease the pressure – An easy way to start is to have kids practice stream-of-consciousness writing, telling them that anything goes, just get words on the paper. There is no worry here about spelling or correct punctuation. It may even help if they can decide whether anyone gets to read it.

Narrow the skills they are working on – Have them work on only one or two aspects of their writing at one time. If they are working on adding details to sentences, that is the focus. The writing may be full of misspellings, not make a lot of sense, or look like a mess. Only look at the individual sentences and the details that were added.

For kids who need help staying focused

Standing height desks – The fancy ones come with stools that have swinging foot rests to allow for movement. If that isn’t in your budget, a cafe table or even a board on top of some milk crates can get the desk up. 

Voice record the idea before writing. If the time between thinking of an idea and getting down on paper is too long for them to remember what they thought of in the first place, this can help relieve some of the strain on their working memory. 

Chunk the assignment – Break the assignment into smaller, more manageable chunks. Incorporate breaks throughout the writing process. 

Make it active and interactive – Have small groups write together, each adding the next sentence or even the next word. You can do this on chart paper on the wall as well.

For kids who are embarrassed about their writing

Volunteers only – Allow them to volunteer to share their work. Be okay with them saying no sometimes. 

Respect privacy – Don’t publicly display work, share it with others, or talk about it with others without their permission. Make sure they know that you will respect their privacy. 

Provide feedback privately – some kids may be embarrassed by mistakes that they make in their writing. They may be especially concerned about other students knowing about their mistakes. 

Start positive – Always start with something positive in your feedback. Where the positive feedback goes in the process is less important than making sure you are in the habit of finding something positive to say. 

Avoid sarcasm and harsh criticism – You might say, “duh” to this one but I’ve seen some hurtful comments. 

A few other proven strategies

Graphic organizers – Teach kids how to use graphic organizers. There are about a million available for free via the web. Graphic organizers support and scaffold the writing process. It is helpful to teach students that they can come up with their own ways of developing their writing and their organization. 

Thesaurus and dictionary skills – Teach kids how to use a thesaurus and a dictionary. These might look different than they did when we were kids, but they continue to be essential in whatever form they take. Show kids how to look words up when they are unsure of the meaning or the spelling. Help them understand how to use a thesaurus well.

Encourage reading – It is well known that the more one reads, the better they will be able to write. Though reading Jane Austin will not necessarily make someone a novelist, they will improve their vocabulary, and better understand things like syntax and punctuation. 

Play games that improve writing skills. This sampling of games is a great place to start. I have played many of these games with my son and with students. 

Give it a try

First, identify the why – what aspect of writing is the most troublesome? It’s okay if you aren’t sure. Even if you have no idea, starting with a hypothesis will work. 

Second, try a strategy. Give it some time and be patient. Changes in academic skills and tolerance for frustrating tasks can take a long time. Help your student build their metacognitive skills by having them evaluate how helpful a particular strategy was for them, or let them be a detective by tracking their own skills or tolerance for writing. 

If you try some of these, and they are not helpful, or if you are really concerned about your student, you may want to consider a more intensive intervention. An OT (Occupational Therapy) evaluation or other educational testing can rule out a disability and guide intervention.