Don Stewart
"When we sharpen a pencil, we get to the point by subtracting. When we write, we get to the point by adding. The modifier is the essential part of any sentence."
- Career English teacher, retired
- Director of Write for College, for 24 years a summer writing program reaching over 1000 high school students
- Author and editor
- Frequent presenter at writing conferences, including National Council of Teachers of English
Following in the footsteps
Central to the method of the Write for College program is the study of the writings of giants who have gone before. You will recognize these two, advocates of learning by imitation.
J. K. Rowling
“Read as much as you possibly can. Nothing will help you as much as reading and you'll go through a phase where you will imitate your favourite writers and that's fine because that's a learning experience too.”
Helen Keller
“Before we publish anything, or set ourselves up as writers, we may imitate and even copy to our hearts’ content, and when the time comes for us to send forth a message to the world, we shall have learned how to say it.”
Comments
I loved Don's presentation and am definitely going to dive into his website & courses. I truly enjoy learning about these techniques.
Attendee
04/04/2022 15:31
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This is exactly what I needed to hear. So often I want to do something like this but stop because I've been taught sentences are supposed to be short. Which always seemed choppy to me. Knowing this is a comfort! I am allowed to write long sentences with description!
Attendee
Attendee
04/04/2022 15:40
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Fascinating. Feel vindicated. Delightful . Thank you
Attendee
04/04/2022 15:42
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Great session, love the creative license he gives us to add detail.
Attendee
04/04/2022 15:49
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Outstanding!! What great information. Thank you.
Attendee
04/04/2022 15:55
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Wow, I could just listen to Don Stewart talk about this fascinating subject all day long. I feel like my writing just went up a notch, just listening.
Attendee
04/04/2022 15:57
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I loved his talk because I am grammar illiterate. At first I felt lost, and I almost tuned out, I'm glad I didn't. I didn't understand it all, but I will look at my work and try to do what he says.
Attendee
04/04/2022 16:08
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Loved this session. What a great way to get the reader to feel what the character is feeling.
Attendee
04/04/2022 18:05
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Dr. Francis Christensen & Dr. Bonniejean Christensen
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I must admit that I cannot take credit for figuring all this out. That honor goes to Dr. Francis Christensen, who was a professor at the University of Southern California. In 1967 he published his masterpiece, The Christensen Rhetoric Program, which unveiled this entirely new approach that consistently resulted in immediate and dramatic improvement in student writing. I began teaching his program in 1969.
Over twenty years later, in 1991, I met his widow, Dr. Bonniejean Christensen, who had spent the intervening years editing and reprinting his writings after his death in 1970. Unable now to continue those responsibilities, she had watched as the textbooks went out of print.
Thankfully, she entrusted me with the copyrights to all of his works, and I promised her that I would strive to honor his memory. Write for College is my tribute to the Christensens.
Don with Alex Trebek on Jeopardy!
I took the online test, passed, and was invited to an interview.
They asked me what I would do with the money if I won.
I said, "I am an English teacher, and I have an amazing writing program.
I want to teach the world how to write."
I was a contestant.