Think of a line. At one end of the line is the point at which you can only perform this skill, creative writing, if you’re given maximum support – guidance, assistance, tuition – by a more experienced other. And at the opposite end, you are the expert, the established author; you can write seamlessly, conjuring worlds, characters, themes and dreams, and conveying these straight into the hearts and minds of your readers. You are Margaret Atwood* [*insert your dream writing model here]. Between these two endpoints is what is known in psychology as your ‘Zone of Proximal Development’.
All teaching and learning takes place within this zone.
And your position on that line will change over time, as you learn from your experiences. Your starting point will also vary according to the demands of the task. A poem, a blog post and a piece of flash fiction may demand the same number of words, but your skill level will probably be different in each.
The Zone of Proximal Development is a theory of child development created by the Russian social psychologist Lev Vygotsky. He died of tuberculosis in 1934, at the young age of 37 – how much more could he have given the world had he lived? His work was banned in the Stalinist era, but it is now recognised internationally as the foundation of the social learning framework, which posits that we learn through interacting with others.
Learning doesn’t stop with the end of childhood; we go on developing throughout our whole lives, whether in our work, our personal relationships, or through a conscious decision to improve our performance in a skill. This last goal is shared by all Pens Around the World members, as we support each other to become better writers. I think we can benefit greatly in our learning journeys if we apply Vygotsky’s framework to each writing task we have set ourselves.
The first question to ask is, where does this task lie along your ZPD?
Is it one where you have a lot of experience already and so will need minimal assistance to produce a finished product, ready to present to the reading public? Perhaps all the piece needs is an editor’s eye, at line or word level, to give it that final check-through before publication. Or is this a new literary form or genre for you? In that case you will need maximum support to ensure you learn how to fulfil reader expectations. You may need to break the task down further still: is it structure, or character development, or point of view, or dialogue that you need to improve? Do you even need to take a step further back to idea generation?
This leads onto the next question: Given that you now know what levels of support you need, in what areas, what are your best sources for finding that help?
If you’re beginning your debut novel, you may be tempted by one of the year-long novel- writing courses. These usually provide: a teaching curriculum covering every aspect from planning the book to getting published; a designated tutor and peer group; and regular assignments to submit for tutor and peer review. If your novel-writing skills are at the other end of the ZPD, you might prefer to work with a buddy writer, where you read and comment on each other’s work. Several published authors and professional editors offer a mentoring or book report service for those at a halfway stage.
Being clear about the level of assistance you require in the writing task you’re currently facing will help you move through your Zone of Proximal Development and achieve your literary goals. At different times in my writing journey, I have used each of the above support systems. I’d be interested to hear what has helped others learn how to be a better writer.
It’s a long time since I heard anyone talk about ZPD and it’s refreshing to consider this in application to writing. Great post, Miriam.