Teaching & writing, collaborating with an Italian school.

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Mariella Sorrentino’s students. I love collaborating with other teachers and Mariella and I have shared several very interesting projects.

Here is the exchange (roughly speaking). 

1. Could you tell us about your relationship with writing and how it has evolved over time? What does it mean to write for you today? What did it mean at the beginning? Are there days when you experience writer’s block, as some call it?

My relationship with writing has changed considerably over the years. At the beginning, writing was mostly a way of putting ideas and emotions into words. Today, writing is both a pleasure and a form of exploration. I write textbooks as an ESL teacher, fiction with my husband, and articles for our blog, and each kind of writing requires slightly different skills. With fiction, I enjoy the feeling of always trying to improve the text, with articles, I get to write about many different topics and it’s fun too. 

I have experienced writer’s block. Sometimes it simply means that I’m not ready. I may need to do some research, talk about the idea, but most often I just leave it alone for a while. Moreover, there are days when everything is easy and inspiration comes straight away, and others when it is more complicated. I simply accept it.

2. Is it possible that young people’s creativity is rusty from the influence of AI? What damage does AI do to them?

I think there is a genuine risk, but I would be careful about saying that AI simply "damages" creativity. The problem is what we ask it to do for us. AI is a tool…

Creativity is a muscle. If students constantly ask AI to generate their ideas, to write their texts, they lose opportunities to practise the difficult, and extremely valuable, part of the process. They produce a polished text without having experienced the intellectual struggle that makes writing meaningful and so interesting!

Young writers need to discover their own voice, including their imperfections, strange ideas, unexpected associations and individual ways of seeing the world.

However, I don't think we should present AI as the enemy. It is only a tool. Used intelligently, it can stimulate creativity, provide feedback and help students explore possibilities. 

The question is actually: Is AI replacing the student's thinking, or is it helping them think better?

3. What simple routines or exercises do you perform to maintain the flexibility of your mind and creativity?

I read widely and write every single day. 

4. What strategies can help overcome writer’s block? What suggestions do you usually share with your students?

My first piece of advice is: don't wait for inspiration. Write something, even something bad. A bad paragraph can be changed; a blank page cannot.

I make suggestions: If you cannot write the beginning, write a scene from the middle. If you cannot describe a character, write a dialogue involving that character. If you cannot find the right words, make a list of words associated with the subject.

With my students, I also use constraints. It may sound paradoxical, but having a rule can actually make you more creative: write about 100 words, begin with a question, use three specific objects, change the point of view, or introduce an unexpected character.

Most importantly, I tell them that the first version does not have to be good. Writing and editing are two different activities.

And I challenge them: they have written haikus about Hamlet, about the environment…

5. Which writers known for their unique and odd stylistic choices should you suggest, for instance, as a contrast between an AI’s straightforward writing and a human expert’s version?

I would suggest writers whose voices are immediately recognisable, writers who remind us that literature does not have to sound "correct" in a conventional sense.

James Joyce is my first obvious example, particularly Ulysses, because his language constantly challenges conventional syntax and narrative structure. Virginia Woolf is fascinating for her fluid representation of consciousness. They are two of my favourite writers. Their writing does not simply transmit information efficiently. Their language is part of the experience.

6. What advice would you give for those who want to start approaching creative writing?

Read. Read a lot, and read very different writers. Before trying to find your own voice, discover how many voices already exist.

Then write regularly, without immediately worrying about quality. Keep a notebook. Collect sentences, images, conversations, memories and questions…

I would also advise beginning with something you genuinely care about. 

And accept rewriting. Writing is not just inspiration; it is also patience, craftsmanship and revision.

7. Could you tell me about the instinct and necessity that drove you into the world of writing?

I think there was always a strong need to share. Teaching probably reinforced that instinct!

Writing allowed me to go one step further. Instead of speaking to one class at a time, I could create something that would reach readers I would never meet.

I write fiction with my husband, Gabriel Erhart, and that has taught me something very important: writing can be a conversation. Sometimes the creative process is not solitary at all. It can grow through discussion, disagreement, and laughter.

8. Since AI has become pervasive in literature, have you noticed any changes in your writing style?

Yes, although perhaps not in the way one might expect. AI has made me more conscious of the importance of voice. When I write now, I pay even more attention to rhythm, precision, the choice of a particular word, an unexpected image…

AI has also made me more interested in preserving imperfections. A human text does not have to be perfectly smooth. 

So, paradoxically, the rise of AI has made me more attached to what cannot easily be standardised: experience, memory, humour, intuition, hesitation and personal voice.

Thanks so much for such interesting questions!

Mariella Sorrentino and her students from IIS G. Ferro, Alcamo, Italy.

Some of our previous projects:

AI, a blessing or a curse?

Speak up for change

If you'd like to learn more about our books.