Living the Life of a Writer

Jen Vincent believes everyone is a writer. This conviction has long been her secret to success in classrooms and workshops where she empowers writers of all ages.
In Living the Life of a Writer, Vincent shifts the focus of writing instruction from the writing to the writer-guiding teachers so they can help students boldly face the blank page and move through their writing process with enthusiasm.
Through a broad lens view, Vincent explores writing instruction as a classroom culture of writing where teachers and students alike approach writing with confidence and curiosity, thinking deeply about the habits they develop and choices they make as writers.
Vincent invites readers to reclaim their writer's workshop by getting back to the essence of what it means to live the life of a writer while exploring the myriad of ways writers live writerly lives. Vincent's intuitive, inquiry-based approach to writing guides you, and your students, through 6 habits of living the life of a writer:
- Writers have a way to collect.
- Writers have a writer's mindset.
- Writers know writing is a process.
- Writers know strategies to help them write.
- Writers explore.
- Writers celebrate.
As she explores each practice, Vincent shares stories from her classroom, reflections for readers, and ideas that help teachers live the life of a writer alongside their students. Living the Life of a Writer is the guidebook every writing teacher needs to turn writing instruction into a writing lifestyle.

Jen Vincent (she/her/ella) celebrates the human experience through writing. With extensive experience in special education, curriculum development, instructional technology integration, teacher coaching, and working with multilingual learners, she currently serves as a sixth-eighth-grade Middle School Language Arts Teacher for Bannockburn School, a K-8 district in a northern suburb of Chicago. Vincent is a National Board Certified Teacher in Early/Middle Childhood Literacy and the founder of Story Exploratory, where she offers workshops, coaching, and professional development to help writers explore what it means to live the life of a writer. Learn more at storyexploratory.com and at @storyexploratory on Instagram.