Not every teacher wants to write a book, but more folks have a story to tell than one might expect. For most of my career, I taught English and Creative Writing to high school students while quietly pursuing my writing dreams and trying to meet the emotional demands of my career. Now that I’ve left teaching—I am working full time as an author and book coach—I can confidently say writing made me a better teacher. It’s why I advocate for teachers to find space and time in their busy lives to write, whether or not they have dreams of publishing.
Telling teachers how complicated and stressful their jobs are, as the old saying goes, is like preaching to the choir. I remember the stacks of marking on my desk, (English teachers, I see you!), the never-ending lesson planning, the always-just-around- the-corner report cards, regular and surprise pop-up meetings, endless parent phone calls, and the million other demands throughout the day that can derail well-intentioned plans to tackle all the things. Just thinking back on it fills me with an inexplicable exhaustion, and, I must admit, more than a tinge of anxiety. Sometimes it was difficult enough to fit in a bathroom break or grab a bite at lunch. Given everything that teachers do, why would I suggest teachers add one more thing to their already mind-bending day?
It sounds bizarre, but a writing practice is probably the thing that saved me. For short bursts throughout my school day, I’d enter a different world that allowed me to express my intense emotions—sadness, anger, joy, frustration—while maintaining the composure required for my work with students. As someone who absorbs the emotions of the people around me, working with up to ninety students a day, plus staff and administration, and often parents, could be, well, a lot. Five, ten, maybe fifteen minutes of writing was a calm oasis for me, refreshing my psyche so I could handle the next challenge. While I couldn’t physically leave my environment, I could mentally enter any world I wanted, creating the experience I needed to get on with my day. Leaving my emotions on the page gave me the capacity to empathize and support my students and others.
While teaching, I wrote four books, two of which are now published. It is possible to write and teach. I’m not suggesting teachers need to have a goal of publishing, but if that’s a dream you have for yourself, you can achieve it. I’m proof. But just writing, putting words on paper, giving yourself a little time each day, can be reward enough.
I often suggest teachers take an honest look at their weekly and daily schedules. It’s easy to say we don’t have time, but if we examine our lives, we really do. I created time to write by finding value in brief writing bursts of anywhere from five to twenty minutes. Writing before students arrived in the morning made me feel ready to tackle the day. One of my favourite times to write was at lunch, but I rarely did that on my own. I created a Young Writers’ Club and invited interested students to join me once a week. We checked in with each other’s projects, ate our lunches, and wrote in silence. My writers were excited to know there were others like them, including teachers, who found joy in stories. When my own children were young, I’d stay after class to write for twenty minutes, before the chaos of dinner, homework, and afterschool activities filled my evening.
As an English teacher, I gave daily writing prompts to my students. I wrote beside them. Often, I was working on a novel, but sometimes I also wrote the prompt. Like reading, writing can be modelled. The result was a more centred and happier teacher. I wanted to write. I placed value on writing. I protected writing time. I wrote. A few paragraphs here and there turned into pages by the end of the week and chapters by the end of the month. During some of the most stressful times in the school year, I had an outlet for my creativity and noticed my mood changed for the worse when I wasn’t keeping up with my writing practice.
Looking back on those hectic days, I realize that my writing practice had unexpected consequences for my students. I didn’t keep my writing a secret from them. Instead, when I wrote beside them, I often asked students to share, and they asked me to share mine. I did. We openly discussed the frustrations of having an idea in one’s head that doesn’t quite make it to the page, and how to revise to get closer to that ideal version. They shared stories they’d written at home, or poetry they’d shown no one before. They asked thoughtful questions about the writing process, and about the books they were reading. They became interested in publishing, and several of my students entered and won writing competitions or were published in anthologies. Writers in the building found a community where they felt seen and supported. Students saw writing as something adults engaged in regularly, sometimes struggling, but always practising.
For me, writing was a respite from my day, a stress reliever, a creative outlet, and a practical way to get pages done. As a teacher, I valued creative writing in my classroom and gave it space in the day. My students appreciated opportunities for creativity and learned from me that writing takes work and time and diligence, but it also creates joy. Writing lets us breathe and imagine and create worlds that help us cope in the real world. You don’t need to write a book to get the benefits from a daily writing practice. Just write. You’ll be better for it, and so will your students.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Liisa Kovala
Liisa Kovala is a teacher, author, and Author Accelerator certified fiction and memoir book coach. Liisa retired after twenty-eight years, having taught both the elementary and secondary panels. She has a Master of Education, a Certificate of Creative Writing from the University of Toronto, and a Graduate Certificate of Creative Writing from Humber School for Writers. Liisa is the author of Sisu’s Winter War (Latitude 46, 2022) and Surviving Stutthof: My Father’s Memories Behind the Death Gate (Latitude 46, 2017). She works 1:1 and in small groups with writers, conducts workshops and webinars, and co-hosts Rekindle Creativity Women’s Writing Retreat. Learn about Liisa’s Spring Group Book Coaching sessions designed specifically for teachers at liisakovalabookcoach.com.
This article is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2025 issue.
