Diagrarting: theorising and practising new ways of writing and drawing

ABSTRACT This article explains what is meant by the neologism, coined by the author, ‘diagrarting’. It shows how diagrarting could be a new form of writing and drawing which is useful for writers, teachers and learners. In brief, the phrase diagrarting combines the words diagrams, dialogue and art. Diagrarting involves adopting an artistic identity when making marks on the page. To diagrart, one must write and draw, and believe you are creating art, no matter how crude you think your work to be. A diagrart is invariably rough and ready, and possibly not comprehensible to anyone else but its author. A diagrart is made intelligible through dialogue. If working alone, an author may talk to their diagrart, asking themselves about what it means, what they have learnt from it and so on. If working with other people, a diagrart is explained through conversation. This article shows how and why diagrarting could be an important practice for writers, artists, teachers and pupils to adopt in different contexts, providing empirical evidence of its success in the author’s own creative practice and in an inner-city school.