Freewriting: Writing and Elbow
Kaley Heelan
Erik Ofgang
Writing 101
September 26, 2014
Let the Freewriting Flow
Peter Elbow, author of the article “Freewriting” argues that using the technique freewriting is very beneficial for writers. Freewriting is nonstop writing without correcting or checking what you’ve already written. Elbow says writers should use this exercise at least three times a week to improve their writing skills. I strongly agree with his assessment from personal use of this technique. While writing my first freewrite I realized I was less stressed, I felt like the paper displayed my character more, and I was able to share all of my ideas without losing them. We are so caught up in trying to sound educated and proper in our writings it sometimes can take away from the actual piece.
Writing while under stress often turns out in a disaster, usually why my pieces of writing aren’t always the best. Just like Elbow has said the reason people get so stressed while writing is because of how we are taught throughout school “schooling makes us obsessed with the "mistakes" we make in writing. Many people constantly think about spelling and grammar as they try to write. I am always thinking about the awkwardness, wordiness, and general mushiness of my natural verbal product as I try to write down words” (Elbow). This is completely true, the way we are taught in school adds a great deal of stress to the writer. At the beginning of every paper I’ve ever written for school I’ve always had stress because writing was never my strong suit to begin with and the requirements made it that much harder for me to develop a paper. Giving people such high standards for writing, yet telling them to make it their own is quite difficult for the writer because they are more worried about the structure rather than the actual content of the piece. People are also under stress while writing a paper because of who could be reading their piece, audience has a major impact on how a writer constructs their
Erik Ofgang
Writing 101
September 26, 2014
Let the Freewriting Flow
Peter Elbow, author of the article “Freewriting” argues that using the technique freewriting is very beneficial for writers. Freewriting is nonstop writing without correcting or checking what you’ve already written. Elbow says writers should use this exercise at least three times a week to improve their writing skills. I strongly agree with his assessment from personal use of this technique. While writing my first freewrite I realized I was less stressed, I felt like the paper displayed my character more, and I was able to share all of my ideas without losing them. We are so caught up in trying to sound educated and proper in our writings it sometimes can take away from the actual piece.
Writing while under stress often turns out in a disaster, usually why my pieces of writing aren’t always the best. Just like Elbow has said the reason people get so stressed while writing is because of how we are taught throughout school “schooling makes us obsessed with the "mistakes" we make in writing. Many people constantly think about spelling and grammar as they try to write. I am always thinking about the awkwardness, wordiness, and general mushiness of my natural verbal product as I try to write down words” (Elbow). This is completely true, the way we are taught in school adds a great deal of stress to the writer. At the beginning of every paper I’ve ever written for school I’ve always had stress because writing was never my strong suit to begin with and the requirements made it that much harder for me to develop a paper. Giving people such high standards for writing, yet telling them to make it their own is quite difficult for the writer because they are more worried about the structure rather than the actual content of the piece. People are also under stress while writing a paper because of who could be reading their piece, audience has a major impact on how a writer constructs their