The assignment on Elbow touched me with a realization of two things. First, that I have not
been approaching writing in the way Elbow prescribes, based on his years of experience with, well,
failures and struggles. Second, I am game to try any method offered by someone with so much experience, yet refuse committing to any system as a type of panacea or final authority. I maintain
that application of any theory is worthy of test and if afforded enough time and diligence, may prove its
worth, that is for some or many...not for all. The analogies used in the book are very workable, indeed.
Growth of a living organism expresses Elbow's idea of change of word, to idea, regression,development, never skipping stages as a living organism would practice, all are very sensible and might I say refreshing in comparison to ways in which, I am sure, most of our class have learned the entire writing and composition process. But again, I believe that all are different—writers that is. Content varies to
the same degree as word choice, as approach, as there are variances in writing.
I cannot help but draw the very, if not obvious to all, real comparison between a composition with words and one of music. Now follow me. Music writing may have various applications with various results. For instance, one may strive for a certain melody which he or she hears inside their head and
place all effort on getting the exact representation of this melody on paper, formulating a definite melody line, accompanied by just the right chord ensemble, in the right meter and so on. Others, though, have adopted various means of getting the song out of their heads and onto paper, such as: free-playing,(as Elbow would recommend), starting with a basic melody and embellish and embellish, and yes, regress and go in another direction, all chipping away making and breaking connections of musical ideas and connotations that arise from them. Others prefer rote methods of composition, utilizing every technical facet of music writing that they have been taught. But the end result? There are great and poor works alike in all methods.
I do agree with Elbow that we think of writing in a very restrictive way. Too many rules to think of. Too many critics for everything written. Fear of others not grasping the point due to your own failure at getting the point across in the most effective manner. Free writing helps us expound on previously stumped or tired ideas of which we thought there was nothing else to say. Elbow's example of touching toes by reaching up to the sky says a lot about learning the wrong way to wright, our struggling approaches built on a faulty paradigm, though no fault of ours. We must change the approach.I whole-heartedly agree.
But I am left hanging with Elbow's notion that method is the most important factor, not talent. Now we are warned on pg. 12 that excuses form those with education and those without and those with talent and those without are abound. Elbow talks of the “old world “ psychologists and their belief in a
“special writing faculty” or the “some people have it; some people don't” I don't know! I am a student and am here, like you all, to find validity in this. But I must say there is something to be said about talent. Excuse my skepticism. It is my style.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
A New Way of Writing and Thinking About Writing
I had so many light bulb, a-ha moments while reading the first two chapters of Elbow’s book. I do wonder how my writing and education experience would have been different if I had been exposed to Elbow’s writing methods earlier.
Elbow goes through the “typical” writing process and shows where it could be flawed. Almost every point made in that second chapter hit home for me. I never hated writing but the process would frustrate me. Outlines were one thing I always had problems with. I found them limiting rather than helpful. I always had an idea of what I wanted to write and the points I was going to bring up, but that could always change as I began writing. Often, outlines were made weeks before the actual paper was due. That’s plenty of time for my viewpoint on the subject to change or for me to discover new things about the subject. I gave a little cheer when I read this line on page 31: “Whereas when I do get writing, I discover that much of the preparation time was a waste of time.”
Saturday, August 29, 2009
my new buddy elbow
Reading books about writing is not something I do a lot. I think it’s kind of a boring subject to read about. However, when I picked up this book I didn’t initially plug my mind into a “get ready to learn about writing and like it” mindset. All I could think about was the author’s name. Elbow. What an awesome last name. Quite funny in my opinion and not intimidating in any way. A guy named Elbow has to be a cool guy. He’s probably a little weird, in a good way. I bet he was the butt of lots of jokes growing up due to such a rare last name. He’s probably funny, too, because he had to come up with creative comebacks to the jokesters (e.g. “my name may be elbow but at least I’m not an ***hole”). At least his childhood traumas will give him something to write about. I like Elbow from the start. He’s an underdog, as most writers are. So in my mind, as I set off to read the beginning chapter of this text, I do not picture an intellectual beast that has an intellectual mustache with an intellectual accent. All I picture is an elbow. I see a guy with an elbow in place of his head, and he’s talking to me about writing. And this makes me giggle. It’s like Saturday morning cartoons all over again.
Now for another E word. Emotion. Emotion is necessary within writing. It is not a bad thing. In fact, I really believe that some sort of emotion has to be present in any kind of good writing. However, I tend to become too emotionally attached to every single piece of writing I ever produce. I’m even emotionally attached to the previous paragraph I wrote for this blog. How pathetic is that? I tried to make it witty and silly. It took me about ten minutes to write. That’s a lot of minutes to write a short opener for a blog. And I’m not even that funny. I always want my writing to be great. I always want it to impress people, including myself. Basically, I have a lot of pride in my writing. This can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. Sometimes I just need to get over myself and write. Let me try to start doing that.
I love that Elbow starts off his book talking about free writing. What a freeing way to write. I personally think this is an activity that I should start doing every day. Even when we did the free write in class last week, I noticed myself second guessing ways to phrase a sentence and crossing out words. These are no no’s in Elbows rulebook. I really need to let go of my control freak perfectionist outlook on writing. I really need to practice writing more. Outside of class, I don’t really write that often. I think this is one of the reasons I put so much pressure on myself when I do begin a paper for class. I don’t do it often enough, so when I write it feels familiarly unfamiliar. That doesn’t really make sense. But I guess I mean that because I always get anxious and initially uncertain to write a paper for a class, I always feel this recognizable terror in my stomach when I start to write. English majors are sick people. We all love to write, but it brings such pain! I definitely want to at least try to start a free writing journal. Plus, extra levels of serotonin are always welcome.
Honestly, reading some of Elbow’s theories and instructions on writing was pretty intense for me. I think because I am so stuck in my own ways of writing, I become skeptical when looking at his writing compass. I was not especially drawn to write about any of his writing techniques in this blog and feel that it will be more beneficial to listen to opinions and feedback from others in the class. However, I do agree that we NEED to start writing more and start thinking about writing less. Elbow encourages us to just keep writing and writing. It will be hard to teach an old dog new trick, but this is definitely something that I am putting a lot of thought into. Ahh I just caught myself! I shouldn’t be putting thought into it; I should be putting writing into it! I’m lame.
And now for the dreaded E word. Editing. Evil? Yes! Easy? No. UnEasy is more like it. Here is where the emotions come back with their nostrils flaring. Elbow writes, “Editing must be cut throat. You must wade in with teeth gritted. Cut away flesh and leave only bone” (41). Whoa. Chill out Elbow. Where did my cute cartoon elbow-head friend go? But he is actually absolutely correct! As other post have mentioned before editing is the hardest part, aside from starting, for me in the writing process. I become so emotionally attached to every word and phrase within my writing. I need to step back and take some time to get over things. When I write, especially poetry, I often need to take a couple of weeks before I really delve into the editing process. It’s like going through a breakup. After you take some time to get over the lost love, you realize “Wow, he didn’t have a job” or “Huh, it probably wasn’t a good thing that he hated all of my friends.” Now I can see the truth clearly! I don’t always need to add that extra adjective. Or, that line that I thought I couldn’t live without actually did not help my thesis statement in any way. Elbow says, “Think of throwing away not as negative – not as crumpling up sheets of paper in helplessness and rage – but as a positive, creative, generative act” (41). This is such an eye opening thing for me. Editing doesn’t always take away; it can create a new and better piece of writing. Hopefully, I can start to learn how to become less emotional when editing essays and argumentative papers. Poetry will probably take a little while though.
Now for another E word. Emotion. Emotion is necessary within writing. It is not a bad thing. In fact, I really believe that some sort of emotion has to be present in any kind of good writing. However, I tend to become too emotionally attached to every single piece of writing I ever produce. I’m even emotionally attached to the previous paragraph I wrote for this blog. How pathetic is that? I tried to make it witty and silly. It took me about ten minutes to write. That’s a lot of minutes to write a short opener for a blog. And I’m not even that funny. I always want my writing to be great. I always want it to impress people, including myself. Basically, I have a lot of pride in my writing. This can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. Sometimes I just need to get over myself and write. Let me try to start doing that.
I love that Elbow starts off his book talking about free writing. What a freeing way to write. I personally think this is an activity that I should start doing every day. Even when we did the free write in class last week, I noticed myself second guessing ways to phrase a sentence and crossing out words. These are no no’s in Elbows rulebook. I really need to let go of my control freak perfectionist outlook on writing. I really need to practice writing more. Outside of class, I don’t really write that often. I think this is one of the reasons I put so much pressure on myself when I do begin a paper for class. I don’t do it often enough, so when I write it feels familiarly unfamiliar. That doesn’t really make sense. But I guess I mean that because I always get anxious and initially uncertain to write a paper for a class, I always feel this recognizable terror in my stomach when I start to write. English majors are sick people. We all love to write, but it brings such pain! I definitely want to at least try to start a free writing journal. Plus, extra levels of serotonin are always welcome.
Honestly, reading some of Elbow’s theories and instructions on writing was pretty intense for me. I think because I am so stuck in my own ways of writing, I become skeptical when looking at his writing compass. I was not especially drawn to write about any of his writing techniques in this blog and feel that it will be more beneficial to listen to opinions and feedback from others in the class. However, I do agree that we NEED to start writing more and start thinking about writing less. Elbow encourages us to just keep writing and writing. It will be hard to teach an old dog new trick, but this is definitely something that I am putting a lot of thought into. Ahh I just caught myself! I shouldn’t be putting thought into it; I should be putting writing into it! I’m lame.
And now for the dreaded E word. Editing. Evil? Yes! Easy? No. UnEasy is more like it. Here is where the emotions come back with their nostrils flaring. Elbow writes, “Editing must be cut throat. You must wade in with teeth gritted. Cut away flesh and leave only bone” (41). Whoa. Chill out Elbow. Where did my cute cartoon elbow-head friend go? But he is actually absolutely correct! As other post have mentioned before editing is the hardest part, aside from starting, for me in the writing process. I become so emotionally attached to every word and phrase within my writing. I need to step back and take some time to get over things. When I write, especially poetry, I often need to take a couple of weeks before I really delve into the editing process. It’s like going through a breakup. After you take some time to get over the lost love, you realize “Wow, he didn’t have a job” or “Huh, it probably wasn’t a good thing that he hated all of my friends.” Now I can see the truth clearly! I don’t always need to add that extra adjective. Or, that line that I thought I couldn’t live without actually did not help my thesis statement in any way. Elbow says, “Think of throwing away not as negative – not as crumpling up sheets of paper in helplessness and rage – but as a positive, creative, generative act” (41). This is such an eye opening thing for me. Editing doesn’t always take away; it can create a new and better piece of writing. Hopefully, I can start to learn how to become less emotional when editing essays and argumentative papers. Poetry will probably take a little while though.
The writing struggle
Ernest Hemmingway once said, “Writing is easy. All you do is sit at the typewriter and Bleed.” Writing has always been that type of experience for me. I stress and struggle to find just the right words before I even begin to put a single thing on paper. It’s as if there is a roadblock in my writing process. Unless I have the perfect, or nearly perfect first sentence, I can’t write a single word. On top of that, once I do find what I think is the perfect beginning, I will stubbornly refuse to change it if it stops being so perfect as the paper progresses.
This is what struck me as I began reading Elbow… it was as if he knew all my deep, dark writing foibles and exposed them to light. There is a section on page 26 where he describes how hard beginnings are. This paragraph was so autobiographical to me that I wrote “Yes! Yes! Yes!” In the margin and highlighted the entire paragraph in yellow! Everything he described here is exactly what I go through with every paper. I spent the entire summer working on the writing portfolio that many of us need to do as English Majors. There are three papers in the portfolio and with each one of them I struggled for the perfect beginning and the perfect first sentence. Like most everyone else, I was taught the formula for writing. Make an outline, write a first draft. Edit. And go on from there. I’ll admit now that unless a teacher specifically wanted to see my outline, I never used one. I never even wrote one. They just always seemed to get in the way of my writing. Until I began reading this book, I was sure that my writing process was all wrong. Having Elbow describe in vivid detail the painful writing process that I myself endure made me want to read more. I thought that if he can know what it feels like, what I feel like, when I sit down to write, then maybe he’s come up with some answers to help get past it.
So free writing. I had never really heard of it until now. I may have heard the term in passing, but if I did, I didn’t know what it was. As an older student, this happens a lot. I’ve been out of high school longer than many of my classmates have been alive, so there are some learning tools that came along long after I was out of school. After reading the description of what free writing is, I thought, “well, I should give this a try.” But I didn’t do it right away. Luckily we got the opportunity to do it in class. My immediate reaction to it was “eureka!” I was simply amazed at how well it worked. After decades of struggling to find the perfect words, to realize that with this simple exercise the words can come with half the anxiety and stress is astounding. I know I will use this as a teaching tool in my classroom when I begin teaching!
Editing, I think, is one of the hardest parts of writing for me. I tend to fall in love with my words and phrases. So much so that there have been times when I have changed an entire paragraph just so a phrase with fit. After I finished writing my essays for the writing portfolio, a friend and I exchanged our essays with one another and had an editing session. With each red mark she put on my words it was as if she was stabbing me in the heart. I spent hours trying to re-work my essays so that I didn’t have to throw out any of my word-children, but in the end I had to come to the realization that I had to let go of the words for the betterment of my papers. Hopefully, the more I free write and the more I toss out my words after picking out the gems, I’ll become more comfortable with the idea of tossing away some of my words and in doing so, grow as a writer.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
I Confess, I am a "Pressure Writer"
So, I’ve read books and articles before about the process of writing, and, quite frankly, those experiences made me a little nervous to embark on Elbow. However, I really enjoy his style and he brings up a lot of points with which I can relate.
Freewriting – For the past few weeks I have been stressing about this Writing Portfolio that I need to complete by September 11th as a member of the Secondary Education English Teacher Certification program. Every time I’ve sat down to work on it, I’ve only succeeded in working myself into a ball of anxiety about how ‘perfect’ every sentence has to be. Until reading this section I’d forgotten all about freewriting. I decided to try it based on Elbow’s suggestions and it was helpful. I think that it enabled me to find new ideas and clear some of the clutter out of my brain.
Freewriting is definitely a method I plan to use with my students. As prompts, I might use current events (studies are showing that an alarming number of students in high school are very out of touch with significant political, social and cultural events that are taking place in the world and this may be a way to have them take an interest) or topics of upcoming paper or essay assignments so that they could get a good in-class and encouraging start to a project. I always feel a little more comfortable when a teacher allows me to work on a project in class, even if just for a short time. While I’m there, I’m still “in the moment” and can think of questions I might have. Plus, getting a start, any kind of start, on something makes me feel less anxious.
And getting started is something that gives me some trouble.
Growing – In this chapter, Elbow states, “Whether or not I succeeded in getting something written seemed related only to whether I screwed myself up into some state of frantic emotional intensity” (16). I know exactly what he means. Many other people I talk to do as well. I confess, I’ve been a “pressure writer” for as long as I can remember. I’ve also been fortunate enough to succeed at it, although I doubt it’s done any favors for my physical health.
I think a big reason as to why I’m like this has to do with the way that I was taught to write. Elbow seems to stress more freedom in the process than I can ever recall working with in school. For example, I wasn’t introduced to freewriting until my senior year of high school, and it was in conjunction with a poetry assignment. I was never told that it would be helpful when writing critical analysis papers.
We had a specific approach: You were given an assignment. On a designated date you would hand in a first rough draft that had to meet certain requirements. On another designated date a second draft would be handed in (you may or may not have received feedback from the first one). Then, the final product would be handed in on the due date. I can tell you that my first draft would get done the night or morning before it was due….and so on and so on because up until that point I was so nervous about completing what I had to have to fit the standards of the rough draft. Writing wasn’t fun. When I entered college and wasn’t required to turn in any drafts, I just waited to do the final assignment until the night before it was due.
I think it may be more encouraging for students if less emphasis and pressure is put on standards that need to be met for rough drafts. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to require a rough draft, especially for those who are just beginning to write more professional papers, but maybe the meaning of a rough draft should be expanded. Maybe for some students, a more successful rough draft would be a collection of journal entries from which they’re working to discern a thesis and/or discussion topics. For some students that are more visual, maybe artwork would accompany their thoughts. Maybe it could be incorporated into their paper as well. I think what’s important is to see that students have a clear direction in which they want to take the project, not that all the “t’s are crossed” in the early phases. One of the biggest benefits I received out of this reading is a reminder to emphasize that “meaning is not what you start out with but what you end up with” (15).
My questions to others: What do you think would be good assignments for getting students to relax about writing and enforce this concept of finding your meaning as opposed to beginning with it? Do you even agree with this statement, or do you feel that the opposite is true? If you encounter an administration that wants to focus strictly on a more standard curriculum, how could you go about explaining the importance of allowing flexibility and creativity into the writing process if they are not on the same page as you?
Freewriting – For the past few weeks I have been stressing about this Writing Portfolio that I need to complete by September 11th as a member of the Secondary Education English Teacher Certification program. Every time I’ve sat down to work on it, I’ve only succeeded in working myself into a ball of anxiety about how ‘perfect’ every sentence has to be. Until reading this section I’d forgotten all about freewriting. I decided to try it based on Elbow’s suggestions and it was helpful. I think that it enabled me to find new ideas and clear some of the clutter out of my brain.
Freewriting is definitely a method I plan to use with my students. As prompts, I might use current events (studies are showing that an alarming number of students in high school are very out of touch with significant political, social and cultural events that are taking place in the world and this may be a way to have them take an interest) or topics of upcoming paper or essay assignments so that they could get a good in-class and encouraging start to a project. I always feel a little more comfortable when a teacher allows me to work on a project in class, even if just for a short time. While I’m there, I’m still “in the moment” and can think of questions I might have. Plus, getting a start, any kind of start, on something makes me feel less anxious.
And getting started is something that gives me some trouble.
Growing – In this chapter, Elbow states, “Whether or not I succeeded in getting something written seemed related only to whether I screwed myself up into some state of frantic emotional intensity” (16). I know exactly what he means. Many other people I talk to do as well. I confess, I’ve been a “pressure writer” for as long as I can remember. I’ve also been fortunate enough to succeed at it, although I doubt it’s done any favors for my physical health.
I think a big reason as to why I’m like this has to do with the way that I was taught to write. Elbow seems to stress more freedom in the process than I can ever recall working with in school. For example, I wasn’t introduced to freewriting until my senior year of high school, and it was in conjunction with a poetry assignment. I was never told that it would be helpful when writing critical analysis papers.
We had a specific approach: You were given an assignment. On a designated date you would hand in a first rough draft that had to meet certain requirements. On another designated date a second draft would be handed in (you may or may not have received feedback from the first one). Then, the final product would be handed in on the due date. I can tell you that my first draft would get done the night or morning before it was due….and so on and so on because up until that point I was so nervous about completing what I had to have to fit the standards of the rough draft. Writing wasn’t fun. When I entered college and wasn’t required to turn in any drafts, I just waited to do the final assignment until the night before it was due.
I think it may be more encouraging for students if less emphasis and pressure is put on standards that need to be met for rough drafts. I don’t think it’s a bad idea to require a rough draft, especially for those who are just beginning to write more professional papers, but maybe the meaning of a rough draft should be expanded. Maybe for some students, a more successful rough draft would be a collection of journal entries from which they’re working to discern a thesis and/or discussion topics. For some students that are more visual, maybe artwork would accompany their thoughts. Maybe it could be incorporated into their paper as well. I think what’s important is to see that students have a clear direction in which they want to take the project, not that all the “t’s are crossed” in the early phases. One of the biggest benefits I received out of this reading is a reminder to emphasize that “meaning is not what you start out with but what you end up with” (15).
My questions to others: What do you think would be good assignments for getting students to relax about writing and enforce this concept of finding your meaning as opposed to beginning with it? Do you even agree with this statement, or do you feel that the opposite is true? If you encounter an administration that wants to focus strictly on a more standard curriculum, how could you go about explaining the importance of allowing flexibility and creativity into the writing process if they are not on the same page as you?
Blog 1
Sometimes writing is easy for me and sometimes it is frustrating. I keep a journal and I usually write down exactly what is on my mind. This always helps me. Sometimes great songs are produced in about fifteen minutes, and so is some great writing. It is not necessarily a break through moment, but more the flow of writing. When a person just writes what is on his or her mind without interruption, then they produce better writing. Yes, the work will need to be edited, but the idea is clearly written. However, what does a person do when they have to write a research paper? There is a lot of structure and little freedom to that particular kind of writing. Maybe that is why nobody likes to read research papers, because the writing is less fluent.
Something I do that I need to correct is how I prepare to write. I often think too much about what I’m going to write, rather than simply writing. I was always trained to have an outline and an exact plan before I began to write. I’m so used to writing in a very controlled way that I’m somewhat eager to try Elbow’s approach. Does Elbow’s approach really work, or does it work best for him? Shouldn’t every person have his or her own writing style and approach to writing? To me, it feels like the more writing a person does without interruption, then the more editing they have to do. Editing a paper is the worst part for me, so why would I want to make more work for myself? I suppose it is better to have writing that people will read than bad writing that is correct.
The problem is all how writing is taught. Good writing is all personal opinion, so teachers have to grade on correctness. I honestly don’t know how a teacher would grade a paper fairly on the quality of writing. I’ve taken creative writing classes and I never got a grade on a paper, but more of the progress I made throughout the semester. Yes, maybe a writer has made progress, but that does not mean they are not still terrible. This is why I really like Elbow’s idea that bad writing will lead to good writing.
Overall, I find Elbow’s methods for teaching writing very encouraging. I especially enjoy his idea that writing is a growing process. Elbow says, “Meaning is not what you start out with but what you end up with” (15). I love that quote because stumbling upon some kind of discovery is what makes writing so phenomenal and unpredictable. When I write I usually learn something that is so obvious, but was simply unclear to me before. Even the best authors are always improving and growing with their writing, which is nice to remember.
Something I do that I need to correct is how I prepare to write. I often think too much about what I’m going to write, rather than simply writing. I was always trained to have an outline and an exact plan before I began to write. I’m so used to writing in a very controlled way that I’m somewhat eager to try Elbow’s approach. Does Elbow’s approach really work, or does it work best for him? Shouldn’t every person have his or her own writing style and approach to writing? To me, it feels like the more writing a person does without interruption, then the more editing they have to do. Editing a paper is the worst part for me, so why would I want to make more work for myself? I suppose it is better to have writing that people will read than bad writing that is correct.
The problem is all how writing is taught. Good writing is all personal opinion, so teachers have to grade on correctness. I honestly don’t know how a teacher would grade a paper fairly on the quality of writing. I’ve taken creative writing classes and I never got a grade on a paper, but more of the progress I made throughout the semester. Yes, maybe a writer has made progress, but that does not mean they are not still terrible. This is why I really like Elbow’s idea that bad writing will lead to good writing.
Overall, I find Elbow’s methods for teaching writing very encouraging. I especially enjoy his idea that writing is a growing process. Elbow says, “Meaning is not what you start out with but what you end up with” (15). I love that quote because stumbling upon some kind of discovery is what makes writing so phenomenal and unpredictable. When I write I usually learn something that is so obvious, but was simply unclear to me before. Even the best authors are always improving and growing with their writing, which is nice to remember.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Greeting
Welcome classmates of ENGL 470. I'm looking forward to a very good semester. I wish everyone the best.