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.