Let me start by saying I'm someone who's done a lot of writing -- as a liberal arts undergrad, a college newspaper writer, an ad writer, a creative writing dabbler -- but I've never taught writing. So, in discussing Elbow, I can only say what type of teaching methods worked for me, but not for others.

I was a pretty facile writer by the time I reached high school -- though I do remember a lot of floundering and lack of confidence when I had to write in grade school and middle school. What helped me through was learning to outline my thoughts with Is and IIs, and As and Bs. Once I had jotted a short description of what I wanted to say, the job of developing a full-blown, well-written sentence or paragraph came much easier. And if I found myself disagreeing with something in the outline, I had the freedom to change it.

Of course, the majority of writing I did in school was "informative" writing, not creative writing. I wish that Elbow were more specific about what type of writing he's discussing -- it seems to be creative writing, but I'm not sure. Also, I think he's aiming at adults but again I'm not positive. Wouldn't adults and children be taught differently, and creative and informative writing be approached differently as well?

I also think a prompt -- a suggestion of a few possible topics to write about -- would be helpful for the fledgling writer. Writer's block can be made worse if you feel your choice of topic is boring or foolish, and therefore you're doomed to write drivel. When someone gives you a subject, at least it takes that burden off you.

One thing I do agree with Elbow on, however, is the use of multiple drafts and the flexibility to change focus. Sometimes I've written a few paragraphs and found the best idea in one little phrase. Years ago, I wrote an ad for a book called The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense. I started by describing the frustrations of being verbally browbeaten by mean bosses, manipulative relatives and other stock villains. I then went on to claim you could transform your life by learning how to shut them up. In the last sentence of this long ad, I wrote something like "become a black belt in verbal self-defense". The black belt idea became the headline and the unifying idea of the ad -- which ultimately sold 250,000 copies of the book (which by the way I thought was very silly and was of absolutely no help to me in my life.)

To sum up, I've never taught writing, so it may be that majority of people find outlines burdensome. It may be that the freer style of Elbow is more effective with more students. But I still think giving people a subject -- even a simple one like "my favorite vacation place" or "my most embarrassing experience" -- would make it easier for those who find writing difficult.