Developing Ideas into Writing: How to Get Started The Theories of Peter Elbow

A Caveat… Writing is an individual matter – find out what works for you: –Different Writing Strategies might be appropriate at different times –Some strategies may not work for you at all

Do you: Get your thoughts clear before writing? Just start writing without really knowing what you are saying, but use writing to sort out what you think? Write an outline of your essay before writing? Like to have each word, sentence or paragraph as near to finished as possible before you move on? Write (passionately? quickly? unthinkingly?) and only edit once you have the first draft? Write and edit as you go along?

Writing Strategies Think-Write/Think & Write Write-Think/Write/Rewrite

Advantages of Thinking before you Write You don’t have to keep redrafting your work You can write quite quickly if the thinking has been done beforehand

Disadvantages of Thinking and Writing at the same time Writing improves with writing – too much time spent not writing Writer’s block – difficulties with writing are caused by seeing problems in everything Dangers in leaving writing to last minute –Not enough time for proofreading –Disjointed thoughts/sentences/paragraphs –Stress

Peter Elbow Concentrates on the disadvantages of writing and editing at the same time

Writing involves: Criticising/Editing Creation

Task Turn to your partner and tell them about something you are learning on your course or something relevant for your next essay. Now write this out.

Task Reflecting on the previous exercise, compare and contrast the ways in which you use language when you speak and when you write. Do you notice any differences?

Some Differences When you speak you are free, you don’t necessarily worry about your words. The written word is much more cautious. Kickstart your writing by writing as you speak!

Elbow’s Theory Don’t write and edit at the same time: –‘Creativity is strong only if critical thinking is weak and vice versa’ (Elbow 1981, 9)

Techniques for Getting Ideas Down Freewriting Brainstorming Clustering/mapping Maintaining a personal journal Other forms of prewriting are intended to help you both generate and focus ideas about a subject that you've already chosen:Maintaining a personal journal –Asking questions about a subjectAsking questions about a subject –Making a list Still other forms of prewriting are intended to help you generate your own ideas in response to others' ideas:Making a list Responding to a text Maintaining a response journal Responding to a specific assignment » CC42A A D0049F395/CE2B510E7D9975AE C3006ACCCC?OpenDocument#ideashttp:// CC42A A D0049F395/CE2B510E7D9975AE C3006ACCCC?OpenDocument#ideas

Freewriting Write for 10 mins without stopping. Just write! –No need to think hard –No need to prepare yourself for writing –No ‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’ – any word is fine,, any spelling is fine, any thought is fine, not having anything to say is fine…(If you’ve nothing to say, just write ‘I have nothing to write’ or something).

Give it a go! Think about your next essay topic and write something, anything about it for 10 minutes.

How did it go? Can you see any benefits to freewriting? Did it work for you? Can you see any problems with it?

Benefits of Freewriting Good for generating ideas Good psychologically: you write freely and unhampered by worries - anything goes! Teaches you to just ‘get on with it’ and write when you don’t feel like it – take control of writing, don’t let it control you Lets you tap into your imagination – new topics can come up, follow any new threads – where do they lead? Helps you to develop your voice – what do you want to say? Don’t worry about the critics, your tutors, anybody else…

Problems You can produce lots of undisciplined stuff if you don’t edit afterwards Some people just get confused by this methos – so ask yourself: where do you like your ‘creative mess’ – on the paper or in your head?

When can you use it? Limited time to write? Divide your time in 2 – half for freewriting, half for editing Don’t know what you really want to say? – freewrite, focus, freewrite, focus etc etc

Working with your prewriting Review it to identify the various main ideas that are embedded in the prewriting. List those ideas. Write the ideas in thesis form. That is, make an assertion that explains your own insight or idea about the topic, and write that assertion in complete sentence form.

Read the following set of 2 freewritings. Can you find recurrent thoughts that would be interesting for the writer to develop? freewriting. don't know. don't know. this is harder than I thought it would be. worried. what if I don't have any ideas to bring out. the writer's perpetual concern--lack of ideas. Cliches. wonder how they got started? had meaning at one time. say "every dog has his day" now and people will jump at you for using sexist language. don't know. don't know. don't know. don't know. hear the timer ticking. time. so much to do and so little time to do it in. what is time? arbitrary or not? different for different people. so many people pressed for time now. wonder if time went more slowly in grandparents' day, if they needed 24 hrs. to do what we now do in 12. they had to use washboards, coal heat. greenhouse effect. are we greenhousing? greenhouse should have a nice, flowering plant connotation, not self-destruction. destruction by plants. Little Shop of Horrors. plants going crazy. at least the weeds in the garden do. don't know. don't know. don't know. don't know. don't know. wish the 5 min. would go faster. fast time. slow time. fast time when you're doing something you like. slow time waiting in dentist's office or in any place where you'd rather not be. Slow time for children waiting for something special to happen and fast when it's happening. hard to write write write write write. right. what is right? Orville and Wilbur were Wright. bad puns to fill the 5 min. Why do people groan at puns? wonder how that got started. don't know. don't know.

Working with the Samples of Freewriting Possible topics for an Essay: Time or the different ways in which time is perceived (cultural ideas and practices are historical - eg time affects our use of language); adult vs. children's perception of time, how time is counted in sporting events, etc.). Why do people groan at puns?

Further Reading Elbow, P. (1998) Writing With Power, Oxford: OUP Elbow, P. Writing (1973) Writing Without Teachers, New York: Oxford University Press, Elkins, J. (2000) Lawyer as Writer: Notes from Peter Elbow, Writing without Teachers [online] (Accessed: 15/11/06) Stephens, R. (1981) Variatins (sic) In Composing Style [online] (Accessed: 15/02/05) writing.htmhttp:// writing.htm