Writing Without Teachers

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           "Writing Without Teachers" is, a book by Peter Elbow, from which I took notes some years ago. I believe Elbow was a gifted teacher and writer. I have located some of those notes and they remind me that Mr. Elbow is truly a very good teacher of writing in spite of the name he has chosen for his very useful book. In the face of the fact that I am a very "old dog" to be "learning new tricks" I intend to practice what Elbow suggests.


            I hope to learn from his suggestions by attempting to pass them on to you. I believe that one can learn by teaching, even though Elbow makes a very good case that a group of learners can cooperate to teach themselves to write through the use of methods he has developed and advocates.

            I feel that I have come to know Peter Elbow well enough to call him Peter. So, I will do that on some future little essays here on the process of writing.

            Peter finds the process by which an organism becomes grown or matured highly pertinent to the process of writing. He is not surprised by changes in the writer and his writings from the beginning to the end of a given piece of writing. He rather expects them. He finds it natural that a writer begin his writing believing x rather than y and end that writing believing y rather than x.

            He suggests that we treat our words as though they have a potential to grow. He trusts that we can energize our writing in a way that allows it to grow.

            You may pile up a few words. The words seem to have a certain interaction with each other. Then they are likely to sort into small piles. In a short time the the small piles consolidate and shake down into an organization of their own. Together again they re-interact so that a new pattern emerges and your words sort themselves into new piles. In another short period of time they begin to re-configure themselves in a way which you find more pleasing.

            You might organize this growing process into four stages: 1) start writing and keep writing; 2) experience disorientation and chaos; 3) detecting an emerging center of gravity; 4) mopping up and editing.

            Peter Elbow continues to teach and inspire me. Much of my best work comes from what I learn from Writing Without Teachers

 

 

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