Without a Teacher

 Learning to write without a teacher may be effectively done and enjoyed.

                It has been done in groups of from 5 to 17 participants. Basically, the members each commit to reading the writing of a member then to coming together with the other members to share their feelings about what they have read. 

                Hearing what others have felt as they read your works has proven a great help to improving one's writing and a powerful experience in itself.

                Any Questions?  I'll clarify one doing without being asked.
Every member reads one specified piece of  writing of one member of the group. Then in a gathering of all the members each member tells about how she felt as she read the piece. This telling of feelings is done at nearly every meeting of the group.

                The bit below is about what I have learned from my experience and from Mr. Elbow. It is something that I might offer at an appropriate moment in the gathering of my group.

                On the horizon, a Final Draft 

                Once you have some writing from which it seems you can coax some coherence, you may be close to the point at which to edit and turn out a final copy.

            Take 15 minutes to make your meaning clear to yourself.

                You might let yourself consider an outline or plan.

                Sum up what you have into a genuine single assertion of what your meaning is. Not easy, but possible. Remember that your assertion must actually assert something that can be quarreled with.

                You have grown your meaning and specified it to yourself clearly. Good for you. Your efforts and good thinking will give you a good chance to do some truly powerful writing.

                                                                            by Richard Sheehan
                                                                            or Mago Bill

Preparing to Write

Write With RCS:

             Start writing now and prepare later. 

                 Don't spend a lot of time preparing to write. The important things happen during your writing. Allow yourself to proceed without a full plan and allow yourself to depart from whatever plan you have.

                Try not to let whatever you have learned about control to interfere with your writing. Thinking about control leads to stuckness. Try to do as the psychologists say and let go a bit. Being free to choose does not mean making a single choice, the right one. It means being you; choosing and re-choosing.

                Digress and wander until your mind atrophies and falls off. Let yourself forget being discriminating and sharp. Let yourself be open and accepting.

                A good practice may be to choose a topic you truly enjoy and beginning to write out all you know about that subject. You may find yourself writing quiet a lot; perhaps some that even seems worth re-writing.

                Even if you have a topic  that has little fascination for you, you may make a productive beginning by writing all you know about the subject and then beginning to write out all you don't know about it.

                Start writing, then you can keep writing.

 

 

                                                         by Richard Sheehan