Peter Elbow
Peter Elbow's 'Writing without Teachers' (1973) is a text which informs much of the thinking behind NWP - both in the US and in our UK project.
The linked video shows Peter Elbow talking 'On Writing' (1995). He deals with two aspects of his writing process: 'making a mess' and 'private writing'.
Elbow advocates continuous unhurried writing without editing, or sharing. He advises 10-15 minutes daily practice. This process is used by many writers as a way of releasing less conscious thoughts. Claire Steele describes it as 'silencing the critic in your head'. It is sometimes referred to as discovery writing or free writing. Teachers and students on NWP UK often describe this writing process as liberating - and often find that, in these conditions, new and more natural 'voices' appear, and they may often be surprised by the power of what they find themselves writing.
Criterion-based feedback is the most common style of response in UK classrooms in 2014. However, Elbow also advocated reader-based feedback - more descriptive and less judgemental . It lets the writer see what thoughts and feelings occur in a reader's mind as he or she is reading the text. One of the most telling comments by y12 UK students (2014) about what they most valued about their teacher's feedback was when she told them how their writing made her 'feel'. Knowing how your writing has affected others is one of the main benefits of reading your work aloud to a trusted group of writers. Elbow calls this type of feedback "movies of the reader's mind." The list of detailed questions Elbow provides for reader-based feedback follow from the following essential questions:
In Writing Without Teachers (1973) (whose earlier title was 'Writing without tears'), Peter Elbow compares writing to something which 'grows' organically by regular attention, and also as something which the writer 'cooks' slowly as she/he controls, transforms, adds to and tests for its emerging voice, sound and sense.
Peter Elbow on the virtues of Free Writing:
'The main thing about freewriting is that it is nonediting. It is an exercise in bringing together the process of producing
words and putting them down on the page. Practiced regularly, it undoes the ingrained habit of editing at the same time you are
trying to produce. It will make writing less blocked because words will come more easily. . . .
Next time you write, notice how often you stop yourself from writing down something you were going to write down. Or
else cross it out after it's been written. "Naturally," you say, "it wasn't any good." But think for a moment about the occasions when
you spoke well. Seldom was it because you first got the beginning right. Usually it was a matter of a halting or even a garbled
beginning, but you kept going and your speech finally became coherent and even powerful. There is a lesson here for writing:
trying to get the beginning just right is a formula for failure--and probably a secret tactic to make yourself give up writing. Make
some words, whatever they are, and then grab hold of that line and reel in as hard as you can. Afterwards you can throw away
lousy beginnings and make new ones. This is the quickest way to get into good writing.
The habit of compulsive, premature editing doesn't just make writing hard. It also makes writing dead. Your voice is
damped out by all the interruptions, changes, and hesitations between the consciousness and the page. In your natural way of
producing words there is a sound, a texture, a rhythm--a voice--which is the main source of power in your writing. I don't know
how it works, but this voice is the force that will make a reader listen to you. Maybe you don't like your voice; maybe people have
made fun of it. But it's the only voice you've got. It's your only source of power. You better get back into it, no matter what you
think of it. If you keep writing in it, it may change into something you like better. But if you abandon it, you'll likely never have a
voice and never be heard.'
Taken from Peter Elbow 'Writing Without Teachers'. New York: Oxford UP, 1973, 1-7
see also Dorothea Brande - click here for more on free writing
The linked video shows Peter Elbow talking 'On Writing' (1995). He deals with two aspects of his writing process: 'making a mess' and 'private writing'.
Elbow advocates continuous unhurried writing without editing, or sharing. He advises 10-15 minutes daily practice. This process is used by many writers as a way of releasing less conscious thoughts. Claire Steele describes it as 'silencing the critic in your head'. It is sometimes referred to as discovery writing or free writing. Teachers and students on NWP UK often describe this writing process as liberating - and often find that, in these conditions, new and more natural 'voices' appear, and they may often be surprised by the power of what they find themselves writing.
Criterion-based feedback is the most common style of response in UK classrooms in 2014. However, Elbow also advocated reader-based feedback - more descriptive and less judgemental . It lets the writer see what thoughts and feelings occur in a reader's mind as he or she is reading the text. One of the most telling comments by y12 UK students (2014) about what they most valued about their teacher's feedback was when she told them how their writing made her 'feel'. Knowing how your writing has affected others is one of the main benefits of reading your work aloud to a trusted group of writers. Elbow calls this type of feedback "movies of the reader's mind." The list of detailed questions Elbow provides for reader-based feedback follow from the following essential questions:
- What was happening to you, moment by moment, as you were reading the piece of writing?
- Summarize the writing: give your understanding of what it says or what happened in it.
- Make up some images for the writing and the transaction it creates with you. (see also Ideas to develop response partnership)
In Writing Without Teachers (1973) (whose earlier title was 'Writing without tears'), Peter Elbow compares writing to something which 'grows' organically by regular attention, and also as something which the writer 'cooks' slowly as she/he controls, transforms, adds to and tests for its emerging voice, sound and sense.
Peter Elbow on the virtues of Free Writing:
'The main thing about freewriting is that it is nonediting. It is an exercise in bringing together the process of producing
words and putting them down on the page. Practiced regularly, it undoes the ingrained habit of editing at the same time you are
trying to produce. It will make writing less blocked because words will come more easily. . . .
Next time you write, notice how often you stop yourself from writing down something you were going to write down. Or
else cross it out after it's been written. "Naturally," you say, "it wasn't any good." But think for a moment about the occasions when
you spoke well. Seldom was it because you first got the beginning right. Usually it was a matter of a halting or even a garbled
beginning, but you kept going and your speech finally became coherent and even powerful. There is a lesson here for writing:
trying to get the beginning just right is a formula for failure--and probably a secret tactic to make yourself give up writing. Make
some words, whatever they are, and then grab hold of that line and reel in as hard as you can. Afterwards you can throw away
lousy beginnings and make new ones. This is the quickest way to get into good writing.
The habit of compulsive, premature editing doesn't just make writing hard. It also makes writing dead. Your voice is
damped out by all the interruptions, changes, and hesitations between the consciousness and the page. In your natural way of
producing words there is a sound, a texture, a rhythm--a voice--which is the main source of power in your writing. I don't know
how it works, but this voice is the force that will make a reader listen to you. Maybe you don't like your voice; maybe people have
made fun of it. But it's the only voice you've got. It's your only source of power. You better get back into it, no matter what you
think of it. If you keep writing in it, it may change into something you like better. But if you abandon it, you'll likely never have a
voice and never be heard.'
Taken from Peter Elbow 'Writing Without Teachers'. New York: Oxford UP, 1973, 1-7
see also Dorothea Brande - click here for more on free writing