Peter Elbow stresses the fact that freewriting is meant to be a non-stop exercise. “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. (pg. 141)” This quote stood out to me because the hardest part about writing for me is the opening sentence or paragraph. Before beginning a writing assignment, I find it helps to brainstorm ideas and then record them. Simply by making a bulleted list, or jotting down ideas that run through my mind helps me to get a head start and also constructs a well-written paper. By using this method, the paper will be very organized and will flow together nicely. Free-writing gets your brain thinking and the ideas streaming. When a writer records what is on their mind without stopping, one may be surprised how impressive the final product may be.
Elbow brings up a valid point while comparing the act of writing and editing, and how they go on at the same time. This can cause some writer’s to run into trouble, because it almost feels as if more pressure is being put on the writer. The pressure could break ones concentration and the ideas may stop flowing, AKA “writers block.” The hesitations of the writer are not natural; therefore they can change the result of the writer’s work, which could quite possibly be a negative thing. By making use of the freewriting exercise, or brainstorming beforehand, can only be to your advantage.
I agree when you say that the hardest part of writing is the opening. As a journalist the most important part of the story is the first sentence or the lead as they call it. What I always did was I skipped the first paragraph and just wrote the whole story and then went back and wrote the lead.
ReplyDeleteAlso I love to brainstorm it lets me put everything I'm thinking on paper and gives me very creative ideas for writing.
What I do when I have writer block is I stop everything I'm doing pertaining to the story and I just go outside or go do something unrelated to the topic for like an hour or so and that usually helps clear my mind and gets it flowing to write magic.