Customer Reviews

Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process

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I have been an ardent reader all my life, as far back as I can remember. I can remember tearing through my bookcase on some days as if I was physically hungry. Books were always a source of enjoyment for me, - better than dreaming, man - but they were also always a mystery to me. How could someone do something like this? Where do people find all this incredible material inside? Reading was my joy. Writing was never that. Instead, it was always difficult, and frustrating and humiliating. Oh, my writing was all right when it was done. But it took hours piled on hours of struggle to get there. I didn't understand how writers did it, how they could create entire novels - and not just one to each author! - when it took me a week to write one silly page for a book report. And not only did it take forever; it was never fun. It was hard and brutal, exacting and costly. I thought that when you wrote something it had to come out perfect, or nearly so, the first time it was copied down.

Everything changed. This book did it for me. I read Elbow's advice on freewriting to create, how trying to edit and originate at the same time choked the spark off before it could get started. Writing freely without excruciating over what word to put where, then going back after you had some material to work with - it was revelatory. More; for the first time in my life, writing was fun. Really, really fun. It's stayed that way, in all the time since I read "Writing With Power." If I'm very lucky, it will become what I do with my life - but it is only for reading this book that I have any shot at all.

If you have any ambition at all to write, if you have ever experienced the frustration of knowing you have something to say without knowing how to say it, read this book. And start writing, right now. Just make sure you don't stop. You can always go back later.

It seems as if writing books can roughly be divided in two categories. First, there are the books that tell you to plan your writing project in advance in meticulous detail. Second, there are books that tell you NOT to plan anything in advance, but urge you to start writing until you drop.

Elbow's book is in the second category. Though it seems as if his method of "freewriting" leads you nowhere, the book helped me tremendously. Elbow describes several techniques, all of which can be of help (including the planned writing strategy) to those who have to write stuff. However, his own tack is what he calls the "loop writing" process. During this process, one blends freewriting techniques with more directed writing techniques. The emphasis, however, is on the creativity stimulated by freewriting. The reason why Elbow emphasizes freewriting is extremely simple, and by experience I know it to be true.

Elbow writes that when we write we tend to be our own critic. We evaluate immediately what we write, we edit on the fly, and therefore get stuck rather quickly. Elbow urges us to leave the editing until a later time, and simply start writing whatever comes to mind. You can always throw out stuff later. That way, you'll create a work flow, that is beneficial to your creativity. Just read the book and Elbow's wonderful advice, and see if this works for you as it did for me.

I took Elbow's advice seriously in my scholarly writing (I am a philosopher of religion and theologian at Leiden University, the Netherlands). Elbow's book was a real source of inspiration and made writing a lot of fun. At this stage, I have finished a 250-page book (which will be published in two months with one of the major Dutch publishing companies), and several articles. I don't claim it will work for everybody, but it certainly worked for me. Just read the book and try it - if it doesn't work for you, at least you've read a wonderful book!

Before reading Elbow's book, I was quite skeptical concerning "freewriting" -- raw writing, writing without concern for the rules of grammar, writing for the sheer sake of getting words on paper. Elbow overcame my skepticism with powerful examples, reports from his own experience & that of his pupils, and clever exposition. Rather than ducking the complexities and contradictions of good writing, Elbow tackles them head-on. His strategy involves aggressively seeking counter-arguments to his suggestions, and he often admits that two opposing principles both contain elements of truth. He then gives thoughtful advice on how to cope with such complexity. Many of his guidelines involve dialectical or cyclical practices, e.g. paying attention to breathing life into your prose, but then revising for structure, and then returning once again to make sure you haven't choked the life out of what you've written.

In combination with Robert Boice's book, First-Order Principles for College Teachers, Elbow's book would make a wonderful present for a beginning academic or other professional whose livelihood depends on good writing. Graduate students in all fields would also benefit. And, of course, people who TEACH writing could find much of value in this book. Elbow, however, seems to have a dim view of many of his colleagues' tactics!

Elbow embraces Natalie Goldberg's philosophy ("Writing down the Bones, Freeing the Writer Within)." He stresses the separation of the creative process from the critical/editorial. The difficult task (for me) was breaking the habit of trying to edit while I composed. This book helped liberate my writing. I produced my dissertation in part thanks to this book!

At one time, writing was slow and awkward for me. My college assignments forced me to write, but each essay and paper was an excruciating ordeal. Peter Elbow's book, recommended by one of my professors, turned my writing life around.

Writing With Power explains how the writing process works (and why it sometimes doesn't work). With those insights in hand, and using Peter Elbow's simple techniques, I began to write faster, more often, and less fearfully. And now, years later, I'm a full-time professional writer -- something that would have been unimaginable before I read Writing With Power.

This book is filled to the brim with inspirational talk for people who want to write. Elbow tends to emphasize non-fiction, which is a bit of a shame. Most of what he says boils down to: write a lot and revise a lot. Although that is sane advice, it hardly justifies the number of pages Elbow has filled. The last half consists of vague, non-directional musings about the "voice" of a writer--a concept Elbow can't even describe with sufficient detail to be of any practical use.

So all in all, this book is a bit of a mixed bag. When you're stuck in a rut and need some ideas to keep your juices flowing, this might just do the trick though.

By "writing with power," Elbow means having control and not feeling stuck or helpless. One of the hallmarks of "flow" (see my own bestselling WRITING IN FLOW for lots on this) is a sense that you're in control -- at least enough to do the task you've set yourself. He offers a variety of methods for getting going, from the familiar freewriting to using a list of metaphorical questions that he provides to inspire fresh ideas. One of his techniques, which he explains in great and useful detail, is called loop writing or directed freewriting. For instance, one way to get started is to write out all your prejudices about a topic before you begin writing it. Interesting chapters on audience, feedback, and revision. Here's one of his astute suggestions: Never do major revising when nauseated by your writing.

This is not about the book, but about the typo-ridden Kindle version of the book.
Let "rne" explore instead of let "me" explore?!
"thxe" reader instead of "the" reader?
Whoever made the Kindle version just ran the book through a text recognition software and left it at that.

I first came across Writing with Power in our university library when I was starting my thesis in my final year of my Architeture Degree in 1991.
Up to then, my essay writing or writing generally - was lousy!!!!. So I was looking for a book which may help me.
Well what a surprise.
Peters suggested that writing be broken into 2 stages -
1. writing of ideas,
and then
2. editing

This new process provided for me , a creative person , a breakthough in a how to write that was contrary to how I had been taught to write ( writing and editing at the same time) which quite frankly didn't work for me.

Now armed with this more creative process, I was able to write and draw my thesis, graduated with 2nd class honours - much better that barely passing.
I reckon this ought to be a basis text book introduced to all students, at any level of schooling.

Now that I have found this book available on the web, after 15 years, I going to get myself a copy -Thanks Amazon and Peter.
ps didn't help my english though.

Experienced writer Peter Elbow takes issue with "the dangerous method" of writing: trying to turn out a good written product at one sitting. We are lured into this approach by its false potential to save time and effort. As readers, we move rapidly through well-written prose, enjoying the experience and assuming that the author has moved just as quickly and with as little effort in producing it. Not so, warns Elbow. We need to throw off the pressures of procrastination and deadlines to learn a better way.

The beginning of wisdom is to see writing as two processes. Writers should first give free reign to their creativity, getting as much written as possible. It is not yet the time for criticism or correction, but for fostering the flow of ideas and impressions from the writer's mind--conscious and unconscious--to paper or computer screen. Only after this fountain has gushed forth its all does the task turn to the careful shaping of ideas for the reader and clearing away all but necessary detail. Elbow's central message is that we should use the strengths of both processes, neither stifling our writing with premature evaluation nor abandoning our creative concepts before they have been fully formed.

Elbow's book supports development of our writing abilities within this two-part framework. The first section introduces the two core writing processes and emphasizes the value of freewriting early in the process and of obtaining feedback from others later on. The next two sections present techniques for getting words on paper and for revising those words into a readable final product. The three sections in the book's second half elaborate the author's writing model. Readers learn to identify their intended audience and use them to bring focus to their writing. There is extensive advice on obtaining feedback from other writers. The final section advises writers how to develop an individual voice that communicates their style and stance to the reader without getting in the way of the written message.

This book is recommended for writers trying to improve their writing. Beginning writers may benefit more from the way Elbow structures the overall writing process. But even experienced writers will find techniques and insights not previously considered. Satisfied readers may also benefit from Roy Peter Clark's Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer.