Elbow

I'd never even heard of freewriting until I came to Penn State in fall 2008. The concept of disregarding grammar, conventions, etc. seemed ludicrous! But I can't believe I went that long without ever trying it. I remember telling my older brother about how liberating it was to just write. How cool it was to see where my thoughts and have it down on paper. He surprised me by telling me that he freewrites all the time, especially when he's stuck. He's a DJ/producer, but he also plays around with writing lyrics, and when lyrics won't come to him, he freewrites. Or, even more surprising to me, he said if he's just feeling emotionally blocked and in a bad mood, freewriting gives him a release.

The Elbow reading and our discussions in class made me think of my brother in particular because he is not someone who likes to write or writes often. Like some students in school, my brother saw writing as a chore, a punishment, and never something you did just for fun. It was amazing to see someone like that take the concept of freewriting and really enjoy it and also find it therapeutic. I was also really glad that after his bad experiences in school, he was able to come back to writing with a good attitude. He's my proof that other students can be turned around to seeing writing as not-so-bad.

I can't say I've really practiced freewriting to the extent that I've seen my writing improve, like Elbow suggests, but I know that I always feel relieved of some...weight, I suppose after a good, long freewrite. I believe there's merit to what Elbow is suggesting. If we can practice getting our thoughts down in a chaotic, therapeutic way, I think there can be improvement in our formal writing.