Overall, I am in love with Peter Elbow's voice-- it seems like I can hear it while I read, and it's very soothing. It felt as if he was having a conversation with me.

I found that I could both relate to and learn from these first chapters.

When Elbow described the long excruciating writing process that he experienced throughout his academic career, I cringed. He described exactly what I went through last semester when a due date approached. I would put it off until the day it was due, and then stress and cry as the clock ticked the seconds away toward my next class-- and I had yet to write a good sentence.

By identifying my frustrations as a general common problem, Elbow helped me to feel like I had a better handle on the writing process. Thank God...since I want to be a writer by the end of the school year.

Peter Elbow also opened my eyes to a new way of approaching a writing assignment-- a cure for the problems he faced during his college days, and those which I am currently facing.

• first, I must free write before I even begin. I must free write and get all of the garbage out of my head for a short amount of time, and not stop until time is up.
• second, I mustn't come up with an idea before I write. I must write to come up with an idea.
• third, I must try that method of writing which Elbow shared with his four-hour example-- write as much as I can for 45 minutes, and dig for another 15 minutes. Then use what I found in those 15 minutes, and write about that for another 45 minutes.
• fourth and finally, I need to get over my aversion to throwing away writing. No matter what, I have always tried to salvage my words-- even if they were complete garbage.

Luckily (I guess), I have a writing assignment approaching for Dr. Wilson's American Novel class, and I will try Elbow's methods. He is a very convincing writer himself. I am very excited about Writing Without Teachers.