Writing With Power

Decades ago, when I was a young and confused college writing instructor, I found this book; although later in my teaching career, I developed a different approach from Elbow’s, I’ll always be grateful to him for this foundational book. Elbow was one of a number of teachers at the time who realized the need to show inexperienced writers that writing is not a one-step, blank-page-to-final-draft affair; it’s a process.

Elbow’s technique of freewriting now appears in every writing workshop. Other techniques from the book, especially focused freewriting and considering the audience, are less well-known but extremely useful. This book gave… show more.