But just as an onomatopoeia plays at sounding like object it is emulating, Elbow is providing an example for the creativity of thinking that comes from writing. That said, I could tell he and his editor kept an eye on the tendrils of his prosaic Ivy and either redirected it when necessary or clipped it when it needed to be cut back. People claimed to have not enjoyed Elbow's tendency to ramble, but I did furthermore, I'm not entirely sure that "ramble" is the right verb for what does in his delivery-maybe "explore" is more appropriate? Books by writers about writing (especially when the writer is a critical writer discussing critical writing) can be so dry, yet this book is anything but, and I attribute this to the fact the author wandered a little and played a lot. ![]() I read some of the other reviews just now, and I realized that one of the reasons why I liked this book, is also the very reason others complained about it. Elbow would tell me to start now, regardless of my mood. The details he sometimes includes throw me off, surely, but I am extremely likely to pick this book up and go to the relevant passages when I get around to writing. I feel as though this book could be half as long and just as useful, if not more so.īut there's a reason writing professors use them in their writing seminars, and I immediately see the practical implications of this book. Sure, give us an example, but don't rattle on about it for pages and pages, and in this section in particular I really didn't understand, for example, what was 'wrong' with the samples he chose to criticize. I'm convinced we were on the same page in terms of what it is, but what threw me off, perhaps, was just how wordy everything was. Sections on poetry are not as useful to me, and the section on power in writing to be oddly unsatisfying. And Elbow also tends to take care to separate techniques and ideas for creative writing and expository writing, and I appreciate that. I especially appreciated the sections that dealt with getting words on paper, revising, and feedback. ![]() Elbow himself mentions that the book can be quite useful if you are just looking for a certain passage within it. The length of time that it took me to finish the book doesn't really say anything about the book itself, in my opinion. By taking risks and embracing mistakes, Elbow hopes the writer may somehow find a hold on the creative process and be able to heighten two mentalities-the production of writing and the revision of it.įrom students and teachers to novelists and poets, Writing with Power reminds us that we can celebrate the uses of mystery, chaos, nonplanning, and magic, while achieving analysis, conscious control, explicitness, and care in whatever it is we set down on paper. In a new introduction, he offers his reflections on the original edition, discusses the responses from people who have followed his techniques, how his methods may differ from other processes, and how his original topics are still pertinent to today's writer. Here, Peter Elbow emphasizes that the essential activities underlying good writing and the essential exercises promoting it are really not difficult at all.Įmploying a cookbook approach, Elbow provides the reader (and writer) with various recipes: for getting words down on paper, for revising, for dealing with an audience, for getting feedback on a piece of writing, and still other recipes for approaching the mystery of power in writing. ![]() A classic handbook for anyone who needs to write, Writing With Power speaks to everyone who has wrestled with words while seeking to gain power with them.
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