Writing consists of thoughts which have been translated into spoken language and recorded by means of phonetic symbols, enabling others to share the writer's thoughts when reading the symbols.  The reader goes through the same steps  in reverse when decoding writing, seeing words on the page which are translated into sound that in turn become thoughts.  This process is diagrammed in Example 2.1.

If the writer does not think clearly, the words on the page will not correctly transmit ideas to readers.  A number of theories about how human beings think can be useful to writers, including experiential learning, types of intelligence, artistic development, and guided imagery.

David A. Kolb devised a theory of experiential learning, and in 1984 he published a book which reports the results of his research.  After trying to combine twentieth century theories of learning, Kolb developed a model which synthesizes the best qualities of each previous theory.  Kolb emphasizes that new information must first be acquired and then manipulated for learning to take place.  The learner must get new information and then do something with it.  When he tried out his learning process formula during experiments, people seemed to understand and retain new ideas quickly and easily.  Kolb came to view learning as a four part process, with each activity leading to the next in sequence.  Example 2.2 shows these steps.

The fourth stage, active experimentation, becomes a new concrete experience, and the process continues in a smoothly enlarging cycle of learning.  Kolb uses a circle to demonstrate the ongoing nature of the process, as shown in Example 2.3 below.

By using Kolb's steps, the reader can learn a new way to look at literature.  Begin with the following exercise.  As you look at "Rain (Revised)" by Janet Burtt, get into an easy reading frame of mind.  Relax and make your body feel comfortable, enjoy the pattern of the words on the page, and read the poem aloud so that you feel the words in your mouth and hear them with your ears.  See, hear, touch, taste, and smell  this poem, and have a concrete experience.

          Rain (Revised)
powders my face
Smell of wet dirt flows into my nose
No sounds, yet the quiet seems so loud
ears start to buzz
makes my eyes water
worms on sidewalks
wiggling in puddles
Some already drowned
Left to shrivel in the sun
I pick up a squirming body
toss it into the grass.

During reflective observation, you should react to the poem, and a good way to do this and practice writing at the same time is to record your ideas on paper.  Write about the memories, feelings, and thoughts which come to mind as you recall "Rain (Revised)".  Does this experience seem familiar to you?

As you write, begin moving from reflection into formulating a theory, or abstract conceptualization.  Think about your own set of rules for a good poem.  How does "Rain (Revised)" fit into your vision of what poetry should be?  Does this poem challenge or affirm your rules?

The last step, active experimentation, occurs when you write a poem of your own.  Think about rain, events in your life which have taken place during rainstorms, what happened, what you saw, heard, touched, tasted, and smelled during those moments.  Focus on one event and write down your memories, thoughts, and feelings, then rearrange these ideas into a poem.  As you write, you will be constructing your own new concrete experience.

You can use Kolb's four steps deliberately to improve your writing. Gain concrete experiences by reading widely.  Each week, The New Yorker prints poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and cartoons. Literary magazines contain some of the best writing published today.  Subscribe to one and read each issue from cover to cover.  Get a library card and find novels, nonfiction books, and plays to read.  Think about what you have read, refine your literary sensibilities, then try out the techniques you learn.

Psychologist Howard Gardner believes that viewing intelligence as a combination of verbal and mathematical ability leaves out many valuable talents.  He divides intelligence into eight categories he calls frames of mind, listed in Example 2.4.  According to Gardner, each person has strengths and weaknesses in these areas.

Take a moment to rate yourself (1=low to 10=high) in each of these areas.  What are your talents?  Lack of talent in one area does not doom you to a lifetime of failure.  Gardner encourages learners to practice and improve their skills in weak areas.  For instance, perhaps you gave yourself a "1" in spatial intelligence.  Whenever you go to a city, you get lost.  Maps just confuse you more.  How can you improve your spatial intelligence?

You might begin by walking around your neighborhood, drawing a map of your  path, marking street names and sketching in buildings and trees.  At the least, this will enable you to retrace your steps and arrive home safely.  When traveling, create a hand drawn map of your journey.  Later, you can compare your hand drawn map to a printed one to increase your map reading skill.

Your interest in writing indicates that you probably score high in linguistic intelligence.  But you also have other talents.  How can you use your non-linguistic abilities to help readers understand your writing?  One way is to think about your audience as composed of people just like you:  talented in some areas and weaker in others.  By using all eight frames of mind in your writing, you will broaden your appeal to readers.  How might you use numbers and logic in a short story?   What about setting (spatial intelligence), lines from popular songs (musical intelligence), sensations of touch (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence)?

Howard Gardner also investigated how children develop as artists and explains two opposing views.  The first theory holds that children are like seeds which contain all the material necessary for flowering.  Young artists should be nurtured and given the materials with which to create, but otherwise left alone.  The opposing theory proposes that children must be taught about methods and must also develop a critical sense, an understanding of quality.  Rather than letting young artists do whatever they want, a teacher must guide them in specific directions.

Gardner concludes that both theories are true.  Very young children need to be given materials and left alone to play, but older children should be helped to develop a critical theory which allows them to understand the role of beauty in art.  Writers need both the freedom to experiment and a sense of critical theory so they will recognize what is unique and excellent in their work.

Freedom to create means that you should write about what interests you, to find out the end of the story, as Joyce Carol Oates once said.  However, when you begin to revise your work for presentation to an audience, the principles and terms of literary criticism become important.  You can develop your critical sense by taking a literature or creative writing course.  The language of criticism provides a shared world view:  writers use literary terms such as plot and lyric poem with confidence that others will understand the particular and concise definitions of those words.  The ways of thinking you learn from reading and talking about literature will enable you to improve your own work.

Guided imagery provides writers with a less structured type of thinking.  Formerly known as guided fantasy, and related to meditation and relaxation exercises, guided imagery helps to free the imagination.  The words daydream and reverie are also used to describe imagery.   There is no right or wrong way to do imagery; whatever you do will be right for you.  However, relaxing in a quiet place, closing your eyes, and concentrating on your breathing for a few minutes before beginning an imagery session helps clear away the cluttered thoughts of everyday life which sometimes block creativity.  Each chapter of this book ends with imagery exercises to help you practice the skills explained in Chapter 2.  As you work with guided imagery, your imagination will work faster, and you will become more creative.

Sometimes writers become discouraged when their work does not progress easily.  A study of the thought processes of geniuses who made unique breakthroughs in many areas revealed that they all experience stuckness just before arriving at a solution to a problem.  The moment of insight came to them not during work, but while getting on a bus, eating dinner, walking the dog, or during sleep.  When you feel stuck, comfort yourself with the understanding that a breakthrough is just ahead.   Go for a walk, listen to music, let your unconscious work on the problem.  You may want to make up a guided imagery script  and use it to relax.  When you come back to your writing, you will know what changes to make.  Some writers consciously create stuckness by taking regular breaks or stopping in the middle of a task.
 
 

1. Diagram the connection between thought and written language.
2. Why must a writer think clearly?
3. Diagram Kolb's learning cycle. How can experiential learning theory help a writer?
4. List Howard Gardner's seven frames of mind.  Why should a writer understand that different people are skilled in different areas?
5. Are writers born (seed) or made (taught)?
6. Why should you be grateful when you experience stuckness?

Place your journal and a pen nearby.  Relax, get comfortable in a chair or lying on the floor, close your eyes, and concentrate on breathing deeply and regularly.  Breathe all the way out, empty your lungs, then take in a deep breath and feel the fresh air moving into your lungs, the oxygen going from your into your blood and throughout your body.  Relax as you breath out slowly.  Feel the tension go out of your body with the used air.  Continue breathing deeply for a few minutes, relaxing more each time you exhale.

When you feel ready, begin to think about a safe and beautiful place, either a real location you remember or an imaginary place you make up as you go.  Choose a place where you feel safe and happy.

Continue breathing deeply and slowly, and imagine that you are in this place.  Look around and use your imaginary five senses.  What do you see and hear and touch and taste and smell?

Look around this place and find a comfortable spot to sit or lie down.  Just relax in your special place for a few minutes.

How does it feel to be here?  What emotions do you experience?  Take as much time as you like to just be in this place.

When you feel ready, start to return to the real world.  Say good-bye to your special place, understanding that you can always return.  Take a deep breath, let it all out, and come back to the real world.

Open your eyes, stretch, and then write in your journal about what you experienced during your guided imagery.

This exercise is often called a freewrite, which means you write without stopping for a predetermined period of time.  The idea is to write down whatever comes into your mind, without censoring any thoughts or ideas.  You may let the ideas flow without structure or focus your freewrite on a particular subject (a person you know, an event in your life).  Freewriting allows you to tap into your unconscious, rather like dreams do.  At first, limit your time to ten minutes.  Set a kitchen timer, or ask someone to tell you when ten minutes is up.  Remember, write without stopping for the entire time.  Don't think, just write.  As you repeat this exercise, you may want to gradually lengthen the time period to twenty minutes or even a half hour.