In a study to determine whether the writing apprehension of college writers is diminished by regular freewriting and whether apprehension affects the quality of writing, two experimental classes spent ten minutes freewriting each day while two control classes spent ten minutes on vocabulary building. The pretest and posttest consisted to two…

Each student has personal fears, anxieties, and insecurities about writing, which are productive only insofar as they force students into a reevaluation of the ways in which they perceive writing. Approached logically from a nonadversarial position, writing fears can easily be dispelled. (MLW)

Analyzes more than 5,000 examples of "self-talk" gathered from blockers and nonblockers during the initiation and completion of writing sessions to reveal seven cognitive components of blocking: work apprehension, procrastination, dysphoria, impatience, perfectionism, evaluation anxiety, and rules. Indicates that blockers are more likely…

No matter how intimidated or how blocked, any writer can tap into the vast oceans of creativity within by following the exercises in this book. Broken into small steps, each exercise is easy and takes only minutes to do. Yet each one forms a wave that brings with it a rush of ideas, images, and scenes as it crests. Chapters in the book are: (1)…

Reviews difficulties faced by English as a Second Language students in writing for evaluation. Describes approaches for reducing writing anxiety, including focusing on the fluent expression of ideas rather than grammar, and providing nonjudgmental responses. Discusses results from the implementation of these approaches, suggesting that writing…

One of a series dealing with current issues affecting language arts instruction, this paper focuses on spelling. The paper begins with the observation that when people complain that students cannot write, too often they mean that when the students do write, they misspell a few words. After noting that spelling improvement comes from using words in…

Stresses the importance of having teachers of writing participate in writing activities at inservice meetings. (DF)

Describes the positive effects of peer interaction during the writing process. Illustrates by describing integration of this method in a seventh-grade classroom and how it improved the students' writing quality and attitudes. (HTH)

Explores developmental students' attitudes toward writing as a reflection of their writing performance. Finds that the skills of students with positive attitudes toward writing improved significantly more than did those of students with neutral or negative attitudes. Includes a student writing attitude questionnaire and a questionnaire analysis…

Reviews research on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator's (MBTI's) use in personalizing the basic writing curriculum. Describes an MBTI-based study of personality and writing performance in a basic writing class. Identifies ways MBTI results can inform teacher feedback and the use of prewriting, small groups, computers, and essay tests. (DMM)

Describes a method for using the press release to introduce basic technical writing principles and increase students' writing confidence. Includes lecture format and writing assignment. (HTH)

Describes the power of adult writing groups to stimulate learning and encourage language development, personal development, and writing skill development. (CRH)

Describes the steps a writer can go through in producing an article and how a word processor can facilitate the thought and compositional processes. (CRH)

Describes the setbacks and remarkable progress in one student's writing and attitudes as the result of focusing on the writing process in a one-to-one tutorial relationship. (HTH)

Examines research on the causes of writing apprehension. Profiles high-apprehensive writers, characterizes their written products, and describes their writing processes. Suggests four procedures for dealing with writing apprehension: peer group workshops; positive reinforcement; teaching about writing process, and gradually increasing students'…