ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how to begin writing, and at ways to develop one's creative ideas. The sentences originated as typing drills in which a typist has to use all the letters of the alphabet and their fingers in rapid succession. Perfectionism can kill writing, cutting it dead as it tries to emerge. Prose writers also need to build and revise their work through several drafts. There is a time for perfecting writing and it is not at the outset. Freewriting will often take writers into their deepest ideas, feelings and memories. It enables them to amass material, some of which can be used and developed in their work. Unlike musicians or artists, who expect to undergo long training and practice, writers often feel impatient and unforgiving of themselves if they cannot swiftly produce polished work.
