Response to Mozart and Beethoven

I thought that was a great article. I went to graduate school in '95 and that was the new approach to teach writing--at the college level anyway. I don't think it ever really caught on in high school. I know that TAAS writing was formulaic, but in all honesty, I tell my regular kids who need to pass the TAKS a step-by-step method for writing narrative. Formulaic writing has its place, I think, especially for those novice, insecure writers. It often them get started anyway. Once someone becomes adept at writing, a formula is not longer necessary, and writing becomes intuitive. But that either requires talent or experience. I liked the Beethoven/Mozart analogy. I am definitely a Beethovian writer. A paper develops as I write it, and I usually have to return to the introduction and completely rewrite it and the thesis because the main idea of the paper has changed as I have spent more time thinking about the topic. I also agree that we get flashes of inspiration. I hate writing on command. I prefer to mull over a topic--go for a walk with my dog and think about it and then sit in Starbucks in a state of caffeine overload and ponder the topic some more. That's when my best writing takes place: when inspiration hits and I am wired to write. Then it's actually almost fun. :)