I’ve been writing for most of my life. The book Writing Without Teachers introduced me to

I’ve been writing for most of my life. The book Writing Without Teachers introduced me to one distinction(区别)and one practice that has helped my writing processes tremendously. The distinction is between the creative mind and the critical mind. While you need to employ both to get to a finished result, they cannot work in parallel no matter how much we might like to think so.
Trying to criticize writing on the fly is possibly the single greatest barrier to writing that most of us encounter. If you are listening to that 5th grade English teacher correct your grammar while you are trying to capture a fleeting (稍纵即逝的) thought, the thought will die. If you capture the fleeting thought and simply share it with the world in raw form, no one is likely to understand. You must learn to create first and then criticize if you want to make writing the tool for thinking that it is.
The practice that can help you past your learned bad habits of trying to edit as you write is what Elbow calls “free writing.” In free writing, the objective is to get words down on paper non-stop, usually for 15-20 minutes. No stopping, no going back, no criticizing. The goal is to get the words flowing. As the words begin to flow, the ideas will come from the shadows and let themselves be captured on your notepad or your screen.
Now you have raw materials that you can begin to work with using the critical mind that you’ve persuaded to sit on the side and watch quietly. Most likely, you will believe that this will take more time than you actually have and you will end up staring blankly at the pages as the deadline draws near.
Instead of staring at a blank start filling it with words no matter how bad. Halfway through your available time, stop and rework your raw writing into something closer to finished product. Move back and forth until you run out of time and the final result will most likely be far better than your current practices.
【小题1】When the author says the creative mind and the critical mind “cannot work in parallel” in the writing process, he means .A．one cannot use them at the same timeB．they cannot be regarded as equally importantC．they are in constant conflict with each otherD．no one can be both creative and critical【小题2】What prevents people from writing on is .A．putting their ideas in raw formB．ignoring grammatical soundnessC．attempting to edit as they write D．trying to capture fleeting thoughts【小题3】What is the chief objective of the first stage of writing?A．To organize one’s thoughts logically.B．To get one’s ideas down.C．To choose an appropriate topic.D．To collect raw materials.【小题4】One common concern of writers about “free writing” is that .A．it overstresses the role of the creative mindB．it does not help them to think clearlyC．it may bring about too much criticismD．it takes too much time to edit afterwards【小题5】In what way does the critical mind help the writer in the writing process?A．It allows him to sit on the side and observe.B．It helps him to come up with new ideas.C．It saves the writing time available to him.D．It improves his writing into better shape.A

(答案→)A 解析：这是一篇语言较为平易的说明文，作者以简练、亲切、对话式的语言向读者阐述了自己的写作方法。【小题1】A文章的第二段论述了创造性思维与批判性思维的关系问题。从最后一句结语You must learn to create first and then criticize if you want to make writing the tool for thinking that it is可清晰地看出，在应用这二种思维时，必须首先使用创造性思维，而后再使用批判性思维。意思就是二者不可同时使用。【小题1】C一个人不可能既会用创造性思维又会用批判性思维。no one can be both creative and critical的意思是一个人身上不同时具备这二种思维能力，而不是不能同时使用这二者。作者在文中讨论先运用创造思维、后运用批判思维的问题，那么一个人肯定是具有这两种思维能力的。A的解释不对。【小题1】B二者的重要性不可等量齐观。从上下文来看，作者从未对二者孰重孰轻做出评判，而只是讨论了先后问题。【小题1】D二者始终处于与对方斗争冲突的状态。从文中论述可知，只有当人们想同时使用二者时，这二者才会发生冲突，如果一前一后使用则不会。所以并不能说始终处于冲突状态。因此这个选项的论断不正确。【小题1】D一个人不能同时运用这二种思维，这一点与文中的You must learn to create first and then criticize相符。

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