Looping

A generative writing technique: students freewrite for a few minutes, pick the single strongest sentence from what they wrote, then freewrite from that sentence. Repeat two or three times. Each "loop" drills down closer to what they actually want to say.

From Peter Elbow's Writing Without Teachers (1973). Used especially for discovering the core of an essay when the first draft feels flat.

Procedure

1. Loop 1 (5 min): freewrite on a broad prompt. What does "freedom" mean in your life? Non-stop writing; no editing.
2. Harvest: student underlines the single sentence that feels most alive, surprising, or true.
3. Loop 2 (5 min): freewrite starting from that harvested sentence. New territory.
4. Harvest again. The new best sentence may be deeper, sharper, or unexpected.
5. Loop 3 (optional, 5 min): freewrite from the second harvest.
6. Pairs read each other's final harvest. Partners say: This sentence is worth keeping. Here's why.

Why It Works

• Surface to depth: first-loop writing is usually cliché; looping forces past it.
• Self-directed focus: the harvest sentence tells the student what they actually care about — often different from the prompt.
• Fluency + discovery: combines the open-ended benefits of Free Writing with a concrete output.

When It Shines

• Essay prewriting: find your real angle before drafting.
• Unstuck drafts: when a student can't move forward, loop from the last sentence they wrote.
• Reflective writing: end-of-unit journals, language-learning reflections.
• Thesis discovery in academic writing: "what am I actually trying to argue?"

Tips

• Resist time pressure — loops work because learners run out of easy things to say and reach for harder ones.
• The rule: no stopping during each loop, even to reread or correct.
• Teach students to spot their own harvest sentences. "Feels true", "surprised me", or "I'd want to keep writing from here" are better criteria than "grammatically best."