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Another very common justification for the hourglass model is that students must learn it before they move on to more creative forms of writing. It doesn't take much reflection to see that this is nonsense. You don't learn to hit a tennis ball by strapping your upper arm to your body, and when you can manage to make a stroke with this crippling disadvantage, unstrap your arm so you can swing more freely. You learn by trying to hit naturally, if awkwardly, from the outset and, by practice, gradually learn to hit more accurately. The same should apply to writing. The hourglass method has little to do with learning or with writing. Few people who master it go on to write more creative essays. They have been so deeply damaged by their training they're usually too scared to venture beyond it in case they make mistakes. (p. 7)