While freewriting is valuable for the beginning or basic writer, it embodies certain difficulties. Sufficient time and preparation are necessary to move from freewriting to the structured composition frequently required on course exit examinations. The student instructed by means of freewriting may later resent having to rewrite or edit. Some instructors see freewriting as a way of helping students to find and perfect a personal voice as a means of personal exploration; this exploration often turns to insincerity, and there is little positive carryover between such self-discovery and other writing. Freewriting can be of value only when students pass beyond it by opening themselves up to the skills of planning and editing, remembering that the personal voice is to be used for speaking with others on topics of mutual interest. (DF)