I found the concept of “felt sense” does a nice job of giving a name to the chaotic way I prewrite. My prewriting process typically involves several sheets of lined paper with random notes written haphazardly all over them – things crossed out, ideas rephrased, arrows to make connections, and absolutely no semblance of process or strategy. I simply write down the beginnings of my thought processes and move through the ideas until I feel as though I have landed upon one arguable topic. This works for me, so I have never bothered to change my process. I think the process of felt sense has less to do with inspiration and more to do with an organization of thoughts.
I often bring up the idea of “word vomit” to my students in class, and the importance of avoiding chaotic writing that has no organization. I think that the need to experience a moment of “felt sense” allows students to avoid word vomit. The goal of prewriting is to work through your ideas ahead of time, whereas papers with word vomit work through the thought process while simultaneously working through the writing process. This often leads to the thesis not becoming entirely clear until the conclusion paragraph. In order to encourage felt sense and avoid word vomit, I think students need to be encouraged to view writing as research. The goal isn’t to answer a prompt, but to first pose a question for inquiry, work through the answer to that question, develop an argument, and THEN write. These steps allow students to experience felt sense and understand why it can strengthen their papers.