Writing Blues

My son has the blues, the writers blues.  His passion for story writing and creative dialogues, gone.  Much of this has to do with his handwriting.  His writing has been called ugly and told it hurts my eyes.  To little, sensitive ears, this is devastating.  The new writing program incorporates peer editing.  One of his first partners, a good writer, critiqued and pointed out each flaw.  What he heard and felt, left him ashamed.  Another part of the new program, is multi-draft writing.  As a HS teacher, I understand the importance of starting kids young, but 2nd grade?  By his final draft, he gave up.  He handed in a sloppy, incomplete paper and received a just grade per the rubric.  A rubric in 2nd grade?  He did not even understand most of the rubric.  He can spell, but after lengthy writing, often gives up and resorts to his own short hand phonetic spellings.  After seeing his struggles and knowing that the creative spark is still in him, he would be a great candidate for a laptop or ipad.  Our district does not have this capability.  He is not special ed, but his inner writing demons often leave me wondering about how can I best help him.  We occasionally have him work on his handwriting.  The key is finding a way to integrate it without seeing handwriting as more work.  What else can we do?  I miss my son’s creative outlet.  By 2nd grade, can this be lost completely?  What ways can we encourage him without adding to the pressure he already feels?