Freewriting

Freewriting exercises offer a method of discovering ideas while at the same time practicing your writing skills—choosing words, phrases, sentence structures that best express the point you are exploring. British novelist E. M. Forster is credited with creating the popular aphorism "How do I know what I think until I see what I have to say?" Freewriting is a way of discovering what you think by seeing what you have to say on a particular subject. It engages in the mysterious process whereby we discover ideas and express our thoughts with language.

The fundamental premise behind the practice of freewriting is that everyone in the act of writing is subject to two internal forces—let's call them the Creator and the Critic. The Creator spins out ideas and attempts to fill up the page or screen with words that capture and express those ideas. But the Creator is a bit of a loose cannon; it fires off without consciously taking aim at the rules of good grammar or the principles of spelling and proper punctuation. The Critic, on the other hand, or in the other ear, carps at the Creator, complaining that a word is not precise or that the idea you have come up with is laughably illogical. Listening too much to the Critic, you crumple the piece of paper you have been writing on or hit the Delete key. Back to the blank. Freewriting helps you do an end-run on that internal Critic that is trying to tackle you in mid sentence by dissing your choice of words, uneven spelling, and fancy footwork with punctuation.

Freewriting involves sitting with pen and paper or at a computer keyboard for a set period (ten minutes is usually enough) and writing whatever comes into your head and out your fingertips. When freewriting with a computer, ensure that you untoggle spelling and grammar check programs to avoid that annoying red and green underlining. Nothing should be there on the screen to accuse or confuse as you freewrite. The objective of freewriting is not to produce polished prose but to generate workable ideas with words.

Focussed freewriting adds the principles "Don't stray from the topic" and "Be specific" to standard freewriting practice.

Principles of Freewriting

Here are seven principles for successful focussed freewriting:

• Keep your hand or fingers moving. Write or type as fast as you can, without stopping, for a brief set period, blurting out what comes to mind. You can only capture what comes to mind if you keep up the job of recording your thoughts on paper or on screen. If you cannot find any insightful words, simply write "I can't think of anything to say" or "My fingers are killing me" or "Are we there yet?" or some such gibberish over and over until you pull out of the rut and get back on track with your topic.
  
• Go for your first thoughts. Any idea is game; you are brainstorming and don't want to dismiss any thought that might prove useful.
  
• Don't edit. Muzzle the internal Critic and go for what comes easiest. You can tidy up the grammar, word choice, and punctuation later.
  
• Don't stray from the topic. Keep to the stream of thoughts about your specific topic and you will have a better chance of discovering something that will be useable.
  
• Be specific. The more focussed and concrete you can be, the more useable the ideas you will discover.
  
• Don't worry about punctuation and grammar.
  
• You are free to write the worst junk imaginable. No one is looking over your shoulder and sneering at what you have written. So, relax while you are freewriting.

[These freewriting principles are adapted from Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones (1986) and Wild Mind (1990) with contributions from Morenberg and Sommers's The Writer's Options (1999).]

Focussed freewriting is especially helpful when you are trying to define your position on a particular issue or to discover a line of argument within an assigned topic. It is the easiest and best way of brainstorming on paper or on screen. The product of your freewriting will naturally be rough cut and usually not presentable without some tidying up. Sometimes it may simply be a means of finding something to write about, of discovering your topic by doggedly writing your way to an insightful idea. Engaging in an act of freewriting, to echo Forster's words, allows you to see what you have to say, or, more importantly, to see that you have something to say.