Two days ago, I asked the question "Do you freewrite?" and @remelsy asked,
"Is freewriting writing like you’re having a conversation? Or is it just writing a draft of your posts?"
To me, it's more like having a conversation - with yourself.
According to my dictionary, freewriting means:
A writing exercise in which a person writes quickly and continuously, with a free association of ideas, especially as a means of initiating a more focused composition.
And “freewrite” means to write (something) freely without stopping or thinking.
The important thing is to write, non-stop.
You can do that on your own by starting a timer and start writing, or you can use a tool like The Most Dangerous Writing App which will both help you with a five-minute timer and making sure you don't stop writing.
Because if you stop for a few seconds... ALL is lost.
But We All Know that Starting Is the Hardest Part
So how do you start?
I recommend working on the topic you're going to address later with your "real" writing.
Freewriting the Nonfiction Way
For example, if you're going to write a nonfiction book about toddlers, then you could spend your first freewriting session coming up with keywords, like:
- Potty training
- Diapers
- Food
- Bed time
- Clothes
- Pets
- Allergy
- Sickness
Simply go on for five minutes, and then save your list.
The next time you're doing a freewrite session, you can start with one of your keywords, and freewrite about it. Anything that comes to mind.
My son and daughter used two different kinds of diapers. If my son didn't use brandA, he would pee through them, and I would have to bathe him and change all his clothing. With my daughter it was different. Even though she ate well, she had so thin thighs that if she didn't wear brandB, she would pee down her legs. Diapers are expensive, though, and back then bla bla bla.
If You're Writing Fiction
Your freewriting could be different. It's totally up to you, of course, because the main goal of freewriting is to get started. To warm up the fingers and the brain.
But I do fiction freewriting in two ways:
- I think of the next scene I'm going to write, and then I have a discussion with myself, on paper, about what will happen in the scene.
- I take one of my off-stage characters and write, as if I wrote that person's journal in first person, present tense.
Freewriting Is Fun
All writing should be fun, but sometimes it seems like a duty. "Oh, I MUST write 2,000 words today or else the sky will fall down."
Bring the fun back to your writing. One way is to start out with freewriting. It's for your eyes only, so there's not any kind of pressure on you. You can, truly, write freely.
I totally agree that starting is the hardest part, @sindore! When I'm writing articles, I find that figuring out my first sentence is the obstacle I have to overcome to finish the rest of the piece. But when I freewrite and just start anywhere, I can make progress faster and then go back later and write the lead. Good post!
I'm glad you liked it. How about writing a lot of story starters as a freewriting (almost) exercise, @bargain.hunter? Just write down all the weird things that come to mind, without stopping for five minutes. James Scott Bell's latest book came to life because he thought up the first sentence. (Something about, it's not every day you bleed to death.)
I like this post a lot. It offers great advice to writers that are just starting out and trying to find their feet. The steps to take in order to achieve a state of mind that is conducive for creative thinking and writing are practical and easy to follow. Kudos to you.
Thank you very much :) I'm glad you liked this post.
Nice post. I like the idea of listing keywords, and then just picking one and writing something around it. I believe this practice helps you to improve the art of converting thoughts into words. So when you are doing the real writing, it sort of starts coming naturally to you. Cheers! :)
Thank you, yes, I believe so, too. You feed your unconscious, and it will start working for you.
Okay, so I read your post about free writing the other day. After reading this one, I realized that I do freewrite my non-fiction content. I usually start with some sort of outline, then I just go about writing non-stop before going back to edit and polish the details. Now, if I could just sit down and do it with fiction!
That's awesome that you manage to do it for your nonfiction, @keciah :)
Try some exercises for your fiction. I sometimes interview my characters, ask them to mention ten things they are afraid of, or I let them write about the trivial things that happened to them that day, like a diary. It's fun :)
I cheat a little or a lot. I record my thoughts and have dragon dictate them. I use them for future posts. I also dictate my rough drafts. I suck at typing.
Hehe, and I suck at dictating. I've tried it many times, but it's much faster for me to type.
The important thing is to do what works best for you, @mergehealthier.
Aaah okay I understand I believe I kinda did that today with my video game post.
There's a good measure of sound advice in this post. It is something that affects all of us who are trying to advance up the steemit ladder which, let's face it, involves a lot of writing.
Ha, yes, for sure it does, @appent :) And that makes me happy. I'm not that good at making videos, but I love writing.