What Is Freewriting & How Do I Use It?
What is freewriting and how do I use freewriting? Read about 5 powerful freewriting techniques to reignite your inspiration, deepen your stories, and help you write fearlessly.
When you sit down to write, your conscious mind often acts like a security officer, scanning for bad words, clumsy grammar, and weak ideas. This inner scrutiny can make your writing stiff, dry, and cold.
What Is Freewriting?
Freewriting is the key to bypassing this inner critic and unlocking the playground of your subconscious, where your words are immediately tied to emotion, imagery, memory, and mood. In this relaxed, uncensored state, your writing comes out hot and real.
Freewriting isn’t a new writing trend.
Freewriting – which is similar to automatic writing – is a tried-and-tested technique used by countless artists and writers to make their work more spontaneous and uninhibited. When you get past the controlling forces of your conscious mind, you’ll find there’s less pressure to edit, censor, or dilute your imagination. As writers, we need to trust our instincts and allow our words to flow as naturally as when we’re simply talking.
Whether you’re writing a short story, novel, or screenplay, you’re always dealing with characters in conflict or pain.
As humans, we often shrink from difficult emotions, so sometimes we hesitate to commit them to the page.
The biggest block is often the dread of getting started. Freewriting neatly sidesteps the emotions and behaviours that cause us to ‘freeze’. Once you get past your inner security guard, you enter the story world.
How Do I Use Freewriting?
Here are 5 powerful freewriting techniques to help you write fearlessly:
1. Be Intentional
Many writers feel frustrated simply because they haven’t considered what they want to explore or achieve at the end of a writing session. You need something to say, to tease out, or to examine. If you’re unsure, spend a few minutes reflecting, jotting rough notes, or reading up on your topic.
Once you feel ready, sit down and let it spill onto the page – facts, ideas, images, and even ‘globs’ of nonsense. Moments of clarity and insight often appear unexpectedly in the mess. This is the very essence of a freewrite.
Tip: Select one aspect of your story to focus on (a tricky plot problem, a character, a scene, or even a theme).
I’ve used freewriting to explore everything from a heroine’s whimsical fashion sense to the painful memory of her mother’s death.
2. Time Blocking
Set a timer for your session, perhaps an hour, but even 10 or 20 minutes works. The aim is to write without stopping until the time’s up. Late at night or early in the morning are probably the best times, when you’re less likely to be disturbed by friends, social media or work calls.
If an hour feels impossible, try fitting freewriting into a lunch break or at a coffee shop.
The time structure isn’t meant to be restrictive. It simply helps you focus and leverage your energy. Without a time limit, your writing will often drift or you’ll end up procrastinating.
Read how too much social media can hijack your creativity
3. Use Pen and Paper
Yes, even if your handwriting is barely legible! Writing by hand wakes up more areas of the brain and helps you stay engaged and immersed. Some research suggests it lights up your whole brain.
When writing by hand, you’re more likely to connect with your senses and be propelled to your next idea. You don’t have to stick to words, either.
Draw what you see, sketch a location, or scribble a mind map. Find what works for you. Try writing in a garden or dabbing a beautiful fragrance on your wrist to heighten your sensory perception.
4. Don’t Go Back And Fix It
Freewriting must be loose and relaxed. Don’t reread, correct, or change anything during your session. Just keep moving forward.
Ignore the urge to check your phone or grab a snack. If you catch yourself drifting, gently return to your writing.
This uninterrupted flow is vital. When you write quickly, you outpace your inner critic, your fears, and your internal editor. You’re more likely to make new associations and stumble upon unexpected ideas.
You’ll find the urgency gives your writing a different, more energetic quality.
5. Give It Time
Remember, freewriting isn’t a shortcut to a finished piece.
Rather, it’s a tool for unlocking creativity and getting into the right mind-set. You won’t submit a freewrite to an editor or writing group. Most of what you write will be irrelevant or messy, and that’s absolutely fine.
What looks like nonsense may hide a pearl of wisdom or spark a fresh idea. When you’re ready, bring your conscious mind and editor back in to cut, revise, and polish. Some freewriting sessions produce nothing at all and that’s okay too.
Try again. The process is about practice and persistence.
Read 5 Ways To Find Your Way Back To Creativity & Writing
The Final Word
Freewriting is a trigger for your subconscious. It helps you get vague ideas and feelings out of your head and onto the page, letting you dive deeper into your writing, right to the heart of your story.
There’ll be some trial and error at the start but give it a go. You’ll learn not only about your story, but also about your own approach to writing.
Trust yourself, trust the process, and let your creativity run free.
By Anthony Ehlers. Anthony Ehlers facilitates courses for Writers Write. He writes awesome blog posts and workbooks too.
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- 5 Reasons To Start Writing A Story With Viewpoint In Mind
- 7 Extraordinary Authors With Extraordinary Word Counts
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- The 5 Toughest Genres To Plot
- Action Is The Hero
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