It sounds like writing for free right? A situation where you get to write for people and you do that for free, isn’t it?
Well, that’s not what it means.
A simple definition for free writing was posited by Ray Bradbury as “Don’t think; just write!”
Yes, it’s a simple writing technique described as a process in which an individual, a writer, in this case, writes continuously for a certain amount of time without thinking or considering a lot of things. By this, ℎ ℎ ℎ implies that the writer just goes on to write the thoughts as they come on paper or screen and does not consider any grammatical rules, conventions, mechanics, semantics, spellings, punctuation rules, paragraphing and word arrangements.
In freewriting, you suspend the use of your brain and just proceed with whatever you want to write about, here you just allow your hands and thoughts to flow whether what is being put down makes sense or not. Well, you’re not thinking with your brain whether it makes sense, you’re just writing freely from one idea to the other.
You may see this as time-wasting and creating nonsense that is not usable, but what you need to know is that it can help you overcome writer’s block and make you creative. It can also help you to generate good and working ideas which you never know are deep inside you until you wrote them down.
Some writers even use this technique to put down all they know about a particular topic which serves as a base for that topic before going into proper research. Freewriting shows that you’re not left bare without any idea on your own and as you plan your thoughts in a more organized manner, you can then take out those things that are not necessary to that topic, correct your grammar, spelling, and follow the punctuation rules.
There are two types of Free Writing
Focused Freewriting: Here you just allow and narrow your thoughts only on a chosen topic and try to stay within that range. You simply allow the chosen topic to structure your thought pattern and you free write accordingly.
Undirected Freewriting: Your thoughts can stray freely and even away from the topic but will still make expansions and make connections to create more abstract views of the topic. What you wrote might have nothing to do with the topic but there is a connection and this can help you put your ideas into a more basic context.
How often should you do this as a writer?
Not just when you have that writing gig or assignment or even major work to do, you can choose to free-write every day. Freewrite about the universe, motherhood, sciences, politics, love, technology, and any other thing. When you’re done, you can then make research to add to your writing, eliminate errors, add facts, and boom! You have yourself a masterpiece. This can go a long way to help you in your writing career.
‘Here’s the deal:
Choose a particular time to do this and set a time limit maybe 20 or 30 minutes or even an hour everyday.
Now start freewriting on every idea you can think of about your topic no matter how it looks like.
Don’t bother about mistakes or errors, just keep going.
Even when you don’t have anything to write and your time is not up yet, just keep writing “I don’t know what I’m doing” on your paper or screen until something opens up.
When the time is up. You can then stop and look back at your work.
Read it from the beginning and start the elimination and addition process – take out those things that are not needed for your topic, take the ones that are useful and add to it if the need be.
Then edit your work or give it to someone professional to look at it for you.
Maryann Ijeoma Nwokoye
Contact: 08099079028
Email address: maryannijeoma96@gmail.com
