how to freewrite without fear
Don’t get it right, just get it written.
- James Thurber
You’ve heard the name, you’ve even given it a go, but you’re not sure you’re doing it right. Or maybe you’ve been doing it for such a long time, it doesn’t mean anything to you anymore. Over the years, I’ve heard it called many things – morning pages, automatic writing, letting go, or as one of my students called it ‘pressure writing’. Here’s a reminder of what you can do, and with a list of possible prompts to get you going at the end. Enjoy! Set the alarm for six minutes and write without stopping, without looking back and without correcting. Don’t worry if you are writing rubbish, just write. You can set yourself a question about your work, or practice observations, or just write about how you feel today in order to clear the rusty tap of your thought process and to ease yourself into the practise of writing. Either use the train of thought method, or give yourself over to a stream of consciousness, but notice the difference in how you feel between the two types of writing.
The rules:
Give yourself a time or page limit - six minutes or three pages
Keep your hand moving
Don’t cross out
Let go – don’t worry about what people might think – no one has to read this, not even you
Write as you speak – don’t worry about proper sentences, grammar, punctuation
You don’t have to read it back – and especially not as you go.
Getting the words out is more important than making sense at this stage.
Some ideas to start:
Alternate I remember with I don’t remember …
I know I don’t know …
Things I’ve left behind …
Things I want …
Questions I have …
In five years time..
What I think…
I feel…
If I could change anything in the world, I would…
Things to do today
The language of home
The last time I was lost
The last time I danced
#30everydaywords
How are you getting on with your freewriting practice? Use the hashtag #30everydaywords and tag me on instagram or twitter - @sarahsalway to share your words or writing space.
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