freewriting tips and tricks
June 17, 2009 8:25 AM Subscribe
Your tips for freewriting?
I have started freewriting to get over writer's block. The basics of freewriting are simple, but I was wondering: Does the hivemind have any recommendations or tips for freewriting? Preferred techniques? Preferred media?
I know it is a broad question, but I figured I would put it out there.
I have started freewriting to get over writer's block. The basics of freewriting are simple, but I was wondering: Does the hivemind have any recommendations or tips for freewriting? Preferred techniques? Preferred media?
I know it is a broad question, but I figured I would put it out there.
I take a small notebook and get on the bus. There's nothing else to do, so I write.
posted by grouse at 8:38 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by grouse at 8:38 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
And speaking of tools, if you like to write by hand... one good tip I got from a creative writing teacher was to buy cheap notebooks. No fancy blank books or Moleskines that are so expensive that every word written in them has to Matter. Buy a bunch of spiral-bound cheapies from the school supply section and fill them up with whatever -- creativity flows better when the stakes are low.
posted by Ladybug Parade at 8:39 AM on June 17, 2009 [4 favorites]
posted by Ladybug Parade at 8:39 AM on June 17, 2009 [4 favorites]
I used to do a lot of this, mostly in the form of diaries, but across whatever ever topic was on my mind. In fact, I've also had a case of writer's block that has lasted, well... nearly a year, actually, so I think it's about time I too gave it another go.
What worked for me was just to open a notepad window and just start writing - and no looking back. Start with whatever's on your mind. Don't worry about grammar, punctuation... just empty your mind. Excrete away. I find it helps if I don't even look at the screen, just watch your fingers. Sort of inverse touch typing. Keep the sentences short. And don't censor your thoughts. Be painfully honest. You never have to share any of what you write.
A quote from one of mine that kind of sums it up:
I'm sorry if this is illegible, but the point is not the reading, so much as the writing [...] Sorry, my fingers are thinking for themselves hrere, and they don't always hit the right keys.
Just have a conversation with yourself. It's not crazy, really...
posted by Acey at 8:44 AM on June 17, 2009
What worked for me was just to open a notepad window and just start writing - and no looking back. Start with whatever's on your mind. Don't worry about grammar, punctuation... just empty your mind. Excrete away. I find it helps if I don't even look at the screen, just watch your fingers. Sort of inverse touch typing. Keep the sentences short. And don't censor your thoughts. Be painfully honest. You never have to share any of what you write.
A quote from one of mine that kind of sums it up:
I'm sorry if this is illegible, but the point is not the reading, so much as the writing [...] Sorry, my fingers are thinking for themselves hrere, and they don't always hit the right keys.
Just have a conversation with yourself. It's not crazy, really...
posted by Acey at 8:44 AM on June 17, 2009
I agree with the image idea nameless.k gave, but I would make it even more concrete from time to time by using a random photograph/art piece. Last year I bought a National Gallery of Art calendar and saved it for that very purpose... just some visual inspiration I can pull out on an otherwise uninspired day.
posted by hellogoodbye at 9:05 AM on June 17, 2009
posted by hellogoodbye at 9:05 AM on June 17, 2009
Seconding Acey. Just start writing. Even if what you are writing is: "Oh my god can't write don't want to write what do I write about..." after about 5 minutes your brain will get tired of this and grab on to a thread.
I use pen and paper. Quad ruled, so I can see when my margins are drifting.
posted by hamsterdam at 9:35 AM on June 17, 2009
I use pen and paper. Quad ruled, so I can see when my margins are drifting.
posted by hamsterdam at 9:35 AM on June 17, 2009
Set yourself a specific minimum time limit and force yourself to stick to that time, otherwise you'll be tempted to stop before, as hamsterdam says above, your brain gets tired of writing something like your name over and over again.
I'm not good at starting from nowhere, so I'll pick something up off the desk, off the ground if I'm outside -- a leaf, a rock -- or focus on something in my surroundings, just as a jumping off point. I often make freewriting notebooks where I'll fill a cheap notebook with random pictures from magazines, words, phrases, etc. and put it away for a couple of months and then dig it out and use that. The prompts are already there for me, and it's been long enough since I created it that I most of the time have no memory of even where the pictures and phrases came from. (By the way, this is a great cheap gift for writers in your life -- a notebook filled with odd writing prompts and scenarios with a couple of blank pages between each prompt so there is room to write.)
posted by archimago at 9:55 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I'm not good at starting from nowhere, so I'll pick something up off the desk, off the ground if I'm outside -- a leaf, a rock -- or focus on something in my surroundings, just as a jumping off point. I often make freewriting notebooks where I'll fill a cheap notebook with random pictures from magazines, words, phrases, etc. and put it away for a couple of months and then dig it out and use that. The prompts are already there for me, and it's been long enough since I created it that I most of the time have no memory of even where the pictures and phrases came from. (By the way, this is a great cheap gift for writers in your life -- a notebook filled with odd writing prompts and scenarios with a couple of blank pages between each prompt so there is room to write.)
posted by archimago at 9:55 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I like to make sure I'm comfortable first so that there's a minimum of distractions to draw you away from your writing. Coffee or tea ready to go, cigarettes and smoking supplies ready to go (back when I smoked), a little bowl of snacks - basically have the stuff that would make you get up near at hand and ready to go so you can grab that sip of coffee or bite of popcorn with a quickness and then get back to the job at hand.
30 min - 1 hour is a good interval. To repeat what's been said, pick a medium that you really like to work with - if the thrill of seeing your typed words advance across a blank word processor document, do that. If you like using a pen or a pencil to cut your letters into paper yourself, do that instead. I like using a nice gel pen with thick, authoritative blue or black ink and writing in a cheap notebook or on a few sheets of unlined typing paper (this often leaves me with hopeless margins and a slight tilt to the text, but whatchagonnado?)
Sometimes I'll have a free-writing theme in mind, but I'm usually just trying to empty my brain. I spend my 30-60 min just sort of unpacking all the top-level noise that I've got on my mind for the day - the results reach levels of self-indulgence that border on masturbatory but it's all good since no one ever sees this stuff. At the end of the session, I've usually quieted down all that distracting brain-noise and have a good head of steam built up to use on a formal project or some poetry or whatever. It's kinda like having a thorough stretch session and doing some light cardio before heading out on a run or a bike ride - an invigorating warm-up that improves the quality of subsequent strenuous activity.
And, obviously, if some promising nugget turns up while you're digging around in the freewrite, please do mark it out to pursue later on or grab onto it right that minute.
Good luck! Break that block!
posted by EatTheWeek at 10:13 AM on June 17, 2009
30 min - 1 hour is a good interval. To repeat what's been said, pick a medium that you really like to work with - if the thrill of seeing your typed words advance across a blank word processor document, do that. If you like using a pen or a pencil to cut your letters into paper yourself, do that instead. I like using a nice gel pen with thick, authoritative blue or black ink and writing in a cheap notebook or on a few sheets of unlined typing paper (this often leaves me with hopeless margins and a slight tilt to the text, but whatchagonnado?)
Sometimes I'll have a free-writing theme in mind, but I'm usually just trying to empty my brain. I spend my 30-60 min just sort of unpacking all the top-level noise that I've got on my mind for the day - the results reach levels of self-indulgence that border on masturbatory but it's all good since no one ever sees this stuff. At the end of the session, I've usually quieted down all that distracting brain-noise and have a good head of steam built up to use on a formal project or some poetry or whatever. It's kinda like having a thorough stretch session and doing some light cardio before heading out on a run or a bike ride - an invigorating warm-up that improves the quality of subsequent strenuous activity.
And, obviously, if some promising nugget turns up while you're digging around in the freewrite, please do mark it out to pursue later on or grab onto it right that minute.
Good luck! Break that block!
posted by EatTheWeek at 10:13 AM on June 17, 2009
I seem to do this even more informally than some are indicating. I certainly don't treat it as a time to write biographically, as it were. I basically leap into writing very informal fiction, not considering where I'm going, just writing... I sit down with a keyboard I'm happy with, as mentioned above (often now my laptop which has a keyboard I seem to have less missed keystrokes on), and think about whatever the first thing that pops into my head is, possibly a theme, and then just go for a ten minute stretch.
Often times what I come out with winds up with some paragraphs I want to cut and paste and write around.
It just gives me a chance to explore word play and the like, in a more freeform manner. That said, I haven't done any in a while, and I've been meaning to for the last few days. I tend to put far too much thought into my writing, and then realise that I am just too out of practice to be that much of a perfectionist.
My method, anyway...
posted by opsin at 10:16 AM on June 17, 2009
Often times what I come out with winds up with some paragraphs I want to cut and paste and write around.
It just gives me a chance to explore word play and the like, in a more freeform manner. That said, I haven't done any in a while, and I've been meaning to for the last few days. I tend to put far too much thought into my writing, and then realise that I am just too out of practice to be that much of a perfectionist.
My method, anyway...
posted by opsin at 10:16 AM on June 17, 2009
A fast-moving pen makes a big difference. I think that's why there's so much love for Pilot G2s. I'll also nth going cheap on paper -- if you're a lefty, legal pads are where it's at.
I do something similar to EatTheWeak -- if I've got time, I give myself one page, front and back, no more and no less, to unload all of the self-indulgent nattering crap. My aspiration is to someday throw these pages out when I finish them, but I haven't been able to do it yet.
Maybe this is freewriting blasphemy, but I use prompts from time to time. When it's a time of feast, so to speak, I write nouns and structural rules (e.g., "nothing but dialogue," "someone has to be afraid," nothing overly specific) on index cards -- a different color for each type. Places like oneword do this Internet-style, but we all know the temptation that lies down that road...
When it's a time of famine, I'll pull a few cards and see what happens. Usually I end up keeping three and ignoring one. Strict adherence to prompts, in my experience, is a mindkiller -- it's better to pay attention to what interests you, and follow it.
posted by gnomeloaf at 10:34 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
I do something similar to EatTheWeak -- if I've got time, I give myself one page, front and back, no more and no less, to unload all of the self-indulgent nattering crap. My aspiration is to someday throw these pages out when I finish them, but I haven't been able to do it yet.
Maybe this is freewriting blasphemy, but I use prompts from time to time. When it's a time of feast, so to speak, I write nouns and structural rules (e.g., "nothing but dialogue," "someone has to be afraid," nothing overly specific) on index cards -- a different color for each type. Places like oneword do this Internet-style, but we all know the temptation that lies down that road...
When it's a time of famine, I'll pull a few cards and see what happens. Usually I end up keeping three and ignoring one. Strict adherence to prompts, in my experience, is a mindkiller -- it's better to pay attention to what interests you, and follow it.
posted by gnomeloaf at 10:34 AM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
If you use a word processor, try turning the monitor off. I've done this, and while trying to decipher what you've written afterwords can be an adventure in itself, it keeps the internal editor off. If you can't see what you're writing, you can't judge it.
posted by moonroof at 10:44 AM on June 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by moonroof at 10:44 AM on June 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
I am/was? a journalist and I don't recommend freelancing to get over writers block. If you don't have a job, I recommend working as the best way to get over writers block. You could go work part time as a hot dog vendor or if you desire health insurance in addition to writing time, you could go work part-time at an ubiquitous Seattle-based coffee store chain.
posted by parmanparman at 11:47 AM on June 17, 2009
posted by parmanparman at 11:47 AM on June 17, 2009
Obviously the basics are just to "do it", but if you ever have trouble starting, there are plenty of fun little self-assignment type things you can do. You can make a little list of your own self-assignments for times when you need a jump start - stuff like:
- open any book (or dictionary) and point to a word (or phrase or sentence) to start from.
- give yourself a location and an object to start from. Can be vague ("standing under tree holding box") or random (like mad libs, though prob better to aim visual than get too silly) and see where it goes.
- watch a video / film clip with sound off
- take two random characters from history / fiction and see what they do together
- recall a person, place or thing from your childhood that you don't think about much
- try to write in a form (sonnet, haiku, all dialogue, no adjectives, - this one you can do to just create the initial inspiration, or do for just the first 5 minutes and then open floodgates...)
etc - it's easy to come up with your own initiating points, and once you're writing, you don't have to feel constrained if you get inspired in a new direction, but often having some outlines ends up freeing you up more than the blank page - where you might just end up writing about writing half the time.
posted by mdn at 12:12 PM on June 17, 2009
- open any book (or dictionary) and point to a word (or phrase or sentence) to start from.
- give yourself a location and an object to start from. Can be vague ("standing under tree holding box") or random (like mad libs, though prob better to aim visual than get too silly) and see where it goes.
- watch a video / film clip with sound off
- take two random characters from history / fiction and see what they do together
- recall a person, place or thing from your childhood that you don't think about much
- try to write in a form (sonnet, haiku, all dialogue, no adjectives, - this one you can do to just create the initial inspiration, or do for just the first 5 minutes and then open floodgates...)
etc - it's easy to come up with your own initiating points, and once you're writing, you don't have to feel constrained if you get inspired in a new direction, but often having some outlines ends up freeing you up more than the blank page - where you might just end up writing about writing half the time.
posted by mdn at 12:12 PM on June 17, 2009
This probably doesn't apply to most people, but I'm a big doodler, so if I want to get writing done, it needs to be ruled paper, not blank, otherwise I'm going to draw robots or cars or spaceships instead of writing.
posted by juv3nal at 12:14 PM on June 17, 2009
posted by juv3nal at 12:14 PM on June 17, 2009
nthing the recommendation for a fast-moving pen and a cheap notebook. It's absolutely true that if I try to write in something more expensive, I get caught up in not screwing it up.
When I freewrite, I write about emotions. I need to feel okay with crying or being aroused or very angry -- I can't freewrite in public. I also get easily distracted by sensory inputs, so I like it to be dark, no food smells or anything else that'll distract me by triggering memories I'm not focusing on.
What this means is I write lying in bed. I also get too distracted if I see the actual words on the paper, so I write face-down, on my stomach, with my arm out to the side doing the writing. Sometimes this turns out hard to read so I usually go over it when I'm done, while it's still fresh in my memory what I wrote. Usually the handwriting is fine, though.
posted by Nattie at 4:22 PM on June 17, 2009
When I freewrite, I write about emotions. I need to feel okay with crying or being aroused or very angry -- I can't freewrite in public. I also get easily distracted by sensory inputs, so I like it to be dark, no food smells or anything else that'll distract me by triggering memories I'm not focusing on.
What this means is I write lying in bed. I also get too distracted if I see the actual words on the paper, so I write face-down, on my stomach, with my arm out to the side doing the writing. Sometimes this turns out hard to read so I usually go over it when I'm done, while it's still fresh in my memory what I wrote. Usually the handwriting is fine, though.
posted by Nattie at 4:22 PM on June 17, 2009
i do two things.
i don't so much get writer's block as get bored being in my place. and i can't stand cafes, bars, or parks. for some reason, my favorite spot is union station in los angeles but i suspect any train station will do. the anonymity, the to-and-froing of people, the glamour of the place (it's a brilliantly restored station).
i take a train there, the seats are comfortable, and there's a restaurant, a bar, all the conveniences.
and then, when i can't just sit down and write, which is what i usually do, i mind map. even before i know there was such a technique, i would draw a circle with a main idea or question or theme and draw branches off that, with color and shapes. i found this more more liberating than outlining (ugh!) or note-taking. then i started to read about mind mapping. i ended up getting Buzan's mind mapping software, which is actually quite brilliant, if you can free-think on a computer.
hope this helps.
posted by holdenjordahl at 9:20 PM on June 17, 2009
i don't so much get writer's block as get bored being in my place. and i can't stand cafes, bars, or parks. for some reason, my favorite spot is union station in los angeles but i suspect any train station will do. the anonymity, the to-and-froing of people, the glamour of the place (it's a brilliantly restored station).
i take a train there, the seats are comfortable, and there's a restaurant, a bar, all the conveniences.
and then, when i can't just sit down and write, which is what i usually do, i mind map. even before i know there was such a technique, i would draw a circle with a main idea or question or theme and draw branches off that, with color and shapes. i found this more more liberating than outlining (ugh!) or note-taking. then i started to read about mind mapping. i ended up getting Buzan's mind mapping software, which is actually quite brilliant, if you can free-think on a computer.
hope this helps.
posted by holdenjordahl at 9:20 PM on June 17, 2009
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After that, I think one of the keys to freewriting is to focus on something specific. An image that appeals to you, some emotion/response that you can encapsulate in a span of space and time. Focus on something very narrow and keep stuffing it with detail until it explodes.
Oftentimes, I will see a person or thing out in the world that piqued my interest but for which I have no place in my current writing project(s). I will simply describe it until I'm giving it a story (for example . . . earlier in the day I have seen a woman standing in front of a store waiting for something. I describe her in detail until eventually I'm no longer describing her physically but have subconsciously slipped into telling a story about her).
Also, for further answerers it might help if you indicated what type of writing you do. Fiction? Nonfiction? Something else?
Good luck . . .
posted by nameless.k at 8:33 AM on June 17, 2009