Freewriting: How to Cleanse Your Mind of Frivolous Thoughts
How many times have you written absolutely anything you want?
Write anything you want. That’s what we hear all the time — to write about topics that we are passionate about. To inject our soul into our words and touch hearts with our poetry and prose.
Indeed, writing anything you want is amazing. In fact, I encourage it whole-heartedly, with every ounce of my being.
As much as we have heard “Write anything you want,” how many times have we heard, “Write absolutely anything?”
The Core of Freewriting
Freewriting is all about writing what you want. Anything at all. When I say anything at all, I mean it.
Freewriting is meant to help you get out all those random thoughts floating about in your head. In a sense, it works like how our brain clears debris when we sleep.
Only by cleansing your mind from the ideas that latched on, that you can finally sit down and write without anything clogging up your creative juices. To achieve that is what freewriting is all about.
How Do I Freewrite?
Freewriting is simple. All you need is your laptop, or if you’d prefer the traditional method, then a notepad and your favourite writing instrument.
Find a nice location that you can relax in. And somewhere that you can stay for quite some time. It can be anywhere — your own bedroom, a nearby café, or even a stone bench at your local park.
Set a timer on your phone or stopwatch. How long you set it for depends on how long you want to write. I would suggest anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour.
Start the timer when you are ready and write down the first thing that comes to your mind. It doesn’t matter what it is. It can be a cliché scene that you thought about for days already, or it can be about your neighbour’s dog and their barking that keeps you up at night.
It doesn’t have to make sense. It can be a string of words that don’t have any meaning at all. Write with no inhibition, and simply let the words flow as they do.
When Should I Freewrite?
There is absolutely no restriction on when you can freewrite. You can do it anywhere, as long as you have something that you can get your words out on.
Freewrite when you’re waiting for your next class to start. Or on your phone during your break time. Or when you’re on a plane high up in the sky.
Freewriting is a way to practice for the real thing, to keep that habit going. A way to write when you have nothing to write. If you make writing a daily effort — even if it’s just freewriting — it will soon be a habit in no time.
Also, freewriting can help you ease imposter syndrome to a certain extent. There is no right and wrong in freewriting. Complete sentences are cool. Gibberish is also cool. Freewriting can be a way to ride out the wave of uncertainty.
Conclusion
It doesn’t matter whether you are an advanced or a newbie writer. It doesn’t matter whether you dabble in fiction or non-fiction. Freewriting is an exercise of the mind. It releases all restrictions and lets you word vomit onto your Word document or notepad.
Freewriting can be done anytime, anywhere. Of course, it’d help to keep a stopwatch or a clock on hand, so that you won’t stop till the alarm goes off.
Thank you for reading, and I hope this helps! Good luck on your writing endeavours!
