Sometimes we lose sight of the many ways we can write. We get so caught up in trying to make our writing perfect and edited (sometimes even on the first try!) that we forget other purposes. Not all writing needs to be perfected. It doesn’t even all have to make sense!
There is a technique called “free writing” that can be a huge help in improving fluency and breaking out of writer’s block. Here’s how it works: Set a timer for a relatively short period, say five minutes. Put your pen to the paper (or fingers to keyboard) and start writing. Write about anything you want, but keep the pen or fingers moving for the entire time you have set. Do not stop for anything! The result will be a stream of consciousness sort of work that can give you some surprising insights. The key is to keep writing without pausing. It’s even ok to write “I don’t know what to write, I don’t know what to write, I don’t know what to write…”
Want to improve your overall fluency (the ease with which the words come out)? Just gradually increase the time you spend on free writing each day. Move from five minutes to seven, from ten to twenty, and so forth. Move at your own pace. Stay with one time as long as you wish. Stay with one time until you feel comfortable there.
What can free writing do for you? Here are just a few benefits:
- Free Writing will improve your fluency. If you stick with it, you will be able to write more efficiently. Ideas will flow more quickly and you will be able to think of just the right words more smoothly.
- Free Writing will build the habit of writing. Set aside time each and every day for free writing, and you will also be building the habit of writing in your journal or working on other writing projects.
- Free Writing is a great way to warm up. If you find yourself having trouble getting started with your writing, free writing can limber up the brain so that you can move on with your writing tasks for the day, including journaling or working on other projects.
- Free Writing will free ideas to fly. When you dis-inhibit your brain, you will find that your ideas flow like a faucet. Look back on your free writing over time, and I promise there will be seeds for more considered writing later.
- Free Writing will provide practice with skills. Need to sharpen your editing and proofreading skills? Go back and proofread your free writing. Take those ideas and polish them. Correct the grammar, fix the spelling, and combine sentences. Spiff up the word choices and clarify things. Just wait until AFTER your free writing time to do so.