By Maggie King
Writer’s block. Many writers suffer from this condition. I used to scoff at the very idea of writer’s block, regarding it as another way for writers to procrastinate. But the creative slowdown I’ve experienced for several months has humbled me.
I’m not blocked for ideas, I have them by the dozen. The problem lies in creating a story, one people would actually want to read. My writing skills have gone on hiatus.
My solution: free writing. According to Matt Ellis in his post in Grammarly.com, “How Freewriting Can Boost Your Creativity,” freewriting is a technique in which the author writes their thoughts quickly and continuously, without worrying about form, style, or even grammar.
Mr. Ellis extols the benefits of this practice: “The benefits of free writing revolve around organization, brainstorming, and inspiration, as well as beating writer’s block and relieving certain anxieties. Just getting anything written, even if it is imperfect, can jump-start creativity.”
Author Natalie Goldberg also encourages free writing, or “first thoughts” in her parlance. In this excerpt from her classic Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within she explains how to write first thoughts (#6 is a tough one!):
- Keep your hand moving. Don’t pause to read what you’ve just written.
That’s stalling and trying to get control of what you’re saying. - Don’t cross out. That is editing as you write. Even if you write something
you didn’t mean to write, leave it. - Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. Don’t even care about
staying in the margins and lines on the page. - Lose control.
- Don’t think. Don’t get logical.
- Go for the jugular. If something comes up in your writing that is scary or
naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.
Sometimes I write from a prompt (maybe not technically free writing, but who’s nitpicking?); at other times I simply write whatever comes forth. I set a timer on my smart watch for thirty minutes and go, without stopping. At first I went for ten minute sprints, but soon found that half an hour worked best. My thoughts and words flow. When the timer goes off, I pause, then go for another thirty minutes. At that point my hand needs a rest!
My free writing is turning into a memoir. Nothing organized or even chronological—whatever occurs to me ends up on the page. What occurs are often experiences from my past: family, people I’ve known, jobs held, schools attended, challenges faced. I’ve devoted pages and pages to my summers spent with relatives in a rural part of upstate New York.
It’s been an enlightening process, especially as I discover how my perspectives have changed over the years. Frankly, there are memories I’d like to keep buried, but I’ve found it liberating to get them down on paper (See #6 of Natalie Goldberg’s list above).
Since I started this process in July, I now look forward to writing each day. I can’t yet report much creative writing activity, but last week I was invited to submit a short story to an anthology. I have a great idea for a story (remember, I have no dearth of ideas) and now feel up to the challenge of actually writing it.
And now, please excuse me … it’s time to free write!
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The Writers in Residence 
I do a variation of “free writing.” I’ll have another idea for a story/novel and write it instead of the novel I had been working on. I’ve also written short articles that I submit to local newspapers and have had several published in the Opinion section of the newspaper. So, if my brain says we’re going to go in another direction for a while, I go for it. As you said, at least it’s writing.
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Yes, it’s all writing. Varying the genre and reading audience will keep our writing fresh. Thanks for your comment, Gayle.
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I learned about this technique at a writer’s conference decades ago and have used it many times to get me through a tough spot. I find it particularly helpful when used to hold a “conversation” between two characters. The first time I tried it I had to follow a prompt – put my hero and villain in an airplane. I thought it ridiculous since my characters lived in the 19th Century, but their “conversation” yielded a line that clarified my antagonist’s motives.
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Miko, thanks for your testimonial about the value of free writing. It works for us in so many ways, depending on what we need for our story and characters.
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Don’t think I’ve ever had writer’s block, though sometimes I go more slowly. But I’ve always used my own version of free writing when ideas arise and I jump onto the page or computer to jot things down for expanding them and plotting what can come from them. It’s always enjoyable. Thanks for reminding me, Maggie!
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Linda, your method sounds like another way of using prompts to jump-start your writing. I’ve found it to be an effective technique, an easing into the process.
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Thanks, Maggie. I’ve not had writer’s block – but I often do not have the time to focus and work on my current writing. So I do my own version of Free Writing – and just write something, anything for whatever time I can grab. It keeps my writing wheels oiled.
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Rosemary, that’s a great practice. Keep those writing wheels oiled!
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Thanks for this good post, Maggie. Very helpful with your steps. I’ve tried this before, too. It didn’t help me with a book I was writing, but I got some cute, funky short stories out of it. (Such as how the pepper and salt in the glass shakers talk to each other about the customers at the table in a greasy spoon cafe.) Haha.
I enjoy free writing – not worrying about punctuation or spelling! These days, I use Grammarly, and it is ALWAYS prompting me to fix this, change that, shorten the other! Sheesh.
Anyway, most of my writing is “free writing.” I don’t get paid a cent for it!”
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You’re so funny! I’d love to read your story about the salt & pepper shakers. I bet they’re pretty snarky 😊
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