Freewriting

Getting
Started:
Freewriting


















Freewriting


Many writing instructors
use a freewriting exercise at the beginning of each class. It's a way
of getting the brain in gear, and it's an exercise you can do on your
own, safe to try in your own home. (We provide an interactive page for
this exercise, see below.)
Write down a topic at the top of that empty page. It can be either a
one-word topic — like "Dentists," for example — or a brief statement of
the topic you've chosen or been given to write about. Set the clock for
five to ten minutes and put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and go
at it. Write as fast as you can; the faster the better. You are not
allowed to stop writing! If you can't think of anything to say, write
down that you can't think of anything to say, something like: "I'm stuck
but I'll think of something soon." Don't stop. Don't worry about
transitions or connecting the ideas or paragraphing or subject-verb
agreement or even commas. And form absolutely no judgment about what you
write. Your Censor is on vacation. Your writing may take you in some
really weird directions, but don't stop and never think to yourself,
"Oh, this is dumb!" If you get off the subject, that's all right. Your
divagation may end up somewhere wonderful. Just keep writing. Do not
criticize yourself and do not cut or scratch out or revise in any way.
Many instructors suggest that at the end of the timed period, you should
write one sentence IN ALL CAPS that takes you back to where you started
— something to do with dentists.

It's probably a good idea to read your freewriting out loud when you're
done with it. Often the ear will pick up some pattern or neat idea that
you hadn't noticed even as you wrote it. Read your freewriting to a
friend or have your friend read it out to you. Your friend might think
you're insane, but that's all right. Then it's time to spend just a
couple of minutes going through the freewriting with an aim toward
casual rewriting. The word-processor is a big advantage here. Delete the
"I can't think of anything to say" lines and the pure nonsense. Are any
ideas or patterns emerging?

Don't give up on freewriting after one exercise. Many students think
that it's boring or stupid at first and come to love it after a week or
so of exercises. Freewriting is like any other kind of mental activity:
you will get better at it. The first couple of times you try it,
perhaps nothing will come of it. After a few efforts, though, the
exercise will become liberating. Just as you would never start to play
tennis or jog without stretching a bit first, you will never try to
write again without doing a bit of freewriting first. Sometimes, even in
the middle of an essay, when stuck for the next idea, you can do a bit
of freewriting to get you going again.

Here's a five-minute example of free-writing on the subject of dentists
written by an older student, Thruston Parry, who has given us permission
to use his work:



<blockquote>
DENTISTS



I hate going to the dentist. I'm always afraid that they're going to
hurt me, and I'm not very good at pain, at tolerating pain, I mean. I
remember the first time,w hen I was a kid, going to the dentists, it
seemed I never went to the dentist when I was a kid until I had a
toothache, that's my parents fault, isn't it, I guess. They should have
taken better care of my teeth when I was little, and then I wouldn't
have so much grief now with my teeth. But back then I would go to the
dentists and he would have this godawful drill that would make this
awful noise and it seemed like it always hurt. I remember there was this
sign in his office that said PAINLESS DENTIST, UPSTAIRS, but there was
no upstairs in his building. Some joke, huh? I can't think of anything
to say, and I can't think of anything more to say. Oh, I wonder how
come anyone in his right might mind would ever want to become a dentist,
putting his fingers into other people's mouths all day, all that spit
and blood and not there's the fear of getting AIDS from your clients
that they have to wear those rubber gloves and I hate the feel of those
things in my mouth, too, and the sound of that thing that draws the spit
out of your mouth. I wonder why my folks didn't take me to the dentist
BEFORE i had trouble. Probably because when they were growing up it was
bad times and they didn't have any money for things like the dentist and
it was just taken for granted that you were going to get cavieties and
lose a lot of teeth before you were even an adult. I can't think of
anything more to say. I can't think of anything more to say. all I know
is that when I have kids, they're going to the dentist every six months
whether they want to or not and maybe by then they'll have invented some
way to absolutely prevent cavities and maybe there won't even be any
dentists or if there are it'll just be to clean your teeth and make sure
they're straight and pearly white and we won't worry about cavities and
stuff like that that causes pain anymore. DENTISTS, MY ATTITUDE HAS
CHANGED AS I GOT OLDER.
</blockquote>