{"id":8321,"date":"2019-08-12T08:24:40","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T15:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/?p=8321"},"modified":"2019-08-12T08:24:46","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T15:24:46","slug":"freewrites-opening-doors-to-discoveries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/freewrites-opening-doors-to-discoveries\/","title":{"rendered":"Freewrites: Opening Doors to Discoveries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Notes from Marlene Cullen’s talk about freewrites. Scroll down for links about how to use freewrites and how to write about difficult subjects without adding trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I gave a talk about freewrites at the Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club. I\u2019m sharing my notes so you, too, can enjoy the freewrite method of writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love freewrites because they are so . . . freeing. Freewrites can open doors to discoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was thrilled to discover freewrites, unlike short story and novel writing, this was something I could do. I hope these tips help make your freewrites fun and successful in inspiring your writing.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a\nfreewrite?<\/strong>
\nA freewrite is writing spontaneously with no thinking. Just putting down word\nafter word, with no worries about spelling, punctuation, how it will sound, and\nno worries about the final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes\nwhen you are engrossed in your writing project and the writing is coming easily\n. . . that\u2019s like a freewrite. The difference is that, with a freewrite,\nthere is no end goal in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a\nfreewrite, you can write about what happened to you, what happened to someone,\nelse, or you can write fiction, poetry, whatever comes up during a freewrite is\nfine. . . as long as you keep writing and don\u2019t stop to think. Thinking is bringing\nthe editor in and this isn\u2019t the time for editing nor censoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes,\nwith a freewrite, it\u2019s the process, not the product.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freewrites\ncan be used to understand and work out things that are puzzling or disturbing\nor annoying. Sometimes it helps to write about something in order to understand\nit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way to start a freewrite is to use prompt: A word, a line from a book or a line from poetry and write from there. You can also use a visual item as a prompt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things I like about freewrites is the freedom to write whatever you want about any topic. Ideally, with no worries about what your writing sounds like . . . no worries about the outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t\nwant anyone to read what you\u2019ve written, you can destroy your writing. Or you\ncan save it in a secret place. But you have to remember where that secret place\nis!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another thing\nI like is that since freewrites are very rough first drafts, it doesn\u2019t matter\nwhat the writing is like . . . it can be fragments, or unrefined ideas, or\nmental doodling set in writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nchallenge of freewrites is getting out of the way of yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a\nfreewrite, let your writing flow with no judging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nabout that inner critic that we all have?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are\nin the zone . . . in the groove of writing . . . there is no space for the\ninner critic to hang out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With\nfreewriting, it\u2019s just you and your creative mind playing with words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let go of\nyour worries about your writing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you can\ntalk . . . if you can think . . . you can do a freewrite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One way you\ncan use freewrites is to get past roadblocks in your writing . . . whether\nfiction or non-fiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are\nhaving a problem transitioning from one scene to another, or you are having\ntrouble getting a character from Point A to Point B, do a freewrite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you begin\na freewrite, relax your mind . . . have no expectations about the outcome. This\nis play time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the\n\u201cWhat if?\u201d game. What if this happens or that happens? What if your character\nsays or does this or that? Play around with the possibilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to use any of your freewrites in your final scene. But you may generate ideas that you can use. Be open to the possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to be\nsuccessful with freewrites.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let go of\nyour ideas about what perfect writing means. \nGive yourself permission to be open to whatever comes up during a\nfreewrite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\nthink of freewrites as making discoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take deep\nbreaths as you begin and then relax into your breathing and let the writing\nhappen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are\nwriting in this free style, you are not writing for an audience. You are giving\nyourself the gift of writing for yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a\nfreewrite, immerse yourself in your writing. Write at a place and a time where\nyou won\u2019t be interrupted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let go of\nyour worries and just write. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Write to\nsatisfy your desire to go to a meaningful place in your writing. You get to\ndecide what that means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a\nfreewrite you can go deep into the recesses of your mind and really write. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It\u2019s okay to start with gut level feelings or\nto get to gut level feelings. It\u2019s okay to go for the jugular as Natalie Goldberg\nsays<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you\nwrite, you might notice discomfort, especially if you are writing about an\nuncomfortable experience or about a difficult memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When that happens,\ngently put your hand where you feel the discomfort. If you can\u2019t put your hand\nthere, put your thoughts there . . . your loving, caring, patient thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are\nfeeling uncomfortable, you can either stop writing and come back to it later.\nOr, work through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To work\nthrough it, have a focal point, something you can look at that will remind you\nto breathe deeply. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you know\nyou are going to write about a difficult subject, have a plan before you start\nwriting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the\nwriting gets tough: Look out a window. Walk around. Look outside. Take a sip of\nwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When writing\nabout a difficult subject, let the tears come, let your stomach tie up in\nknots. It\u2019s okay to write the story that is challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get through\nthe barriers to go to a deeper level.       \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See your\nstory and tell it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a lot of information. Let\u2019s take a deep breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More\nideas for successful freewrites:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are\nwriting, if you run out of things to say, write down, \u201cI remember. . .\u201d and see\nwhere that takes you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or write,\n\u201cWhat I really want to say . . .\u201d and go from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing\nPrompt<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s try a\ntype of freewrite now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relax into\nyour chair.  Both feet flat on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rotate your\nshoulders in a circle. Opposite direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rotate your\nhead in a circle. Opposite direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bring your shoulders up to your ears. Let them down with a harrumph sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Escort your\ninner critic out the door. Shoo! Good-bye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give yourself permission to be open to whatever comes up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a deep\nbreath in. And let it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go back in\ntime to when you were 4 or 5 or 6 years old. See yourself at this age. Perhaps\nyou can see a photo of yourself at this young age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, we\u2019re\ngoing to travel up in time, starting with a memory of when you were 4 or 5 or\n6. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we do this, pause when you feel energy. You might feel a flutter in your stomach. Or a tightening in your jaw. You might feel a constricted throat. Notice as you travel through your memories where you have a physical reaction. Stop there. Pause. Think about that time. If you want, you can put your hand on the place on your body where you feel this energy. If you can\u2019t put your hand there, put your thoughts there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep breath\nin. Let it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See yourself\nwhen you were twelve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another deep\nbreath in. Release. Let go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See yourself\nat 16 or 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember\nwhen you were a young adult, early twenties. \nMid-twenties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choose one\nof the memories you just thought about that brought a strong physical reaction.\nThe reaction could be joy, pain, pleasure, or discomfort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Choose one event, or experience, and think about what you were like before this event happened. Then the pivotal event happened and you weren\u2019t the same after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drill down to the precise moment the pivotal event happened.  Look closely, like looking through a microscope or a telescope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the\ndetails of where you were, who was there. What happened?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Write about\nit now . . . Freely . . . with no thought of the outcome. No plan to ever share\nthis writing. Just write. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\nare finished writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breathe.\nTake a deep breath in. Release your breath. Shake out your hands. Stretch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a\nmoment to transition from writing to being back in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LINKS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a freewrite?  Why should you do it? How is it done?<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get Started. How to use writing prompts. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t think. Don\u2019t plan. Just write. <\/a>   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t think. Don\u2019t plan. Just write. <\/a>   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More about freewrites. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to write without adding trauma. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing about difficult times. <\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Notes from Marlene Cullen’s talk about freewrites. Scroll down for links about how to use freewrites and how to write about difficult subjects without adding trauma. I gave a talk about freewrites at the Redwood Branch of the California Writers Club. I\u2019m sharing my notes so you, too, can enjoy the freewrite method of writing. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[126],"tags":[6,300,1165,301,11],"class_list":["post-8321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-just-write-2","tag-freewrites","tag-freewriting","tag-just-write-writing-freely-the-write-spot-blog","tag-redwood-writers","tag-writing-prompts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43Dj8-2ad","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8321"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8335,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8321\/revisions\/8335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewritespot.us\/marlenecullenblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}