We’ve talked about the value of freewriting before. As an exercise to overcome writer’s block and get you in the right mindset, it’s one of the few pre-writing activities that work for almost everyone who’s tried it. That effectiveness, of course, usually hinges on how well you can stick to these guidelines, which ensures you benefit the most from the writing exercise.
Keep writing no matter what. If you can’t stay on topic, don’t stop. Your mind wandering off? Just get back to the paper and resume where you left off. Freewriting is all about developing the flow, with no regard for everything else.
Don’t look back. Resist the temptation to check out what you have previously written. More than a good exercise to train you in writing faster, this helps you keep your focus on the job at hand.
Don’t hold back. Cuss words, sick ideas and offensive slur are fine during the freewriting process. Heck, you can misspell everything if you want (your spellchecker won’t mind). No one’s supposed to read any of your freewriting work, so let yourself loose.
Follow ideas wherever they take you. If you find yourself deep into an argument that you have doubts about, don’t let it stop you. Again, freewriting is about keeping the flow going, rather than producing something of value.
Pull ideas. If you started on a freewriting task with the intention of letting ideas flow so you can pick from them, only read through the piece after you’re completely finished. Once you’re done, read through it, highlighting strong and interesting points that you can use in the actual piece.
