Unit three

Planning

Unit contents

Free-Writing

Many writers use free-writing to get started on a piece of work. This page explains how free-writing works and shows how to use your computer to do it. There is also a group-work task to practice what you have learned at the foot of the page

How do you do free-writing?

Free-writing is often called automatic writing (as well as other names). The idea is simple -- you write down your ideas quickly for a short span of time (usually about 3-7 minutes) to develop and hone your thoughts on a given topic. This means that when you try free-writing you should try not to let words get in front of your thoughts. Here is the process explained step by step:

• Don't worry about spelling or grammar, or even finding the right word, just write down your thoughts about a topic without stopping for the time you've allowed yourself.
• After the time is up you should look back at what you've written to identify the most important point(s) that 'came out'. Try to write one sentence* now that encapsulates the most important idea from the first free-writing exercise.
• Now begin free-writing again about that sentence* for another five minutes or so. After the time is up, stop and again look at what you've written. Then once more express the most important idea in a new sentence.
• Do this whole process once more for the same amount of time. After this third free-writing exercise you should find that you can write a sentence which is a much clearer expression of your original thoughts.
• This sentence will now serve as a main point for your essay.

Computers and free-writing

Computers are very good tools for free-writing. One useful technique is to turn off (or dim) your monitor so you can't see what you're writing (and can't, therefore, worry about any mistakes you are making).

• Turn off your monitor and follow the procedure outlined above. Type  for approximately five minutes.
• Then, turn on the monitor to see what you've written and extract the most relevant/interesting/useful point(s) as in the explanation above.
• As above you should repeat this in three stages for each main point.