Start Your Creative Writing With A 5 Minute Free Write!
This is useful for any writer, at any time as it will allow you to access ideas and thoughts that may not otherwise arise. But it is especially good if you are feeling stuck for ideas, bored of your writing, or critical of what you are creating. It allows us the freedom to just write, without judgement, and from that, we obtain the freedom to explore and create!
How To Free Write:
You can free-write with a blank page or you can do it with a prompt in mind – for you that might be a part of the challenge you are doing. As an example, you could write something down that you see in the picture on your 24-hour challenge and use that as your prompt – and then follow the steps below with that in mind. But remember if you go completely off that starting prompt that is RIGHT, this is about freeing your mind and letting it take YOU on a journey.
1. Clear your mind. Relax. Forget all of the rules concerning grammar. Forget ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’. Leave self-judgement behind.
2. Set a time limit for yourself. We recommend 5 minutes, but you could do 10.
3. After you’ve set a time limit, WRITE. Don’t stop. If you spell words wrong, don’t go back to edit. If the idea fades KEEP WRITING. This is crucial to the exercise. Even if you have nothing on your mind, write “I HAVE NOTHING ON MY MIND, I HAVE NOTHING ON MY MIND, I HAVE NOTHING ON MY MIND.” You can keep writing this over and over because it is okay. What you are doing is freeing your mind, and eventually, something will surface. Sometimes nothing might surface – this is also ok. Come back to free writing another time and go again. It is about the process not the product!
4. When the time limit is finished, STOP. Write nothing else. Then go back to the page. Read it slowly, and underline all of the ideas that surfaced that you like or find interesting. Maybe something here will inspire your writing for your 24-hour challenge. If not that’s also ok, now your mind is warmed up for writing and hopefully, you are feeling more ready to get started.
Go easy and be creative,
From all of us at Prompt Creative
(Above inspired by the explanation of free-writing found on the University of Lynchburg website.)
