Free Writing: How It Works and Helps You Daily

Free-writing is a writing technique for self-development. The concept of freelance writing was introduced by American writer Kenneth Macrory.

Goals and Objectives

The human brain contains a lot of information (ideas, thoughts), inaccessible to the consciousness. Free writing technique disconnects ordinary thought processes, promotes the birth of unconventional ideas, and creative inspiration. Free discharge of thoughts on paper helps to solve professional and psychological problems:

• Overcoming natural laziness.
• Getting in touch with one’s inner self, to put the problems in perspective.
• Finding an extraordinary solution to achieve a specific goal.
• To a writer, journalist or copywriter, it helps to improve writing skills.

The technique turns off the part of the psyche that performs the functions of the “inner editor” – it controls emotions, prevents you from thinking out of the box and making non-standard decisions.

Five Rules to Follow 

A person who is mastering the technique of free writing must follow a number of rules that help to master the method and achieve the goal:

• Set a time frame. During the first lessons, a timer comes in handy, it should be set for 10-15 minutes. Time limits stimulate activity, but the upper limit can be moved upward if the goal is not achieved or you want to continue.
• Write nonstop about what you’re thinking, but don’t think about what you’re writing. If nothing comes to mind, just write, “I don’t know what to write about.”
• Do not edit what you have written, do not pay attention to punctuation, spelling. To put thoughts on paper quickly.
• Treat the process lightly, as a rest and entertainment. It is important to loosen up and relax as much as possible.
• To engage the brain as much as possible, it is better to write by hand.

Examples of Free Writing

There are three areas of free writing – creative, psychotherapeutic, and meditative. The first one is necessary for searching and generating new ideas; the other two are good for self-development practices.

Creative

The algorithm for creative free writing is similar to pokies online, as it’s easy. A man chooses a topic and puts on paper all that time to think about 10-15 minutes. Finished, analyzes the results and highlights the most original ideas. Then for each one conducts a session of relaxed, unconsidered or even completely senseless writing.

Meditative

This is a classic version of free writing. One does not ask oneself questions, does not choose a topic, and simply writes about what one is thinking. Meditative technique has two goals: to “speak out”; to immerse oneself. Thoughts displayed on paper come out of the subconscious. It helps to look at yourself from the outside, to relieve stress.

Psychotherapeutic 

To work through a specific topic of concern is the goal of psychological free writing. In order to work through existential issues, to solve fears and worries, a person should ask himself or herself leading questions and reflect on paper the thought that arose.