Just Right It

Freewriting is one of the things I dread most in our field. The idea sounds like it will be easy, but, for me anyway, it is more torturous than a root canal. I dread when an assignment is to freewrite because I am a creature that needs some structure. Not too much so that I feel trapped, but I need commas and periods and real sentences when I write. Freewriting takes my boundaries from me and feel scattered. So, why are we asked to do freewriting? What purpose could it possibly serve to write out nonsense that doesn't even flow as a cohesive thought. One gigantic run on sentence that seems to have no meaning. Or does it?

Getting past the sentiment that there is no wrong or right way to do freewriting is difficult for me. As I said earlier I like structure. No, I love structure. Crave it honestly. Structure helps me focus and takes the anxiety out of creating for me. However, I also know that if you commit to your freewrite and let the words just flow out of you, you will gain some insight, possibly an extra topic to write about or two, and even change your mind about the initial idea you had because of something you see in the very long paragraph you have composed of your thoughts. Things that you never connected to the idea you started with may jump off the page at you and take your piece into an entirely different direction from what you envisioned.


For those that crave structure like me and are completely skeptical right about now, how do we get started freewriting when it is so ingrained in our nature not to? Unfortunately I'm going to sound like your parents here... just go do it. You simply sit down and make yourself write something, anything. It is definitely not easy for structure mongers like myself, but it can be beneficial?

I had an assignment regarding a project I was working on and I had to do a freewrite as part of the project. I put it off to the last minute. Hymned and hawed around trying not to write it until it was 2 hours before it was due. Then I sat down and with quite a bit if attitude (inside my own head anyway) started to write. I wrote about how I hated the assignment and couldn't see how it was going to help me with my project. Then I transitioned into a phone conversation I had with a friend that upset me and whamo...I started connecting the conversation to my topic. They aren't the exact same thing, but they live in the neighborhood, so a connection wasn't right around the corner, more like a couple blocks away, but it came out when I started not focusing specifically on my project. A HA!

My success came from doing something unconventional for me. It felt awkward and I didn't like doing it, but sometimes those situations lead to an amazing place. I got more inspiration for my project and it wasn't terribly painful. So I think maybe it is good for us to reach outside our normal routine and try something that we never do. It could be the spark that lights the imagination and takes your project or piece in a whole new direction. It could also spark another idea that could turn into to something completely separate from the reason you started. In the end, you just need to write so...Just Write It.