Freewriting exercises is simply writing, quickly without rushing, nonstop, non editing for ten to twenty minutes. The point is to just let your mind wonder on paper and to not worry about how the statement sounds or whether a word is spelled correctly or not.
Freewriting will help facilitate stronger writing skills because as we write we will get out of the habit of editing at the same time as producing. Writing will flow more easily and the words that we will put down on paper will have a higher level of meaning because it will come from our entire being and not edited or altered. As we write, we are constantly thinking about grammar and spelling. We are not allowing our minds to be fully engaged to flow free to produce a paper without planning and arranging.
I was surprised to learn about freewriting. I enjoy writing but I do find myself stopping and editing all the time. It was interesting to learn that when you stop and edit or get blocked in writing that your level of writing isn't to your full potential. I liked the example that was made that when you write or speak about something that you are very passionate about, the words flow, the transitions are smooth and it feels natural. I will definitely start to do freewriting exercises before I start any papers.
Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI was suprised to read about freewriting as well! When I was writing my first freewrite, I couldn't stop myself from hitting the backspace button to delete misspelled words. I guess even the exercise of putting down any and all thoughts takes practice as well!
Carrie
(: Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteYou are right about when typing along, then all of a sudden you to stop to look back or even push the backspace button, you do tend to lose your train of thought. Yes, it was a challenge to just keep going but if we did write something that was of interest it would be a different story. I am also going start free writing before my papers.
Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI was pleasantly surprised to learn about freewriting also. Although it will take some time to eliminate the habit of stopping to edit, it will help to produce all my thoughts on paper and let my ideas flow without interruption.
I believe that freewriting will bring out the writer in all of us.
Mandy Ericson
Hey Natalie!
ReplyDeleteI find it hard also to stop my self from editing my free writes. It is definitely going to be a great challenge for me to get used to this new way of producing what will end up being a well written report/essay. After reading about free writing, it really reminded me as another way of brainstorming to gather all of my thoughts on paper just so I can see if I am knowledgeable enough on that subject and if I wil neeed to do more research to support my thoughts.
Hi Natatlie,
ReplyDeleteIf you have never done freewrites before i can't begin to tell you how helpful they are. I completely agree with the example that you talked about. When I talk about something I truly care about and have general knowledge about it just comes naturally. I took a speech class a few semesters ago and had to do a speech on a classmate of mine and well lets just say the interview wasn't very informative so I didn't have much to talk about or in common and it reflected in my speech. Then when we got to do speeches on a topic of our choice I got to choice something I was truly passionate about and the speech was much better.