Freewriting

Writing a first draft is hard; the reason being that one is hindered by many factors. Every time I set out to work on my first draft, I’m constantly hitting a wall that takes a few days or some extra thinking to overcome. These walls are not necessarily caused by plot structure or line. I know what I’m supposed to write but I lack when I try to put the idea into words. There are other times where the reason is bad writing. Bad writing leaves me crippled that I do not go forward with the draft. A few days back I came across this term – freewriting. Freewriting is the principle I have adopted every time I feel lost or stuck and it is working great for me!

What is this freewriting?

Freewriting is just forging ahead with the writing without dwelling on the details. We tend to be perfectionists when it comes to our writing. Hence, when it comes to first draft we try to nail it the first time. Freewriting helps you break those bonds. Freewriting involves not thinking about the sentence structure, the grammar, the spelling mistakes, the rules one must follow in writing.

That sounds insane! Why would one write like that?

Because this is first draft. There is always going to be more revisions in the future. We try to be perfect on the first try and sometimes we get stuck because we keep going back to make everything  flawless. The purpose of a first draft is sitting down and completing the skeleton of the story. It doesn’t matter of if it is badly written because now we have something to work on. Something better than nothing right?

That sounds like it could be fun. How do I go about it?

Freewriting has no constrains. As unconventional as it sounds it’s about being OK with bad writing as you go about your first draft. Do not worry about it not being good enough. The draft is for you. So write it freely and later work to refine it. Freewriting is done best by setting goals. Set yourself number of pages or no. of words and write until you get there. Write without concern. Don’t worry about quality. Because, again, its first draft.

What do you think about freewriting?

note:Image does not belong to me