Timed freewriting

Many people believe whole heartedly in the benefits of freewriting. some people think it is so beneficial that they freewrite daily in a journal of some sort. Freewriting is great in that it can allow you to dig deeper into your own mind. Sitting down and requiring yourself to keep writing for a certain amount of time means that your mind has to keep working to put words on the page. When you do this, you sometimes your mind follows and explores ideas or thoughts in ways you normally would not. Following or exploring these areas in your mind is where you might find that you know more about a certain topic than you thought you did. A really cool feeling.

My advice to anyone beginning to do timed, freewrites is to start with a very small amount of time. You want to start with a short amount of time so that you can write continuously for the entire time you have alotted (set for yourself). If you start with too much time (I think three minutes maybe too long for beginners), you struggle to keep writing and end up hating the activity. Try the following and see where it takes you.

1. Set a timer or ask a friend to clock you for a certain amount of time.
2. Consider:
   • the topic you are trying to discuss
   OR
   • if you do not know the topic, think about the assignment you are trying to complete
   OR
   • just write whatever comes to mind - see where it takes you
3. Start the timer or ask your friend to start timing
4. Write until the timer goes off or your friend says stop