Have you ever wanted to write something but didn't know how exactly to get it out? Join me as I experiment with freewriting on my blog.
Note: I originally typed this on my private Google+ Personal Writing Community and decided it would be a great idea for a blog post that didn't involve lots of bells and whistles (headlines, titles, etc.), so I plan on doing more of these freewrites in the future and just write without worrying about formatting the content. Now, on with the show...
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So I'm just sitting here wondering what to write about on my blog. I feel a need to slow down and just create, but nothing on any of my Trello boards looks either very appealing or without the need to do too much thinking. I think I'll freewriting for a little bit; I haven't done it in a while, and it may prove useful if not therapeutic.
The advantage of freewriting is that you don't even have to look at the screen to see what you're typing; therefore, you don't have to be concerned with typos and misspellings. When you're freewriting you're not worried about such trivialities; you just want to write as fast as you can without the editor and critic in your head trying to silence your thoughts and thrust a stick in your spokes.
Freewriting doesn't involve that much thinking at all. In fact, it's quite nice to be able to create something without having to invest much thought into the process.
Even if you can't think of anything to say, you can get away with simply writing the same phrase over and over again or something like "I don't know what to write," and that's just fine and dandy because the goal in freewriting isn't perfection...it's production. A sort of play on the thought of quantity over quality.
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Even now as I type thoughts that are just on the surface of my mind, I'm creating content that I can possibly consider using on my blog without really having to think about the quality of the content I'm creating. You see I'm creating content without worrying about creating content; I'm not trying to create content, in other words, but that's what's happening anyway as a result of my freewriting.
I don't know when I started this exercise. Maybe a couple of minutes ago, but since I'm a fast typist (80wpm or so average the last time I checked), the words are pouring out as fast as I can think them onto the digital page.
The goal in freewriting isn't perfection...it's production.
It's nearly time for bed (something I rarely notice since I stay up late most nights, but since tomorrow is Easter Sunday I need to make sure to get to bed early for our sunrise service which starts at 5:15 am), and in all actuality I'm really writing to avoid having to go to bed.
Right now it just turned 10 p.m., and I feel as if I've accomplished a decent-sized blog post, should I choose to use this as a blog post. I think it would be a good idea for one since it would serve as a great example for learning the benefits of freewriting. I should plan on having several more of these.
One of my previous posts talks about the value of freewriting and how, after several minutes (I think it was around 30 minutes or so), the inner critic finally gives up as you sit there ignoring it and continuing on with your mad streak of words. (Oops, just went back to correct a spelling error. Oh well, more content for me in this one sentence.)
I think I'll wrap it up for now, but I believe I'll come back to this for my next blog post after all and finish up if there needs to be more of a lengthier word count for the post.
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