Free writing

Free writing - term applied to a technique used by mainly prose writers or teachers of writing. It refers to a method by which a writer can overcome blocks ofapathy and self-criticism to produce a raw, but often unusable material.

Definition

Based on the presumption that everybody has something to say and the ability tosay it, however the mental wellspring may be blocked byapathy, self-criticism, resentment, anxiety aboutdeadlines, fear of failure or censure, or otherforms of resistance. The accepted rules of free-writingenable a writer to build up enough momentum toblast past any blocks into uninhibited flow, the concept outlined by teachers in writing such as Louise Dunlap, Peter Elbow, Natalie Goldberg.cite journal
author = Cole, A.L.
year = 2001
title = The Thesis Journey: Travelling with Charley
journal = Brock Education
volume = 13
issue = 1
pages = 1-13
url = http://www3.ed.brocku.ca/ojs/index.php/brocked/article/view/169/216
accessdate = 2008-04-26]

Free-writing is all about loosening and limbering thethought process, not about a product or aperformance for a student or a writer.cite journal
author = Robinson, L.
year = 1967
title = Guided writing and free writing] cite journal
author = Ross, J.
year = 1967
title = Guided Writing and Free Writing: A Textbook in Composition for English as a Second Language
journal = TESOL Quarterly
volume = 1
issue = 2
pages = 58-60
url = http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0039-8322(196706)1%3A2%3C58%3AGWAFWA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X
accessdate = 2008-04-26]

Use in education

Often Free-writing workshops focuses on the self expression and sometimes even used in teaching to elementary school children, there is no common consensus on the acceptance of this technique.cite journal
author = Klingman, A.
year = 1985
title = Free Writing: Evaluation of a Preventive Program with Elementary School Children.
journal = Journal of School Psychology
volume = 23
issue = 2
pages = 167-75
url = http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=EJ323302
accessdate = 2008-04-26]

Rules

Here are the essential rules that are often formulated for the beginners or students, often a paraphrase of Natalie Goldberg’s “Rules for Free Writing,” cite journal
author = Goldberg, N.
year = 1986
title = Writing down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within.
url = http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED410590
accessdate = 2008-04-26] cite book
author = Goldberg, N.
year = 1990
title = Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life
publisher = Bantam Dell Pub Group
isbn = ] often referred as Natalie Goldberg’s first four rules of writingcite conference
author = Miller, M.M.
year =
title = The Spice of Writing: Extracurricular Projects for Technical Writers
conference =
booktitle = IPCC 92 Santa Fe. Crossing Frontiers. Conference Record
pages = 384-390
publisher =
url = http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=673061
conferenceurl = ] cite journal
author = Upitis, R.
coauthors = Smithrim, K.
year = 1998
title = Teacher development and elementary arts education
journal = B. Roberts
url = http://educ.queensu.ca/~arts/Ns_Arts_final_word_4.doc
accessdate = 2008-04-26] :
*Give yourself a time limit. Write for one or ten or twenty minutes, and then stop.
*Keep your hand moving until the time is up. Do not pause to stare into space or to read what you’ve written. Write quickly but not in a hurry.
*Pay no attention to grammar, spelling, punctuation, neatness, or style. Nobody else needs to read what you produce here. The correctness and quality of what you write do not matter; the act of writing does.
*If you get off the topic or run out of ideas, keep writing anyway. If necessary, write nonsense or whatever comes into your head, or simply scribble: anything to keep the hand moving.
*If you feel bored or uncomfortable as you’re writing, ask yourself what’s bothering you—and write about that. Sometimes your creative energy is like water in a kinked hose, and before thoughts can flow on the topic at hand, you have to straighten the hose by attending to whatever is preoccupying you.
*When the time is up, look over what you’ve written, and mark passages that contain ideas or phrases that might be worth keeping or elaborating on in a subsequent free-writing session.

Disambiguation

It is sometimes called guided free-writing, but it can not be considered same or a specific form of automatic writing.

References

Further reading

cite journal
author = Goldberg, Natali
year = 1986
title = Writing down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within.
url = http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/recordDetail?accno=ED410590

See also

* Natalie Goldberg

Links

cite web
url=http://www.nataliegoldberg.com/
title=NATALIE GOLDBERG
publisher=www.nataliegoldberg.com
accessdate=2008-04-26
last=
first=

cite web
url=http://www.doyletics.com/art/writingd.htm
title=Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, An On Writing Reader's Treasury Review by Bobby Matherne
publisher=www.doyletics.com
accessdate=2008-04-26
last=
first=