Freewriting
Set a timer. Write nonsense for 10 minutes. Never reread.
Freewriting is the literary equivalent of brushing lint out of your brain. You set a timer and write continuously — no stopping, no editing, no caring whether it's good. The rule is: pen doesn't lift. If you run out of words, you write 'I don't know what to write' until something else shows up. Something always shows up.
How to start
- 1Open a notebook or new document. Set a timer for 10 minutes.
- 2Write whatever enters your head. Bad sentences are welcome. Typos are welcome.
- 3Do not stop the pen. If stuck, write 'stuck stuck stuck' until a word appears.
- 4When the timer goes off, close the notebook. Do not read it back.
- 5Repeat daily. After a week, reread everything. You'll find one surprising thing.
What you'll need
- Any notebookEssential~$3
- Any penEssential~$1
Where to learn more
Plot twists
Ways to spice this up when the basics get boring.
- Freewrite in a voice that isn't yours — your dog's, your mom's, a king's.
- Freewrite in the dark with your eyes closed. Decipher it the next morning.
- Use only questions. 10 minutes of nothing but '?' sentences.
- Freewrite on the subway. Other people's voices sneak into your sentences.
Bypasses your inner editor completely. When the ideas won't come in order, freewriting catches them in whatever order they arrive.
Julia Cameron popularized 'morning pages' — 3 handwritten pages of freewriting every morning — in The Artist's Way (1992). It's become the most recommended creativity exercise on the planet.
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