Free writing

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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 of apathy and self-criticism to produce a raw but often usable material.

Contents

[edit] Definition

Based on the presumption that everybody has something to say and the ability to say it, however the mental wellspring may be blocked by apathy, self-criticism, resentment, anxiety about deadlines, fear of failure or censure, or other forms of resistance. The accepted rules of free-writing enable a writer to build up enough momentum to blast past any blocks into uninhibited flow, the concept outlined by teachers in writing such as Louise Dunlap, Peter Elbow, Natalie Goldberg.[1]

Free-writing is all about loosening and limbering the thought process, not about a product or a performance for a student or a writer.[2][3]

[edit] 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.[4]

[edit] 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,” [5][6] often referred to as Natalie Goldberg’s first four rules of writing:[7][8][9]

  • 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.

[edit] Disambiguation

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

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cole, A.L. (2001). "The Thesis Journey: Travelling with Charley". Brock Education 13 (1): 1-13. 
  2. ^ Robinson, L. (1967). "Guided writing and free writing". 
  3. ^ Ross, J. (1967). "Guided Writing and Free Writing: A Textbook in Composition for English as a Second Language". TESOL Quarterly 1 (2): 58-60. 
  4. ^ Klingman, A. (1985). "Free Writing: Evaluation of a Preventive Program with Elementary School Children.". Journal of School Psychology 23 (2): 167-75. 
  5. ^ Goldberg, N. (1986). "Writing down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within.". 
  6. ^ Goldberg, N. (1990). Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life. Bantam Dell Pub Group. 
  7. ^ Actual wording pf Writing down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within is as follows, some do not recommend last two rules:
    1. Keep your hand moving. (Don't pause to reread the line you have just written. That's stalling and trying to get control of what you're saying.)
    2. Don't cross out. (That's editing as you write. Even if you write something you didn't mean to write, leave it.)
    3. Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar. (Don't even care about staying within the margins and lines on the page.)
    4. Lose control.
    5. Don't think. Don't get logical.
    6. Go for the jugular. (If something comes up in your writing that is scary or naked, dive right into it. It probably has lots of energy.)
  8. ^ Miller, M.M.. "The Spice of Writing: Extracurricular Projects for Technical Writers". IPCC 92 Santa Fe. Crossing Frontiers. Conference Record: 384-390. 
  9. ^ Upitis, R.; Smithrim, K. (1998). "Teacher development and elementary arts education". B. Roberts. 

[edit] Further reading

Goldberg, Natali (1986). "Writing down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within.". 

[edit] See also

Natalie Goldberg

[edit] Links

NATALIE GOLDBERG. www.nataliegoldberg.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, An On Writing Reader's Treasury Review by Bobby Matherne. www.doyletics.com. Retrieved on 2008-04-26.