✍️ Finding Flow and Freedom in Freewriting
Here's how I help my creativity run wild.
Whenever I want to tap into my creativity to figure out what I want to say, how I feel, or my unique point of view — I need wild, unstructured freewriting. It feels a bit like I’m going for a walk in a familiar place, trying to get lost and stumble upon something unexpected.
Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are sent to the trunk of my car and told to wait there patiently. At this stage, they’re in the way.
This is the part I enjoy the most.
I love setting a timer and letting myself write about whatever comes to mind. Making random associations and having strange things pop up that have unseen threads running through them.
And even the timer is only a starting place. My best stuff comes when I blow past its set limit.
This is an essential part of doing my best work. 💫 I’m able to tap into a different frequency.
At times sticking strictly to a writing prompt can be an obstacle to writing honestly. I need to be able to take a sharp left turn to discover something new. And find my natural flow.
The prompt can be a starting point, (like the timer) but if there’s something inside me that needs a voice, I need enough flexibility to let that out. So I’ll always let myself change direction from that prompt.
And the phrase I use is, “What I really want to write about is…”
Then, within all those twists and turns, I can uncover a rawness on the page that brings my best work to life.
And now, I’ll wrap up this process for you with a haiku:
I start with a prompt
To tap into my own way
The page welcomes me