Free writing! This is a wonderful technique in which you write for a certain amount of time without ever putting down your pencil; you will write down anything and everything that comes to mind. Also, you don't make any corrections while writing, judge your work, or stop writing because you “don’t know what to write”. In my opinion, most people use free writing to generate ideas or subjects for a poem. For example, a writer does a free writing about dogs, and then uses the ideas generated about them to write a poem. Although, I do use free writing to create ideas, I mainly use free writing to generate poetic lines. My free writings aren’t just ideas, but actual poems. “When My Feelings Fall Into Low Tide” was my first poem written using free writing. This poem became very successful and one of my favorites. Ever since then, I can’t stop using free writing and the various exercises.
There are many different free writing exercises. Some exercises are called ‘writing prompts and can be found in books and on many websites. One particularly helpful website with many writing prompts is http://www.writersdigest.com/. This site has
umerous ideas, and will keep a writer busy for quite some time.
My favorite writing prompt is an exercise in which one begins by looking to either their left or right. Then, they take the first item they see, and do a free writing about it. Many interesting poems can come out of this! Topics can range from a simple book to a saltshaker (a very fun topic).
When I started my poem, “When My Feelings Fall Into Low Tide”, I took my subject, or writing prompt, and I wrote continuously at a fast pace for about ten minutes. When time was up, I was at the bottom of the page with a poem. This poem wasn’t miraculously perfect, but after a few more free writings and a little revision, I had a poem worthy of an honorable mention in a contest.
If you follow the guidelines of free writing, which were mentioned earlier, you can be successful in your free writing. My advice for someone who would like to free write is use a tool that is comfortable. What I mean is, a pencil doesn’t have to be used to write with. A computer is also helpful when free writing because the writer can keep ideas and lines organized. My second bit of advice is do not cross anything out; if you find that the free writing has good poetic lines, but other lines are lacking in quality, then re-write the good lines, but keep the other words on the other page because they may come in handy. Finally, if you ever get stuck in a free writing or hate the one you're just wrote, grabb
a pen and begin a new one! Good luck free writing!