Freewriting is about recording the flow of thought without criticism. Automatic writing technique.

They say it helps

• Get into a creative state.
• Relieve stress.
• Find solutions to business problems.
• Overcome the writer's fear of a blank slate.

Let's check on me.

Practice

Practiced the method for 2 weeks.
Volume - sheet A4. It took 50 minutes a day.

Instruction: take a sheet of paper; write down thoughts without stopping until you hit the bottom edge. Everything.

It is better to limit the time, not the volume - 30 minutes is enough for freewriting.

It is important that you not only not be disturbed, but that you do not see anyone at all while recording. The brain is distracted by every rustle. Music or a movie / series from the next room will turn freewriting into a transcript of what you hear.

Freewriting Feedback

The main discovery is that I worry a lot! I realized: I think a lot about the future of this project, but this is not a process of thinking, but I'm just worried: “What will happen to him? What else to do? What will it lead to?

Every day on paper - the same questions! I give myself the answer in the afternoon, but I myself do not accept it and continue to bathe. Daily freewriting didn't help relieve that stress, but it did help bring it out - it's more important.

More conclusions:

1. Look for solutions specific tasks- complicated. You have to criticize thoughts if they deviate from the topic. And this is no longer freewriting, but for example, brainstorm.
2. None creative state I didn't experience.
3. I think faster than I write. I'm testing "Freespeaking" - voicing the flow of thoughts without criticism.
4. Using freewriting, I wrote about in 40 minutes. Improved for another 4 hours. Helped me start writing difficult topic, but it is necessary to crystallize ideas.

I repeat: a lot of thoughts during the day - just strain, no use. I decided for myself: if you want to think, think in writing; plan - write plans on paper.

If I think about an idea for 5-10 minutes and don’t draw any interesting conclusion, it’s time to change the subject. Productive thinking - generates ideas that you want to record. Otherwise, well, you understand - I'm worried.

Personal experience transforms freewriting information into knowledge. Practice!

mind maps, creative thinking techniques or freewriting.

You will easier to focus

If you are writing for solutions challenging task

Other Freewriting Techniques

Freewriting with hints. You can find tips for daily freewriting yourself, very often tips for freewriting are offered by the evangelist of this technique in Russia Armen Petrosyan, here his Instagram account. AT social networks Petrosyan often talks about a tip he personally used for freewriting recently.

visual cues. Keep visual stimuli, such as old magazines, handy for clues.

Here are some examples of exercises that combine freewriting and creative thinking.

Snakes and ladders. Open a notepad, one page will be devoted to "snakes" - problems that prevent you from reaching your goal, another page to "ladders" - opportunities that will help you. You can record in turn - one snake, one ladder, or you can first record the snakes, and then move on to the stairs.

From the future to the present. Write down what result you would like and describe in detail how you can act now to achieve this result.

range of creativity. Write down the most conservative solution to your problem, then the craziest and most extreme solution. Write about how to combine both of these options in one solution.

In addition, there are a lot of tips for creative thinking you'll find .

And through Instagram, you can often “peep” what Armen Petrosyan writes about.

Posted by WriteLight (@writelightguru) Feb 2, 2017 at 10:33 AM PST

There you will find interesting questions from the application, advice on personal development and writing practices Oh.

The launch of the application has become a new stage of our own journey in the world of writing practices - traveling side by side with you. Therefore, it is with you that we want to share our knowledge and discoveries about strength. written word and its ability to influence the quality of life. We send you letters about twice a month.

Let's figure out how to use the freewriting technique and why it might be needed.

Artem Anoshkin

write light

Freewriting or free writing is a writing technique in which you write down all the thoughts and ideas that come to mind without any editing.

That is, you just write down everything you think and do not specifically try to find the best wording, correctly punctuate, follow the rules of grammar or style.

It may seem that half of the users of social networks (the least literate and the most graphomaniac) do it anyway, what good is that?

Let's take a look at what happens when you freewrite and why you might want to.

If you need to write a text, article, book chapter, composition, essay, coursework, but the case does not stick, start with freewriting.

To regularly find insights and new ideas. As an ongoing habit, freewriting is a kind of personal coach that helps you determine whether you are moving towards your goals in life and career, and also constantly tells you what to do to achieve your goals.

With freewriting, you will generate weekly useful ideas for all areas of your life, but it especially affects success in business, work or career growth so getting in the habit of writing regularly will help you make tons of money.

To find a solution for a specific problem. Regardless of what we do in life, we constantly need to find a solution to some difficult problem.

Difficult problems haunt us in the family, and in work, and in personal life. Very often, such problems seem to be relegated to the background and are not actively resolved, we just wait for them to be resolved by themselves. Most successful people, however, do not wait for everything to work out, but are looking for a solution.

However, just think in case really difficult problem- not efficient. You need to turn to more serious tools: mind maps, creative thinking techniques or freewriting.

Freewriting in this case can be used in two ways. You can just write to free manner on the topic of your problem, start with as many clear wording problems, and then start writing down solutions.

And here I will just list three specific benefits freewriting by hand versus keyboard freewriting.

You will easier to focus in freewriting, what you write by hand will be deeper and more interesting than what you type on the keyboard.

If you are writing for solving a complex problem, freewriting by hand will help you better than typing on a keyboard.

The thoughts, decisions, and ideas that come up while freewriting by hand are more likely to turn into action and be implemented.

Other Freewriting Techniques

Except basic equipment freewriting and tips from Writelight there are a few more useful tricks that can be used.

Freewriting with hints. You can find tips for daily freewriting yourself, very often tips for freewriting are offered by the evangelist of this technique in Russia Armen Petrosyan,

I have already written about how personal diary can be useful in personal life, work and creativity. However, even if you decide to start a diary, the question may still arise out of habit: how and what to write about? Maybe the problem of a creative crisis, fear of a blank sheet, or deep personal experiences that are not easy to sort out will turn out to be relevant for you. In all these cases, the practice of so-called freewriting (free writing) or free writing will be useful.

Photo: Madewell

What is freewriting and what is it for?

Have you ever suddenly recalled an episode from a distant childhood while doing ordinary household chores? Or maybe a quote from a poem learned at school suddenly came to mind? Our brain stores a lot of ideas, memories, facts and images, the existence of which we often do not even suspect, continuing to “chew” monotonous thoughts and situations and thereby limiting our creative potential.

Diary Page by Penguinscreative

According to the definition given by one of the main adepts of this technique, Mark Levy (author of the books "Genius to order" and "Freewriting. Modern search technique creative solutions”), freewriting is a quick and free way to transfer your thoughts to paper. At the same time, it affects, as a rule, the most remote and subconscious areas of our brain. Many practicing psychologists recommend the freewriting method for solving any personal or work problems, finding ways out of difficult situations. life situations and creative planning of your life and business. At the same time, on the periphery there are answers and solutions that do not lie on the surface of consciousness.

What problems can freewriting help you solve?

• when working on a complex text (article, report, presentation, etc.)
• search for a new point of view existing problem or question in any area of ​​life
• overcoming the fear of a blank sheet and a creative crisis
• opportunity to be alone with yourself better understand inner motives and feelings
• personal goal setting

Diary Author: José Naranja

The meaning of the technique is that you start writing, even if you don’t know what you want to transfer to a piece of paper or a computer screen, and do not stop until the time or amount of writing you set is over. We must try to write quickly, without thinking too much about what was written and without setting ourselves the task of “creating a brilliant text here and now.”

Six Essential Freewriting Techniques

Mark Levy formulates 6 basic rules of freewriting, which are used to some extent by all fans of this technique. It is in these postulates that what distinguishes freewriting from school essay on a given topic.

Don't stress!

You should not be overzealous and be focused on a specific result or benefit. Relax, turn off your "inner critic", trying to surrender to the process as much as possible. It doesn’t matter how and what you write about, because you do it exclusively for yourself.

Write quickly and without distraction

An important feature of freewriting is the need to write quickly and without stopping. Don't be distracted by long pauses, reading what was written or correcting mistakes, there will still be time to comprehend. "Catch the wave" so that the words follow one another, obeying your inner inertia, and not your strict control.

Photo: Chelsi Sohnchen (delta-breezes)

Set a Time Frame

The only important limitation that you need to set for yourself is the amount of text. If you write by hand, let it be 1 or 2 whole pages, if you print, set a minimum time limit, for example, 20 minutes. If inspiration comes, you can always write more, but even if there is none, it is important to respect the minimum limit.

Write the best you can

Let me remind you once again that freewriting is not a report. Yes, the thoughts and ideas that have arisen in the process of writing can then be quite used in practical purposes, but the essence of the method is not in this. Write how you think, write how you speak, write how you can. No one will give you grades for this or teach you “how to do it right”, most likely, no one but yourself will ever see this text.

However, try to write complete sentences and in as much detail as possible, that is, if it does not come at the expense of speed, choosing specific epithets and descriptions (instead of “some kind of house”, “high, new house” is better).

Pages of a homemade diary on rings from Victiria (inmost_light)

Follow the thought

Try to develop the thought or image that arises, even if it seems strange and a little crazy to you.

Diary Author: José Naranja

Let's guide our minds

When you suddenly realize that you don't know what to write about next, give your mind the opportunity to switch using leading questions. Mark Levy calls them "switches".
Here is a list of some of the possible questions you can ask yourself as you ponder a task or reflect on the events of the day:

• how can you make it more exciting?
• How best to use the information I have?
• what else can be said about it?
• what did I do wrong here?
• If I wanted to make a blunder, what would I do in this situation?
• How would I describe this situation to a stranger?
• what was I thinking at that moment?

Advice: Don't know what to start writing about? So start: “I don’t know what to write about now ...“ As practice shows, really useful texts often begin with this phrase.

Photo: Offset

Additional techniques and tricks

The freewriting technique can be used not only for keeping a personal diary, but also for solving specific problems, for example, working on changing your internal state, searching for new ideas, ways out of impasses and work on writing specific texts. In all of these cases, freewriting recommendations may differ slightly, but that is a topic for a separate article.

Photos of Mackenzie (Thoughts-of-a-fangirl)

Concerning practices and tricks used to stimulate their creative activity, you can start writing, for example, with a description of any object that catches your eye, if nothing else comes to mind. In case writing becomes boring, it is worth looking for the answer to the question: “What disturbs or distracts me in this moment? And start writing about it.

If you are preparing for important negotiations, it is also possible to lose them on paper. A dialogue with an imaginary interlocutor, recorded in the freewriting technique, can more comprehensively think about the situation and prepare arguments. The main thing is to try to imagine your opponent in as much detail as possible to make the dialogue more realistic.

Diary of Rebecca Blair

Simple at first glance, the freewriting technique can help not only writing people, but also makes a significant contribution to personal development any of us, forcing a better understanding of inner motives and experiences. By the way, there are communities of people on the Internet from different countries who share their personal notes, help each other keep them regular, analyze and come up with new ones interesting techniques and tricks, worth a try, isn't it?

A white sheet of paper drives the most brilliant writers into a stupor. Getting started is always difficult. The "inner censor" twists his mouth and chuckles at any attempt to start. "Is that all you can do?" he seems to be saying.

People with this problem creative professions encounter regularly. Yes, almost every day. More N.V. Gogol in his letters to F. Sologub recommended starting work with the words “Something is not written to me today”. This technique helped him overcome the "fear of a white sheet." French poet André Breton used "automatic writing" in order to create works that, even today, "blow up the brain" with their freedom and creative courage.

The American writer Kenneth Makrory was the first to introduce the concept of "freewriting", which in English means "free writing". In Russia, they started talking about this technique after reading the bestseller by Mark Levy “Freewriting. Modern technology for finding creative solutions.

Freewriting - what is it and why is it needed

Freewriting is a technique of free writing text with a time or volume limit. During the writing process, it is prohibited:

• analyze;
• criticize;
• watch for errors;
• correct mistakes;
• doubt;
• stop;
• think;
• hurry.

You must throw out on paper your entire stream of consciousness on a topic that excites you, or just like that, without a specific task. Let the text turn out to be stupid, funny or scary. Nobody will read it. No one will take apart what you wrote, poke a finger at punctuation marks, laugh at unsuccessful turns.

The realization that the resulting text you can throw away, burn, erase or even eat will help you:

• get rid of the "internal censor", blocks, fears, perfectionism;
• overcome creative crisis;
• become more free to express your thoughts;
• to find new point vision, techniques, ideas;
• deal with the "cockroaches" in your head;
• Take a broader look at your options.

Freewriting gives you the courage to express your thoughts. It opens up new opportunities not only for writers or journalists, but also for copywriters who have to write about reinforced concrete structures every day and are in dire need of fresh ideas.

Basic Freewriting Techniques

If you decide to use the “free writing” technique, allow yourself the most important thing - do not try to create a brilliant or even just good text. Allow yourself to be a "loser" who knows nothing about spelling and punctuation. Rediscover the language.

Secret techniques from Mark Levy's book

You will need paper and a pen (or laptop) and a timer. Mark 15-20 minutes and write everything that comes to mind on a topic that excites you.

Mark Levy's tricks will help your brain quickly get to work, find fresh ideas in a short period of time, stop postponing what you started.

Reception "What I see, I sing about"

Start, like Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, your new text the phrase "I don't know what to write about." Let your brain relax and not look for those " magic words”, with which your article or sales letter should begin. Write about cacti on your window, about neighbors that keep you from focusing. Make a list of groceries you need to buy tonight. Write rubbish, nonsense, a set of words.

Another secret of experienced copywriters is to start your article with the words “Well, damn it, in short, it was like this ...”. Just be sure to remove them from the final version of your text so as not to stun your customer.

The advantage of this technique is that, by fooling around, you overcome the fear of starting work. Uncertainty in front of a white sheet will disappear, because the sheet is no longer white, it is in your notes, notes, sketches, ideas. And if the beginning is laid, then the end is not far off.

Changed state method

There are legends about the writers who created their "imperishable" podshofe. Do not get carried away with strong drinks, because there are others original ways go to your text.

Dip your feet in cold water like the once German poet Friedrich Schiller. Turn on music that will relax you, make you forget about deadlines or a picky customer. Stand on your head - they say, so the blood rushes to the head better. Start writing the text while balancing on one leg. In a hungry state. In a state close to falling asleep, balancing hungry on one leg.

Routine kills creativity. Getting used to solving the same problems every day, the brain relaxes and stops producing fresh ideas. You need to regularly shake yourself up, set new tasks in conditions that are unusual for your thinking.

For example.You need to describe the Kamaz 5490 model for the fifteenth time. Write the text in an extreme mode for yourself. Wake yourself up at 4 am. Take a contrast shower. Turn on the music you hate and set yourself the task of not having breakfast until you describe all the benefits of this model. Write without thinking, without analyzing, without paying attention to mistakes. So you will definitely move from dead center and discover new facets of your writing skills.

Change of angle of view

We get used to writing about products, services, companies from the bell tower of our experience and the format we are used to. Sometimes a change in the angle of view, genre, style of narration helps to overcome a creative crisis.

For example.You need to write about reinforced concrete structures. Imagine that reinforced concrete structures are you. What do you feel? How would you describe yourself? How are you better than reinforced concrete structures of competitors? What would you like to say on behalf of reinforced concrete structures to your customers?

Write a romantic letter about reinforced concrete structures. A story in the style of Stephen King. A note on the fridge to your first grader. Experiment, look for new approaches to the most common topics.

Method "View from the future"

This method is recommended by psychologists for finding solutions in difficult situations. When you face a problem and don't know how to get out of it properly, ask yourself, "If I knew what to do, what would I do?"

Also with text. If you knew what to write about, what would you write? If the article had already been written, what would it be about? What would be its structure, headings, conclusions? Imagine that an article (a book that sells text) is already ready, you have just read it. What is it about?

This technique will allow you to write as if from the future, starting from end result, and not from that white sheet that teases you with its emptiness. You immerse yourself in a situation of success, the end result. The text is already there, ready and interesting, it remains to put it on paper. Open your laptop and start writing, as if remembering. Don't let your inner critic interfere. Let him talk when the text is ready.

Conclusion

The most important thing in freewriting is to stop judging yourself, give freedom to your wings and look beyond the horizon of your possibilities, and they are limitless. And even if it seems to you that you have written yourself out and are no longer capable of anything, this is not so. Allow yourself to make mistakes, experiment, write platitudes, stupidity, nonsense in drafts. After all brilliant ideas sometimes overtake us in the most unexpected circumstances.

So, freewriting is an immersion in a free, uncontrolled flow of words on paper. The goal is to get rid of internal barriers get rid of the "internal censor".

Freewriting can be used for different purposes:

1. to write an article on a complex topic;
2. to get rid of excess intrusive thoughts interfering with work;
3. to remove the internal censor who constantly evaluates our activities;
4. to find new original .

The main "feature" of freewriting is that the text that we write cannot be moderated, changed or controlled until it is completed. All this concerns not only words, the logic of presentation or the use of certain (perhaps even obscene) expressions, but also punctuation marks, spelling errors, etc.

Since the goals of free ratting can be different, then it can be used different ways. Someone buys special notebooks for freewriting and writes all their thoughts there every convenient second. Someone keeps a diary, and every evening he writes down all his innermost experiences there. For example, I am just beginning to realize all the delights of freewriting. I've used it a few times in my life (although I didn't know I was a freewriter at the time, I just had to talk it out, and paper, as you know, will endure everything). In my case, freewriting has always taken on some form of confession when I, tormented emotional experiences, poured out his whole soul on the word "a sheet and I instantly felt better.

How do you force yourself to write the first thing that comes to mind? It's not as easy as it seems at first glance. From school we got used to the fact that if we write something, it should be perfectly “licked” in terms of grammar, style and logic of presentation. It is important to stop controlling yourself and write down every thought that comes to mind.

Depending on the goals of freewriting, further work with written texts is built. If you wrote a text in order to find new ideas or develop old ones, then it makes sense to return to it, reread it thoughtfully, correct errors and arrange everything in a logical sequence. If the text was written with the aim of simply “pour out the soul”, then the meaning further work with no test. Unless you're suffering from some form of self-flagellation and don't like to relapse into negative inner states.