Freewriting

Free Writing is a method of creative writing, in which the stream of consciousness of the writer is put on paper, without reflecting it to evaluate or to search for suitable formulations. This results in sentences, sentence fragments and single words. The method is often used in writing courses to relieve writer's block and get into the flow of writing. Free Writing was introduced under that name in the 1960s by Ken Macrorie.

Method

The writer sits in front of a blank sheet of paper and began to write as quickly as possible and without interruption. The pin will not be sold. The duration may be set in advance (usually about 5 to 20 minutes). Each incident is recorded. The uninterrupted writing is to prevent reflections during the writing phase block the flow of writing. Stay new ideas from are repeated the last words or the pin is waving over the paper, until a new idea.

Variants

• Ken Macrorie and Peter Elbow propagate in particular the goal-and topic- free writing. For them, the method is used at all to go only to a writing topic. With the advancement but also thematic aspects such as writing about special experiences have been added.

• Roberta Allen describes a thematically oriented method. The writer then does not sit in front of a blank sheet, but on the page there is a word, a sentence or a photo. The results of the writing process are then revised and can lead to end up in a story or even a novel.

• Gabriele Rico's method of clustering also uses the method of freewriting. The cluster is used to develop a write pulse. Once patients of this pulse, the writer begins immediately with the textualization. A time limit does not exist.

• One alternative that has been applied by the representatives of automatic writing, writing by hand, which is not the writing hand.