This article was originally written in September of 2019, and has been edited, expanded and shared here on The Life.
Tege and I have been talking about using free form writing as a means of overcoming Writers’ block, and I thought that I would give it a go. At first, I wasn’t sure about it, so I thought that I would ask my old friend Wikipedia.
“Free writing is a pre-writing technique in which a person writes continuously for a set period of time without regard to spelling, grammar, or topic. It produces raw, often unusable material, but helps writers overcome blocks of apathy and self-criticism.”
“It is used mainly by prose writers and writing teachers. Some writers use the technique to collect initial thoughts and ideas on a topic, often as a preliminary to formal writing. Free writing is not the same as automatic writing”.
Wikipedia goes on to describe the practice further, and includes the term “focused free form writing”, which is basically the same thing, but with a chosen theme. This is the version that I prefer, because I can tell whether I am going somewhere with it or not, and whether parts of it may be usable later. If I can use it, I go back and edit the piece.
I guess that it is the same as walking to stay healthy.
I’d much rather walk somewhere, rather than just walk or run around a park. I’m a bit funny like that, but then I guess that it comes from wanting to be productive. Unless of course the purpose is to also exercise the dog, which entails running around the aforementioned park, usually with a ball. That can be productive in more ways than one, because I get the exercise, and he won’t bug me to go walkies again later!
The other area that Tege and I differ on is when to write. She prefers to write earlier in the day, when it’s quieter, while I choose to write during the afternoon or early evening, simply because that’s when I have more time to do so. If I start to write early I have the habit of not getting much else done, because I get lost in “Writers’ World”
There is a danger for me in writing at that time though!
Writing later in the day means that I have worked a full day, have been dealing with issues at home and work, as well as working with the general public. If I am tired, or have all of these things going around my head, I can suffer writers’ block if I can’t clear my head sufficiently to make sense when I write.
What I mean is, I don’t want to sound as though I am babbling when I write. I’d lose readers swiftly that way, and if I did that, then there would be no reason to write. That’s where going “freestyle” with my writing can help. Often times stuff comes out about some of the public that I have dealt with during the day, which is fine, because I can delete it before anyone is any the wiser!
Focused freestyle writing (writing on a set subject) is good for me as it allows my mind to wander a little as I write, and I often come up with new ideas as I go. As I said earlier, that way if there is anything worth keeping for an article or blog post, I can find a suitable image, edit it, and use the article after I have edited it.
Wikipedia says that free writing is usually done for a set amount of time, or when you run out of things to say. I was told once that I have the “gift of the gab”, what ever that means, and I can go on for hours. If I don’t run out of things to say, I usually stop somewhere around 500 or 600 words and have a read.
There are no set rules for this form of writing, as the whole purpose of the exercise is to get the creative juices flowing to become more productive.
If I like what I’m reading and the words keep flowing, then I keep going. Otherwise, I stop!
And again, sometimes I come back and just read old posts, especially ones like this that still seem to be attracting visitors seven years later. It’s now July of 2026, and I’m adding an edit to the page to see if my “voice” has changed over that time. Another form of writing that I do now, more handwriting than typing, is memorising text and then writing it out.
The text might be from the book of Psalms or Proverbs. As I get older, I want to stay mentally healthy and agile, so using as many skills as possible may help me stay sharp.
Here’s an idea that just snuck in: does free-form writing fit with being an independent thinker? I’m not sure on that one, but I do think that thinking for oneself these days doesn’t seem to be the norm.
Philosophers have long championed the value of independent thinking.
In Arthur Schopenhauer’s famous essay On Thinking for Oneself, he distinguishes between a genuine thinker and a “mere man of learning.” Schopenhauer argues that secondhand knowledge—truth merely read or memorized—is like an artificial limb or false tooth that never truly belongs to us. In contrast, truths you discover through your own reasoning and reflection become a natural, living part of your mind.
Thinking about that statement by Arthur Schopenhauer, I guess that it makes sense. I remember learning things by rote, for example, math times tables at school. It was ok learning that way at the time, but it wasn’t until I was doing things like craft at school that I came to understand how these things fit into real life.
The purpose of freeform writing isn’t to produce polished prose.
It’s intended to get your thoughts moving. Once you’ve written some content, you’ve hopefully kick started your creativity, rather than just staring at a blank page. Then you can go back and write something that makes sense.