33 Ways to Stay Creative: Free Writing

Write Here, Write Now!

Our third way to stay creative is Free Writing.

First of all, Free Writing is not the opposite of paid writing (nor is it what so many writers seem to end up doing for “exposure”). The idea behind free writing (or freewriting) is simply to sit down and just write. Write whatever comes to mind, for as long as the Muse inspires you. It doesn’t matter if it is worthwhile or not, it is simply a record of your thoughts, and these thoughts may later inspire other more viable, and valuable, thoughts. This connects very well to the idea of carrying a notebook. You then have a place to explore those freewriting thoughts that might provide fodder for something amazing.

This is great because you can write with no worries about content, quality, or anything. You can write true stream-of-consciousness, starting off sharing about your lunch, moving on to musing about some interesting person that walked by while you were eating, and finally to some cute cat video you watched. It doesn’t matter that your writing is disconnected. The important thing is that you are writing and exploring your own thoughts and ideas. It’s like a list in long form, where you have multiple ideas that you can come back to later for further development.

This can work very well for some people - the ones who seem to have an endless supply of things to say (and write). What if you’re the kind of person who is not comfortable with writing to begin with? I have heard it said in freewriting, “If you can’t think of anything to write, just write until you think of something.” To which I respond, if I can’t think of anything, how can I just write? Then the response to that is, “Just write ‘I can’t think of anything to write’ until you think of something.”

Am I the only one who sees the insanity in this advice? More than likely, all you are likely to do is become more frustrated that you can’t think of anything to write. Think about it - you’re telling yourself over and over that you can’t think of anything. So what are you reinforcing? That you can’t write anything. It seems to be counterproductive.

In the end, freewriting is probably not for everyone. If it is something that works for you, by all means do it as often as makes sense. If you have never tried, give it a go and see what happens. Don’t feel bad if you can’t sustain your freewriting for any length of time. Be willing to revisit the method as you move forward in your creative life, but don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t work. Remember, there are 32 other methods to stay creative.