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On Freewriting
[ Journal Entry ]
Here’s how Peter Elbow describes freewriting:
The
idea is simply to write for ten minutes (later on, perhaps
fifteen or twenty). Don’t stop for anything. Go quickly
without rushing. Never stop to look back, to cross something
out, to wonder how to spell something, to wonder what word
or thought to use, or to think about what you are doing.
If you can’t think of a word or a spelling, just use a
squiggle or else write, “I can’t think of it.” Just
put down something. The easiest thing is just to put down
whatever is in your mind. If you get stuck it’s fine
to write “I can’t think what to say, I can’t
think what to say” as many times as you want; or repeat
the last word your wrote over and over again; or anything
else. The only requirement is that you never stop.
Later, when he discusses writing fast,
Elbow talks about doing some summing up at the end of the
freewrite. It’s useful,
after you’ve
done ten minutes of freewriting, to take a moment to ask
yourself “So
what?” Can I summarize what I’ve been writing about
in a sentence or two? What did I learn from having done this
writing? What stands out for me.
You’ll find often, but not always,
that having written quickly you can now identify what you’ve
been writing about, even though you didn’t know when you
started out.
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