Episode 12: Freewriting

In which Robynne and Jane talk about how freewriting can help develop your skillset, perspective, and even your writing voice. What is freewriting? Many things. It’s sitting down and writing without a goal. It’s writing inspired by a certain picture. It’s writing to defined and stated parameters for a specific amount of time, but without a real goal. It’s any kind of writing where you are unsure of the outcome and are writing to see what comes out.

But why do it? Why do we take time out of our precious writing time to work for seemingly no goal? Oh! The many benefits! Jane leads with a wonderful reason … freewriting can help clear emotional gunk. Robynne adds that freewriting can serve as a sort of literary “cup of coffee,” to wake the brain and get warmed up before settling down to goal-oriented writing. It’s also invaluable in providing insight into a conflict, a character, or a relationship. We can freewrite a scene from another point of view to understand our characters, whether they are fiction or real, and see them from a new perspective. This can help us develop the complexity of characters and situations. And who doesn’t like richness in writing?