Freewrite #1: How and Why I Freewrite

2. Journey Through June Prompt #2: Stream of Consciousness

Photo by Yannick Pulver on Unsplash

I learned about free writing from Natalie Goldberg’s book, Writing Down the Bones. The two principle ideas: keep your hand moving, don’t stop.

I free-write to see what ideas are floating around my brain that I haven’t explored before. Sometimes it’s a line that I’ll use later in a poem or sometimes entire blocks of text turn into short forms. I look for what in my writing has the most energy and is the rawest. That’s where I want to tap into and write from the soul.

I usually free-write while listening to audiobooks. Right now I’m listening to Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant. I listen to audio to distract and lull my mind into a type of slumber. What comes out seems almost more me than it would be if I was trying to write poetically or with prose in mind.

While I usually mine my writing for ideas, I let go in this form of writing. As Goldberg says, “I am free to write the worst junk in America.” I am learning my mind and the deeper truths of myself. Also, I am learning what is down beneath the covers. It’s a process of self-exploration.

I always do my free-writing in notebooks. I love the hand and brain connection written out on composition paper. Right now, I’m typing a free…