Freewriting

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Prompted by an email blog update from Sue Healey a couple of days ago, i decided to do some Freewriting.

I remember when I did The Artists Way, the first time….the idea of doing 3 pages of Morning Pages every day was terrifying. I soon got into the swing, but unfortunately it just turned into a massive rant everyday, and which is why, I no longer keep a personal journal.

So Tuesday morning, I sat outside a Costa Coffee shop, and wrote the following in my notebook:

*****I’m sat here, outside Costa, with a latte in February, wanting to take my coat off. It’s the same colour purple as the ink in my pen. There are a group of rowdy workmen, about 6 of them, smoking their fags and drinking from their takeaway coffee cups. It’s not exactly what I’d call an inspiring atmosphere, but still. I may be able to finish my daydreaming story. Perhaps she runs off with a rowdy workman *snigger*

The sky is completely grey, not a cloud in sight, and matches perfectly with the paving slabs beneath my feet. In fact, the building itself seems to merge with the sky as that too is a depressing shade of grey. I can’t wait for the summer, to walk around in t shirts and feel the sun on my face. Although, my garden is a mess. Completely unusable, neglected for several years I have to confess. I guess it sets the tone for the rest of the house….neglected. There’s always something else to do though. The garden is the last item of priority on my endless list.

I’ve been food shopping and now I’m waiting for my husband so that we can have lunch. It was his suggestion that he meet me, perhaps he just needs a break. It’s nice to get out, rather than stare at the same 4 walls day in day out. I get soooo bored, and yes, I know…..I could do the garden lol*****

Ok, exactly what did I learn? Or rather, what could I use in my writing? Hmmmmm…..the only things that really stand out as being worth something are the images of the building blending into the sky and the overgrown garden.

Do you ever Free Write, and if you do, does it help? Do you end up using things in your fiction writing?

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Isn’t it funny…..there was me talking about happiness yesterday and then I discover Bridget’s beautiful post on happiness….it certainly made me smile 🙂

Oh and by the way *clears throat* I now have 7 Out There’s!!!!!! 🙂

Yesterday’s prompt about the bridge inspired a story about a young girl who’s father has been rushed to hospital….only, she hasn’t seen him for 2 years (I was going down the lines of building bridges then crossing them). I don’t know what today’s prompt is. I’m upstairs in bed, my notebook is downstairs.

As Jack Bauer would say “Damn It!” (sorry, hubby is working his way through all 8 seasons of 24) lol 🙂

27 thoughts on “Freewriting”

  2. I free write all the time when I find myself getting into a writer’s block sort of mood. It’s great to get the creativity going, and yes, I have used some of my five-minute blurbs in other writings.

    BTW, I really like the ‘voice’ in your free writing. I get the image in my mind of a NY bistro. You’re sitting outside. Steam escapes the manhole covers. Traffic honks, a city bustles. Two brown paper bags with handles sit at your feet. One is full of fresh fruits, vegetables, maybe even a truffle. The other…wine and a loaf of fresh baked Italian bread.

    Funny how we can conjure settings with only a few words. I’m not sure how close I am in the setting, but this is what I saw. You could so totally run with this story. Turn it into a romantic interlude. How fun.

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    • Awwww, thanks hon 🙂

      I struggled for ages with my ‘voice’ until I stopped worrying about it and now, I just write as me, how I talk 🙂

      Oh wow….I love your idea of where I was sitting, I only wish it had been like that 🙂 I’m in the UK and the coffe shop is at a shopping centre in Kent 🙂

      But your idea is so much more interesting 😉

      Ooooo, yes, I could couldn’t I…..thanks hon!

      xx

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  3. Hey Vikki, I didn’t realize you were a Brit until I read this post. My suspicion awoke with “massive rant” and turned to conviction with “smoking fags”. I even checked your About page to confirm my hunch. I’ve never done a free-write, though I’ve written to prompts with surprising results. None of which turned into stories. What are Out Theres?

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    • Lol….. Yep I’m a Brit 🙂

      My apologies if anything I say is confusing, I do tend to write as I talk lol

      Oh, you really should try some Freewriting….I really enjoyed it, but I think if I do some more I will definitely make sure I’m out and about. I can’t imagine doing it sat at my dining room table 😉

      Ok, ‘Out There’s’ are stories, articles etc that are out there in the world, waiting to be published. Competition entries, manuscripts that are with agents or publishers. Anything that you’ve written which you’ve sent out. Does that make sense? 🙂

      Good luck with Freewriting Joan….do give it a go 🙂

      xx

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  4. Hi Vikki
    How strange – I got up to do some freewriting because I couldn’t sleep and there was your post!! That’s the second time you’ve written about something when I was thinking it 🙂
    Anyway freewriting (or flow writing if it’s the same thing) is something I blogged about a while back and I tend to use it if I have a lot on my mind in the middle of the night like now! I’m sure they’ll be a line in there somewhere that I can use in a post tomorrow 🙂

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  5. Thanks for the mention as well as the enjoyable post. I’ve just begun a new book in which the husband is British. I think I should pay close attention to the words and sayings you use that differ from ours.

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  7. I read your post again and it made me think about trains of thought. My free writing would be one long babbly train of thought. I have a tendency to journal like that, in a long ramble.

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  8. I love free-writing. Whenever I get stuck on a story or on a passage in my WIP novel, I open up a new window and just start writing random lines. It always seems to loosen up my muse. 🙂

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  9. That is kind of what my blog is about, both a sort of free writing and practise exercise. I find it a good challenge to do daily, and I try to experiment and mix up the content a bit. I don’t want it to turn into rants as you mentioned you had a problem with. It is still evolving but I find it fun and helping me get more of a writers mentality again.

    I’ve not used much of it in my other projects yet but it is highly useful if only to get something down.

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    • Thanks for dropping by hon 🙂

      Yeah, I definitely think if I did it daily at home I’d end up talking about how I was feeling or how annoyed I was with something lol. So I guess, for me, Freewriting is one thing I’ll use when I’m ‘out’ lol

      xx

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