Writer's Block Help: The Art of Freewriting

Happy 4th of July from Professor Write!

Writing creatively can be a real pain. Even the best writers have trouble coming up with new and original material that's going to captivate the reader and make for a good story. How can you get passed that block?

Freewriting.

Freewriting is the practice of just writing nonsense and seeing what comes out. It doesn't matter what you write or if your punctuation and grammar is wrong, just as long as you write. In fact, don't go back and correct anything. The whole key to this exercise is that you're getting words down on paper. The more you write and express your ideas, the better writer you become.

Let me give it a shot. Check out this example:

I really don't have much to write about today. I'm going to a party this afternoon. It shoudl be fun. Brain fart Brain fart. Um. I don't know actuaully if it's going to be fun. There's going t be like 6 people there. I I guess it's not really a party. Fireworks. Fireworks always are fun. Whatever. pause pause pause pause. Still writing. My mom thinks my dog is dying but she looks ok to me. She's going to be 15, but she's in good shape. Good shape besides her diabetes. I wondeer if Paris Hilton actaully changed since she got out of jail. She looks like Martha Stewart without maekup.

Okay. So none of that makes much sense, but at least I wrote something . I didn't even spell check or check my grammar. However, hidden in there are a few gems that I can use to get started on writing something more cogent. For example, I could make the setting something from a 4th of July party. It could have something to do with a friend blowing his hand off with a firecracker (I don't know, maybe). See? There's a few ideas floating around in there.

Freewriting is actually kind of entertaining. Just let it out. Write anything and you'll be able to come up with a creative idea. Do it often.