Become a Better Writer through Freewriting

If you are a regular and thorough reader of ProofreadingPal’s blog, you may recall a piece I wrote a few years ago comparing the problems adult writers face with the problems my fifth grade student-writers faced. Since that time, I’ve been moved to a third-grade position and found that third-grade writers face the same problems as fifth-grade writers and adults.

Writing is a complicated, multi-step cognitive process, and many writers struggle to be creative and patient, to understand and apply the mechanics of writing, and to thoughtfully model their work after mentor texts (you can get a jump start on the latter by making sure to read a lot and broadly in topics you might like to write about).

My recent language arts unit with my third graders was integrated with science. We’ve been learning about severe weather phenomena while practicing skills of effective informational reading and writing using introductory sentences and clear main ideas, key detail support, transitions words and phrases and mechanics, and concluding statements.

I have to chuckle a little bit looking over that list of what we are “working on” because I was just looking over the drafts today and some of them are so brief, vague, and disjointed (and some of the handwriting, oh my! Good thing we are starting cursive soon). Reading them and considering the conversations I’ve had with these writers, I found myself thinking, “But they know so much more! Why can’t they get this on the paper?”

What happens with my students is what happens with so many writers who have ideas and can’t produce writing: They get utterly stuck on self-editing as they write. In my classroom, choruses of, “How do you spell?” and, “I don’t know what to say!” and, “I’m still thinking!” are heard around the room as students struggle, some stubbornly insisting upon continuing to research because they see books as having the ideas and themselves as having none.

Freewriting as a Solution

If this sounds familiar to you in your writing practice, you are not doomed to be a third-grade-quality writer forever. (In fact, I bet you’ve already surpassed that skill level if you are reading this.) You need to unleash your writing power, rip off your self-editing chains, and run blindly ahead into the mysterious practice of freewriting exercises!

So what exactly is freewriting? And why does it help writers become more effective? According to writing scholar Peter Elbow, because writing is a slower process than speaking, when we write we tend to edit too much so that in essence, it can serve to stop us from writing before we really start. Freewriting, on the other hand, is “nonediting . . . an exercise in bringing together the process of producing words and putting them down on the page [that] will make writing less blocked because words will come more easily.” Elbow suggests sitting for ten minutes, three times a week, and the only rule is to write the entire time without stopping.

It’s Easy to Try

If you want to try freewriting, you can just do it in a stream of consciousness mode and write whatever comes into your mind starting with the first thought you have as you sit down with a pen in your hand and paper in front of you. It need not be on a topic; it can jump from topic to topic with just whatever comes to mind. You can also freewrite starting with a prompt such as, “A favorite memory of being in high school,” or, “Describe a scenario where you meet your favorite singer/actor/other celebrity.” The possibilities are endless, and if you need ideas, just Google “freewriting prompts.” You can also freewrite about sensory input: what you see or hear or about an object you choose to focus on.

Regardless of how you get started and what you write about, it’s important to proceed without thinking about whether it makes sense, stays on topic, or obeys proper mechanics rules. You should not stop and correct anything, cross out or erase (especially not erase!) what you’ve written, ask someone for feedback, or engage in self-talk about the process (e.g., “This is dumb!”).

It’s Not for Publication

And always remember that when you are done, the product is not for an audience, not for a grade, and not to be judged by someone or used for any particular purpose. The product in this case is the process, the experience. I suppose if you wind up writing something you think might serve a purpose, you could hang onto it, but it’s also perfectly fine and recommended by some to never read it again: just get rid of it.

Engaging in some regular practice of freewriting should help you unlock your flow and unblock your ideas if practiced diligently and mindfully over time.

Now, if I’d only written this blog post before beginning this weather and informational text unit with my third graders. Oh well, we still have two language arts units to go this year. Time to start spending more time freewriting with my students.

Sarah P.