Hello to all writers, and to the writing-curious as well.
After Episode 2: A Promise of Infinite Possibility came out, I heard from a lot of people who said, “Tim, you should really make sure to trim your beard before filming, and also, stop playing with your nose.” And then there were people who said they’ve tried the “freewriting” method I talked about in the show and had great results with it. I’ve also had many people ask me for more details. So, here! Have some details!
fig. 1 – A actual specimen of freewriting
Freewriting is something I learned in the seventh grade. Our teacher Mr. Harrington made us all write non-stop in a notebook for two minutes. I thought it was fun because not stopping meant no time to think and worry about what you were writing. But I didn’t really use freewriting to help my regular writing until it came up in a college writing course. The class was in essay writing, and the professor often made the point that just because it wasn’t a “creative writing” course, you still need to be creative. Writing non-fiction needs to be done creatively too. Whether you’re a journalist or you’re writing scientific notes, you still need to think of creative ways of reaching your audience and making your point clear.
Our professor advocated a four-draft method of writing:
Draft 1: Freewriting. Just spill your guts out and dirty up that white page. It doesn’t have to make sense. No one will read it.
Draft 2: Actually form those words into something that looks like a serious attempt to make your point. It’s okay to throw out all of draft 1 and start from scratch. This draft you actually give to people for feedback.
Draft 3: Here you take in all feedback and make major structural changes and edits to make your point better.
Draft 4: The only changes here are small polish items and proofreading.
The freewriting step is so important because sometimes the biggest hurdle is simply getting started on a project. But also I think it puts your brain into the right mode. I’m no brain scientist (surprise!) but I suspect it sends blood to the language centers in your brain (I obviously get all of my science information from Brain Age on DS) and makes you hyperverbal, if that’s a word. Let’s say it is a word. If not, then it was probably a nickname some angry teacher gave a student who talked too much in class. But that never happened to me. Hey, let’s just say it gets you thinking verbally, instead of in abstract thoughts.
Sometimes it also helps take the place of having another person to brainstorm with. I find that when I’m stuck on a creative writing project, I can talk to someone and that will unblock me. Sometimes that’s because of something they say, but often it’s just an idea I had while talking to that person. I don’t know what it is about putting your thoughts into words that generates new thoughts, but it does! And if nobody is around to talk to, or you aren’t ready to share your ideas with anyone, then writing in a notebook is the next best thing.
Often when doing that four-draft method, you will start out freewriting in step one, and you’ll be writing about your topic, then you’ll drift off topic, then back on, then you’ll come up with a phrase you actually like and before you know it you’ve accidentally slipped into phase 2. You’re writing the actual essay. That’s okay—you just finish up the draft and then go back and clean up the intro.
Here are my own personal rules for freewriting:
- For me, it has to be first thing in the morning, when the brain is empty. You’re not allowed to check email, Twitter, Facebook—nothing. Talk to as few people as possible beforehand. Every input you allow into your brain is just distracting junk that will grow and swell and muck things up. You are allowed to use the bathroom, but no reading in there. No verbal input!
- I have to listen to music on headphones that blocks out other distracting sounds. The music needs to be something you’ve heard a million times so it falls into the background and you don’t think about it. It helps too, because if you’re sleepy (I’m always sleepy) you can crank the music really loud and that will help keep you up for a while.
- I write longhand in a notebook, but I’m not a fanatic about it. I’m sure you could also do it on a keyboard. It just feels better for me writing it out, even though my penmanship is terrible. Dragging pen across paper is quieter. And it’s easier to draw pictures and make little stars in the margin when you have a good idea. And you can do it on an airplane during takeoff and landing. I also like that it gives you one more layer of separation from the final project, because every time you move across one of these layers (like typing in the handwritten notes) it’s a natural opportunity for editing and refinement.
fig. 2a – A so-so picture of a rocket.
fig. 2b – An awesome picture of a 2-headed dragon.
fig. 2c – A spine-chilling depiction of a real monster. Do not look at it right before bedtime.
- I have to promise myself that no one will ever read my freewriting. This is important because you can not self-edit while freewriting. You can’t worry if what you’re saying is nice, fair, well-written, or even legal. You need to be 100% open and honest and the way I do that is to tell myself no one else is ever going to read it. Later on you can share sections of it, but you don’t have to. Unless some pesky documentarians try to capture it on film!
- You can not stop! Ever! Not even for a second. This is the NUMBER ONE thing! You pick an amount of time, whether it’s two minutes, five, 30, or an hour. And you must constantly be moving your pen the entire time. You might not be able to think this fast, in which case you just repeat the last word you said over and over and over and over and over and over rutabaga watermelon Penelope Pitstop cannonball firecracker Julio Iglesias cowabunga and it doesn’t matter. After time you will find that your brain is moving faster than your hand and you always have something you want to write down. A new rule I started this year is that if I ever stop writing and drift off, thinking about something else, I write “foul” in the margin and get back to writing. Not sure why I started this rule. I think I’m trying to discipline myself. Because it’s important to not stop. If you stop, that’s just regular writing, not freewriting.
- Have a goal. Five minutes, three hours, five full pages. Stop when you hit it. This isn’t an endurance test. This is something you do every day. It’s maintenance.
- Oh yeah—you have to do it every day. Or every weekday. Because writing is a job. It’s not eureka moments over and over. It’s grueling work, panning for gold. You just keep at it and eventually you get a few grains. Or flakes. Or whatever gold looks like in rivers. Or maybe it’s like fishing. Who cares? You just have to do it every day because you never know which day is going to be your productive day.
- If I have a good idea I like, I put a big star in the margin, and underline the important words or sentence. Or if it’s a whole paragraph, then I draw a vertical line down the margin on the side of all the words. This helps me find the good ideas later. It’s hard to comb through all the garbage and rutabagas and watermelons to find those golden idea nuggets you know you had the week before if you don’t leave behind some visual bookmarks.
- Figure out whatever notation works for you. If I have an off-topic idea (another game, et cetera) I write it up in the top margin of the page. If I think of a cool name for a character, even if I don’t know who gets that name yet, I write it in a special “names” area that I come back to when I need a name. For me, I write them on the manila pocket separators between sections in my five-subject notebook. Make up your own system that you like.
- Always write down the full date of each entry. It makes you feel pretentious at first, like signing a painting, but you’ll get over it. You might want the info later. Sometimes I write down what music I’m listening to, even though that’s dumb and LiveJournaly. It helps me feel like I’m capturing the moment, which fights back the panicky feeling that you are going to forget the current moment. Even if the current moment is stupid. Like people who take notes in college. You knew they were never going to look at those notes, but the notes helped them fight that panicky feeling that they were going to forget everything.
- Draw pictures if you feel like drawing pictures. This might go against my “hyperverbal” point, but I still do it. Also I make a lot of charts. Especially about story structure. Just go wherever your mind takes you, as long as you NEVER STOP WRITING.
There you have it! All the secrets of writing revealed! And here you thought it was so hard.
Here’s your homework assignment: Go out and get a new spiral notebook and a box of pens, and tomorrow morning start freewriting. I mean, it probably won’t kill you. But I can’t guarantee anything.
-Tim
