Free Writing: Give It a Try
Ignore the rest of the world - you know you want to.
Break the rules. Listen to no one. Write for yourself.
Modern life is all about instructions and limits. You must do this. You can’t do that.
Society tries to mould us and make us fit templates. You should get a good job, marry someone, live together and have kids.
Many of us don’t go along with the plans to a degree. I’ll do the opposite of what they tell me. I won’t do what they expect of me.
Where Does Writing Come Into This?
Most people aren’t as free as they could be. They go through life doing what they should instead of what they truly want.
A lot of writing is like that.
How so?
Because so much writing is produced for an audience.
That is to say, you’re writing with the reader in mind; you’re aware of who you’re targeting with your text.
When you write for one or more people, it’s easy to end up tailoring your writing to suit your target readers. You write to satisfy the needs, desires and preferences of people, most of whom are unknown to you.
This applies to all types of writing, whether it’s for work or leisure, whether it’s short or long, whether it’s self-published or published in the traditional way.
Free Writing Explained
As its name implies, free writing is where you write with no one else in mind.
There’s no target reader to think about, no ideal audience, no intended market - nothing.
You’re writing without thinking about anyone else and how they’ll react. You’re writing without having to remind yourself that your text is going to have readers who will need to be satisfied by what they read.
The only person you have to think about when working on your piece of free writing is yourself.
You decide what to write and how to write it; no one else gets a say in any part of the process.
As well as producing the text, you read through it and carry out any edits yourself, again disregarding the thoughts and opinions of potential readers.
You edit your piece of free writing as you see fit.
While some would argue that an outsider’s perspective would be helpful, remind yourself that you can produce a perfectly good piece of writing without involving others.
How to Practise Free Writing
It’s simple, just write whatever you want. Take whatever approach you see fit. Come up with an idea and write it down.
The beauty of free writing is that you’re free to put together your piece of writing in whatever way you want.
Let your words flow as they’re meant to be; don’t chop and change them to suit an audience because remember, this piece of writing is entirely yours.
The Benefits of Free Writing
Here are some of the key advantages of free writing:
The writing process is a lot more relaxing and enjoyable when you don’t have to think about satisfying others.
The content is entirely you; none of what you have to say is left out or changed because of how you feel others might react.
It could fare better than writing that’s produced with readers in mind.
You’ll feel encouraged to revisit ideas, concepts and subject matter you previously rejected or didn’t develop enough.
It can make you feel more positive towards writing in general, even when it’s writing for other people.
Free writing can be productive, rewarding and possibly even therapeutic. You’ve got nothing to lose from it and everything to gain from it, so give it a try.
Write Free
Write free from thoughts of how others might react. Write free from worries about reception and opinions. Write free from concerns about whether or not you’re giving readers what they want. Practise free writing and write free.