The Art of Writing: "Freewriting" vs. "Flow of Consciousness"

Some weeks (months?) back, fellow Steemian @fitninfun challenged me to do 30 days of @mariannewest's daily "freewrites."

I got off to a decent start, I suppose... but ultimately failed miserably after about 8-10 days when I had a few missed days and then stopped altogether. Sorry I didn't do better!

A peaceful spot for a springtime walk...

There is a Difference...

I have actually done freewriting before. It can work really nicely as a creative tool to jump start your thoughts when you feel stuck.

Just for reference, freewriting typically involves a "fixed prompt" and then you go after that topic with a timer, typically five minutes, sometimes ten minutes. It's an exercise in focus, and in get the most possible ideas down, in a hurry.

What I did learn (or remembered) from my brief foray into freewriting is that my "natural placement" as a writer seems to be a sort of "cousin" of freewriting typically referred to as "flow-of-consciousness."

My previous post here, today was entirely flow-of-consciousness:

I had an idea, I started typing, an outline of sorts formed in my head and I just wrote the entire thing out till it came to a natural conclusion some 850 words later.

Much like freewriting, I never stopped, I never edited and — in fact — I didn't do anything to the piece other than go back to correct a few typos and add photos.

But there was no timer and the topic was my own... and I let the content more or less "develop itself" as I went along.

Red ornamental maple leaves with spider's silk

Some are Short, Some are Long...

Flow-of-consciousness writing is definitely not for everyone!

I happen to like it because of my own sentiments that too many "rules" actually tends to stifle my creativity, rather than jump start it.

My very best essays in both high school and college — a few of which ended up being published in magazines and literary journals — were all the result of some type of "flow-of-consciousness" outpouring.

Of course, what comes out isn't always all that great, and the lengths can vary tremendously. Sometimes, everything that needs to be said is on the page in 200 words or less... it's kinda cool when that happens!

At other times, it goes the opposite way.

I remember once sitting down to write part one of a planned 10-part serial on self-development and mindfulness for a prominent weekly online magazine with close to a million subscribers... and seven hours and and 14,000 words later, all ten segments were finished. And they pretty much needed only very minor editing.

Last I checked, they were still among the top 20 all-time read pieces (among thousands) in the magizine's archives.

My point here being that here was an "important" assignment where all common sense would dictate that I take lots of time and care to "get it just right," and yet? It all flowed out in a single day!

Springtime visitor

Most of Us Already DO it!

The funny thing is, most of us already poke at the edges of "flow-of-consciousness" writing... whenever we read a post here and get into leaving a long detailed (and perhaps pasionate!) comment... that's precisely what we're doing.

Ever notice how sometimes your lengthier comments are are easier to write than actual posts of similar lengths?

Of course, we are all different, but my own experience has been that authentic creativity really doesn't like to be "boxed in." Creativity — as a writer, as an artist, as a musician — is typically at its best when it is allowed to flow "free style." We tend to think that we are helped by lots of guidelines, but often we end up doing far too much thinking and not enough actual creating.

And with that.. this post was also 600+ words written start-to-finish, off the top of my head!

I invite you to experiment with it... who knows, you might like it! Or, at least, you might learn something about your own creative process!

Thanks for reading, and have a great night. Or day, if you're over on the other half of the globe!

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 190415 01:12 PST
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