Freewriting is an exercise used by writers to stimulate creativity, generate ideas or warm up. It involves setting a time limit and writing from start to end with as little thinking, self-correcting, judging or editing as possible.

You can use either a computer keyboard or a pen. Set a timer for an allotted time such as five or ten minutes. Write down a word or phrase that describes your topic at the top. Once the timer starts, start writing.

Write as quickly as possible and try not to think too much about what you're writing. Let yourself free associate. It doesn't matter if the writing is "good" or not, just that you keep writing. It's okay to go off topic and it's perfectly fine to make spelling and grammar mistakes. Just try to get down whatever pops into your head.

Keep the pen or your fingers moving until the timer stops. Then, go back and read over what you wrote to see if any ideas emerge. Often, you'll find that there's some part of the text that stands out as being useful amid a great deal of meaningless scribble.

Sometimes the actual writing itself won't yield anything useful, but it will get the ideas flowing and your creativity will be flying high after you've finished writing. This is why writers use it to warm up.

The time limit is vital in freewriting. If there is no time limit, you'll run out of ideas or burn out. With freewriting, you can stop when the timer stops, or take a break and set the timer again for another session. Another option is to set a page limit or word count limit rather than a timer.

There are many ways to do freewriting in a group context. Like 6-3-5 Brainwriting, you can pass your papers each time the timer stops. Each participant can pick up where the last left off.

Another group freewriting idea is for each person's writing to be read by another participant. The other participant may bring a fresh perspective to it or find an idea valuable that the writer might not have.

Learning Activity:

1. Set a timer and try a freewriting session.

2. Try a group freewriting session similar to 6-3-5 Brainwriting