What is a Freewrite? Tell Us Your Take and Win.
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Day 2
Freewrite and Win
Today, we are going to talk about the 5-Minute Freewrite. Then, you are telling us in the comments for a chance to win a Steem basic income membership. More on that below.
Many of you have probably been part of the Freewriting adventure for a while. But just in case you never went back to the introductory post, here it is for your reading pleasure:
Introduction to the Daily Prompt 5- Minute Freewrite
Freewrite - what the heck is that you ask. Well, it is the opposite of a well thought out, highly edited, and grammatically correct piece of writing.
Freewriting is to set a timer for a certain amount of time and write. Without stopping. Without correcting anything. Without worrying if what we write is good or bad. Nobody cares.
The point of the freewriting session is to get out of our heads and tap into our creative self - allow things to flow. Sometimes, great writing will result. Well, and sometimes - not. The point is to get into a daily (or however often you can) habit of writing.
And that really is what a Freewrite is. But - and here comes the great but - our version of the freewrite is just a tiny bit different.
Our Interpretation of the 5-Minute Freewrite
Maybe saying that our version of the 5-Minute Freewrite is a tiny bit different is a tiny, little lie. Actually, a big one.
Over the past 150 days, it has become more and more clear that the emphasis is on FREE not so much on the 5 minutes, or the not editing.
What is unchangeable, we insist you do is this:
Without worrying if what we write is good or bad.
That worry kills any kind of creativity and we are all about exploring freely and encouraging abundantly.
We all started somewhere and the more we write, the better we get.
So, in our version of the freewrite, some do write for 5 minutes and stop in the middle of the word if the timer goes off.
Others take the first five minutes of just writing to get an idea on paper and then spend hours turning it into a story.
Or we start with the intention to stop after 5 minutes but just keep going after the timer dings - because our story is asking to be finished.
All is good and all is encouraged as long as it works for you.
A Special Gift from @fireawaymarmot
Here is an example how incredible the Freewrite community is. One of our freewriters is a gifted artist. Before I go on, I highly recommend you go to his profile @fireawaymarmot and check out his ongoing story based on the daily prompt.
Every episode, that is every freewrite based on the prompt, also features an original illustration. It is truly an experience.
@fireawaymarmot has been so kind to make this beautiful graphic for all you freewriters. Please use it as you wish and make sure to drop by his profile and say thank you.
You Tell Us for a Chance to Win a Membership in Steem Basic Income
Steem Basic Income
Steem Basic Income is a social experiment to bring a basic income to as many Steemians as possible. Members join by sponsoring others into the program. Steem Basic Income is delivered through providing regular upvotes to member content.
This is what you have to do for your chance to win a membership: Leave us a comment
Which has something to do with this post
Is at least 50 words
Today, we like to know if you have had a Freewrite experience and if yes, a little bit about it.
We will let you know if your comment is accepted and give you a number.
At 5 PM Pacific time the day after publishing of this post, we will close the contest and draw the winner through a random number generator. This will give you almost 36 hours to post your comment.
Update: 5:39 PM Pacific Time. 3/17/2018. The contest is closed now. Last entry was # 30.
The winner will be announced and sponsored the same day.
Watch this space. There will be a daily chance to win for the next 13 days - and maybe longer.
Join the Freewrite daily prompt here
And join us at the Isle of Write in the freewriter - retreat
art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
Where to start and where will it end? Those questions ran through my head again and again. Many moons ago I dreamed of becoming a writer. I started a novel on Steemit a year after joining but ran into a block with it. Then I happened upon the freewrites. It gives me courage to keep going and see where my imagination takes me. The more I do the freewrites, the more I hone up my writing skill....But don't worry @freewritehouse, if you let me into your home, I will use washable ink on the walls. :-)
22 pixiehunter
You are in the drawing - and of course you are in the house. don't worry about washable ink. The house has magic walls which just grow if someone needs more space to write on them 😉
Sweet :-) and good thing they can grow. Have you seen how much @felt.buzz writes? He may need his own set of walls. :-)
I remember creating either poetry and stories on my freewrites. I can't remember everything I created to be honest. But my experience in most freewrites I make is to think of what kind of story or topic I should input before typing. Then I will type in impromptu. There are times when I already started a story, but it shifts to another story in the middle. Our minds can be weird at times. The fact that I am using the The Most Dangerous Writing App, thinking of what to type may not be easy. There goes my weirdness. Whatever comes to my mind, I just type in.
23 iyanpol12
You are in the drawing. When you use the app, it makes you just go, go, go!! No thinking lol. It is a great way to tap into the subconscious.
I had a freewriting experience once, but I actually got paid for it because it was so terrible that my mom didn't want to hurt my feelings by critisizing it and instead, bought it from me to boost my interest in writing...That made me so happy that I began to write on everything around the house; toilet paper, paper towels, bath towels, the bath tub, walls, ceilings...everywhere...hoping to get more money from mom.
When my mother woke from her nap, she screamed "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE...???"and fainted. So, I wrote on her that I was sorry.
I hope
That is hilarious! I especially loved it when you wrote on your mom that you were sorry! So funny! : )
Thank you, glad I gave you a good laugh...
15 averageoutsider
You are in the drawing. That was funny!!! do you still write on walls once in a while? You are welcome to write on the wall of the Freewrite House any time!! We actually like it. Find the link to the daily prompt in the post or visit @mariannewest. Come back here every day for a chance to win. At least for a while.
Oh...I'm so glad to have given you a laugh. Yes, I still write on walls when the urge strikes and paint pictures too...I have added you to my 'follow' and shall click the link provided. Thank you.
I would have been sorry too, just as soon as Mom woke up and found the fly swat! 😮
Ouch...I would have dived under a big pile of laundry to hide (the whipping belt never found me there)
😃
My experience with freewriting...it would look like a child who was terrified to speak for first time, taking a deep breath and singing out loudly!
I've been so scared to share the stories inside my head, or create new ones that lived in secret in my heart. My biggest fear has always been rejection, so the first time I wrote for the freewrite prompt my adrenalin was high and I bet I was shakey! But as I prepared myself for zero upvotes and no comments...but what I actually got was amazing feedback, full of support and more upvotes than I ever expected! This has changed my views on writing, and it has freed me from so many insecurities!
16 freedomtowrite
You are in the drawing. Almost teared up here. We are so glad that you feel safe writing with us and that it opened the door for you creativity to come out and be shared with the world. So glad that you are Freewriter living in the Freewrite House.
The five-minute freewrite is my first experience with freewriting. Without exaggeration, this exercise has completed changed my writing habits (and possibly my career)! My method:
I've now collected a list of literary journals, online fiction and essay-focused spaces, and a smattering of high-reaching writing opportunities for which I will prepare pieces! None of that would've happened without the freewrite community, which is part of the Isle of Write community, and now my new connection (through this freewrite) to the Writer's Block community.
11 ameliabartlett
You are in the drawing! We are so glad that the freewrite gave you the inspiration to reach far and high! Hopefully, you will come to the Freewrite House a lot. FYI. We are not associated with the Writer's Block - many of the freewriters are, but the Freewrite House is its own entity.
Oh my goodness @ameliabartlett! I've been planning to reach out to you for the past week from a recommendation from @borrowedearth! She was telling my husband, @freedompoint, and I about how you are converting a bus to a rv, which is what we are planning on doing! But what I think is fantastic, is that I found you here in the freewrites. Our process in how we freewrite is the same! I do want to check out picture site you referenced, I haven't heard about it before!
Hello there! Yes, reach out if you need any advice on bus conversion! I'm smack in the middle of one and learning more every day. 😂
I loved the biopic Hemingway & Gellhorn because in it actor Clive Owen, as Ernest Hemingway, brought to life a story about Hemingway and his writing routine. Hemingway stood at the typewriter and just poked out anything on his mind. He would freely write at a darting pace until the page filled with words. Then, he would rip the page out of the typewriter and toss it away. I always heard this was how Hemingway primed the pump and it was fun to see the story come to life on the screen.
The Freewrite 5-minute prompt works in the same way. Sometimes a full-scene comes to mind. Most often, the prompt forces me to just fill the page with dribble and see what comes of it. Freewrite equals freedom. I love the opportunity to just be free with my thoughts.
Writing this way allows me to be creative. The flowing words feel like paint: I am free to just dab those thoughts on paper and see if they resemble anything.
3 wordymouth
You are in the drawing. Freewriting is a little bit like painting. Just allow the words to flow and see if they from into a picture - or not. All good - that is the best part about it.
I bet you if someone had all those tossed away pages from Hemingway - they would be rich now LOL
Freewrite is as its name implies is writing freely what comes into your mind. I've been doing freewrite for a while now and its been fun. Do I just look at the topic and jump into writing? Nah, I don't do that. Do I also overthink? The answer is still no. Ive had a thing for writing, but it usually takes me a whole lot of time to write a story, most of them I don't end up finishing. they just lie in my pc, never to be opened again. But freewrite gives me the opportunity to turn any prompt into a short story. I look a the prompt, and already stories I could write with them starts popping up. When I select a story, thats when I then set my time. With freewrite, I've written more stories than I actually post on my blog. Freewrite help build our creativity. I wouldn't for the fumigate prompt. Out of nowhere I had the idea of a radioactive spider. Thanks to @freewritehouse for this opportunity and also thanks to @mariannewest for freewrite initiative.
7 pasaift
You are in the drawing.
It is so interesting to hear about the different processes people do for their freewrites. And oh yes - radioactive spiders can appear from nowhere with the right prompt.
More contests! I'm in for this.
At first, a freewrite was difficult - I keep hitting backspace to edit without wanting to. At times, I am unhappy with the work so I let the timer on the app run out and restart (although this was only done first week). What's beautiful about freewrite is that you do not look for the perfect word or for the appropriate name for your characters, it just comes. If it's a weak or weird word, it's what you have to use. Sometimes, I do go + or - 10 seconds, and rarely do I make exceptions to this, unless I really need to add a paragraph to a story I am adoring.
The favourite freewrites are the weekend freewrites as they provide twists that I am not expecting. When you think you have already defined every character and a random Lillian appears. Who is Lillian?! Overall, I took my freewriting experiences (over 30 now) and adapt them into my work - I start with freedom and no inhibition, and I get to edit my poetry/fiction later. No need to get it right the first time. The creativity and engagement can be there just from the first freewriting draft.
2 poetrybyjeremy
You are in the contest!
"What is Freewriting?" Well it seems to be when someone gives a prompt and members of a group then write something having to do with the prompt. It can be poetry or prose, unless specified. Freewriting can lead to publication of a book through the creation of an idea. Or through a collection of Freewrites. Yet it's greatest advantage can be found in blog creation and bringing writers together. Writing can be a very lonely profession in the classical sense. Only Freewriting can bring a diverse group of people to express different ideas on the same topic. Everyone can share their writing at the same time, while we cannot all speak at the same time.
18 cyemela
You are in the drawing. You are so right!! Freewriting can do all those things you mentioned. I think for most of us here it is the friendship and community which has resulted from the freewriting :)
Nice @freewritehouse... Of course, I want to be in the running :). So here's my one and only experience with freewrite so far. A couple of weekends ago, I came across @mariannewest's weekendfreewrite.. Now the weekendfreewrite has 3 parts/prompts. You go through them one by one without knowing what's coming. And you are given 5 minutes for each. So, my daughter who volunteered to keep me in check and I got started. . At first I was nervous but ended up laughing so hard with my daughter. Because I was racing against time, my fingers were flying and some of the words that "they" were typing, and the way the story twisted and turned surprised me. It was so much fun!! The story surprised the writer hahaha and I loved it!!! My fingers had a mind of their own. I'm definitely on board for free write and can't wait to see what else will come out of these fingers.
27 kaerpediem
You are in the drawing. Isn't it fun when our writing is surprising us!! To many more freewrites and laughter sessions with your daughter!