FreewritingFreewriting is a technique that helps you clear mental space so that thoughts about an issue in question can emerge that had been below the surface of your attention—insights that you were not able, at first, to acknowledge. (Supportive Listening is another means to that end.) Elbow (1981) places Freewriting on the creative side of the necessary interplay of the creative and the critical in thinking and writing. You may wish to make Freewriting a start-of-the-day habit to warm up your research and writing.In a Freewriting exercise, you should not take your pen off the paper. Keep writing even if you find yourself stating over and over again, "I don't know what to say." What you write will not be seen by anyone else, so do not go back to tidy up sentences, grammar, or spelling. In a guided freewriting exercise, you continue from where a sentence provided by the session facilitator leaves off (examples below). You will probably diverge from the topic, at least for a time, while you acknowledge other preoccupations. That is OK—indeed, it is another purpose of the exercise. However, if you keep writing for seven to ten minutes, you should expose some thoughts about the topic that had been below the surface of your attention. At the start of a project
Early on in a project
When you begin to draft a report
ReferenceElbow, P. (1981). Writing with Power. New York: Oxford University Press. |
Daily WritingA practice of writing text related to your project 15-30 minutes five to seven days per week (Boice 1990, Gray n.d.). Log time spent and new words written, and, at the end of each session, note possible topics for future Daily Writing. New words is important—editing, revising, and filling in citations can be done at another time in the day. Indeed, daily writing should lead to a release of energy for other research and writing work entailed by your project.Start Daily Writing at the very start of your project. The words you write need not ever end up in the final written product, so it does not matter if your project is unclear at the start and changes as you go on. Note, however, that Daily Writing differs from Freewriting or Cameron's (2002) "Morning Pages." Your Daily Writing words should be expository, composed as if you are presenting some points to an audience. ReferencesCameron, J. (2002). The Artist's Way. New York: Tarcher.Gray, T. n.d. Publish and flourish. http://www.taragray.com/workshops/publish.html (viewed 8 July 2011) Boice, R. (1990). Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing. Stillwater, OK: New Forums Press. |
| One thing I appreciated about the session… |
One thing that could be developed further… |
| Having the time to share with colleagues the difficulties we share when we deal with the double “task” of being creative and being “disciplinary.” Having the opportunity to be aware of what important aspects of my research I am not taking myself seriously, and how I could do that. |
To talk more personally about how we manage our responsibilities in the areas to the left. |
| Interactive sections, especially the dialogue half-hour at the end |
More time to discuss the stages of research so some things would have been more clear and covered with more details |
| Exploration of new forms of representation, not only written. Use new tools and support for working in future experiences. |
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| Stimulation to think, to be creative |
More exercise time for “learning by doing” |
| Workshop using the cards to take turns so we understand the opinions and thinking of the other people |
Importance of removing pain The difficulties of keeping up a daily habit |
| Useful, informative, opened new perspectives, gave many clues for our work: …, methods, reflections |
Nothing (only my deficiencies in the English language) |
| I firmly believe that this kind of seminars are very important to the development of a reflection about our own habits and ways of work. |
Important points that some of us never think about were shared in the very nice last exercise [dialogue half-hour] |
| Allowed for fruitful discussion on methodology and methods (techniques) |
We needed more time for this |
| Gave me lots of thoughts on what is innovation. |
Look more at the area of innovation. |
| Gave me insights and concrete ideas for me to reflect on my personal difficulties “showing up for my job.” Supported my reflection on strategies to engage with different knowledges and enrich the possibilities of my project. |
