Freewriting

Freewriting 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 (see also Supportive Listening, q.v.).

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 won't be seen by anyone else, so don't go back to tidy up sentences, grammar, spelling. You will probably diverge from the topic, at least for a time while you acknowledge other preoccupations. That's OK--it's one of the purposes of the exercise. However, if you keep writing for seven-ten minutes, you should expose some thoughts about the topic that had been below the surface of your attention--that's another of the aims of the exercise. Reference: Elbow, P. 1981. Writing With Power. New York: Oxford U. P.

In a guided freewriting exercise, you continue where a sentence I provide leads off (examples follow).

At the start of a project

"I would like my work on X to influence Y to make changes in Z..."
"I often/ sometimes have trouble getting going until..."
"The differences between investigating ... and investigating .... might be that..."
"There are SO many aspects to my topic. I could look at..... and...."
"If I was given more background in how to analyze society-science relations, I would be better able to..."
"From my past experience, the kinds of issues or aspects of research I tend to overlook or discount include..."

Early on in a project

"When I think about sharing my incomplete work, what comes up is.... And this means I should....."
"It may be very premature to lay out the arguments involved in my research, but it may help me define where I am going, so let me try..."
"Incorporating regular freewriting into my resesarch practice is (difficult? wonderful? a not yet achieved ideal?)..."
"In the next two months what I most want to see happening in my project is... What is blocking me realizing this vision is...."
"Usually when I try to plan my work, what happens is.."
"Some aspect of research I'd like to be able to explain clearly for my project is.."
"If I had to state a question that keeps my subject, audience and purpose most clearly in focus, I would say..."

When you begin to draft a report

"My ideal report would lead readers to see... I would grab their attention by... and lead them through a series of steps, namely....."

Updated: 6-17-02