Do you ever do timed free-writing? Do you ever just set a timer for ten or fifteen or thirty minutes and write about anything and everything till the bell rings? You’re not writing about anything. You’re just making words on a page or screen, one after the other, whether they make sense or not.
I know, it sounds like a huge waste of time. I mean, I’ve got things to do and projects to finish and dishes to wash and kids to read to and…. And–bullshit. You’re a writer; your ability to write is no different from your ability to run a race or play a game of tennis. Think of all the core exercises you do to get ready for a marathon, all the balls you hit to get your backhand into the groove. Writing requires the same regular exercising, training if you will, and just as training for a tournament doesn’t take place in view of the public, so training as a writer has to be distanced from the deadlines and judgments that accompany “real” writing projects.
Thus, the beauty of the Timed Free-write. It has no topic. It is about nothing. It’s only goal is to keep words coming for the time you have allotted. When the bell rings, you’re done; you have successfully achieved your goal; you can go out into the world and feel good that today you wrote. And if all you wrote was the same sentence over and over? No matter. Today that’s what came out; tomorrow may be different. I promise you that if you make a promise to yourself–and keep it–to do a Timed Free-write everyday, one day soon you’ll be amazed at what you’re producing.
Anyone want to take a pledge with me? Sign up for a month’s worth of Timed Free-writes and at the end of the month, let’s talk about what you’ve learned.
Jane Gassner
