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15 April, 2010 8:53 am

The Freewriting Process

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by Deb    in NonFiction Writing, Writing Courses, Writing Prompts

eBook Write Out LoudIt’s a few years since I brought out my eBook, Write Out Loud, on freewriting, and people ask me if I still write that way? Am I still freewriting? Hmmmm, do ducks still swim?

Of course I am. I don’t know how to write any other way.

The thing is, when you start a writing project you have to begin somewhere and freewriting is a great way to find that somewhere. The first word has to go down, followed by the second to make up the sentence. You may have a rough idea of what you want to say in the body of the piece, or you may have no idea where you’re going when you first start, but where ever it is, a start must be made. Getting those first words is even more pressing when you’re on a deadline.

If I’m writing nonfiction, I might start with research and let that suggest a few angles. For instance, I was recently asked to write a short piece on home insurance. What do I know about home insurance? Being ‘between homes’ I don’t even have insurance at the moment.

But this was a general interest piece for an estate agency (real estate) website. I didn’t have to consult experts, mention particular brands or focus on any one aspect of the subject. I just had to write an SEO article around the general subject.

I started with research and went to one of my favourite hunting grounds, the BBC News website. At this point I had no idea what I was going to write. I only knew I had to write something. I’d said I’d do it. I had a deadline. Between now and then an article on the given subject had to come out of my keyboard.

When I’m writing nonfiction I need a starting place before freewriting can work its magic. Freewriting prompts are great for fiction, but I find not so great for nonfiction at the beginning. On the BBC website I found my starting place within minutes, and a few minutes later, having scanned a couple of articles on the subject, I had enough knowledge to fire up Scrivener and begin freewriting.

I don’t fret about structure at this stage. I have a little corner of my mind on the clock – I’m on deadline remember – and if this writing is going to be profitable to me I can’t afford to tinker and angst over word choice. I trust my freewriting muse to deliver to goods, and with my general subject in mind I just start writing.

And from that point on I let it go where it wants. All the time I’m subconsciously giving it a little direction because the research I’ve just done is fresh in my mind. My muse has plenty of fodder to draw on.

One paragraph in and I’m rolling. A structure of sorts begins to suggest itself and I let it run. What I don’t do is make alternative suggestions to my muse, or worry about whether it’s be the best structure. It’s a structure. That’s all I need. Let it grow and see what happens.

What happens is this. The more I trust my freewriting muse the more it delivers to me. Words are there when I need them. Sometimes the best words don’t pop up until the last minute, and that’s okay too. It’s the popping up that counts, not the moment when they do so.

Having been given a great ending line, right at the point when I hit my given wordcount, I stop writing. Close Scrivener. Shut the laptop. Go and have coffee.

My first draft of the article is in the bag and what I need now is a little distance from it. When I come back, which might be an hour or so later, or given the lead time it might even be a day or so later, I read it with a fresh eye. 9 times out of 10 I’m happy with what I got and don’t need to do more than tighten, correct typos, check for SEO (which Scrivener is great for – see here) and alter accordingly.

For the article in question, my great line at the end was actually a lousy place to end. It was too sudden, had no element of conclusion and left the reader hanging. Not good.

I sort of knew this as I was writing, but because I was freewriting, and this is what you do when you’re freewriting, it had to go down. Always remember, freewriting is first draft stuff. A fast way of getting the ideas down and controlling the internal editor.

When I went back after my break, I realised my rotten ending made a perfect beginning.

It was a couple of minutes work to shift that ending up to the start and rejig the transitions so it read smoothly. A little editing in the body reduced my word count, and having done that tidying up I was more able to see the finished structure and add an ending that rounded off and provided a proper conclusion.

I could have sat for a couple of hours at the start, fighting with myself to find the perfect beginning. I could have refused to start until I had the structure planned out and the ending firmly in mind.

From experience I know this way of writing doesn’t work for me.

I found my perfect beginning only after I’d almost finished. What became the opening sentence of my article was actually the last one I wrote.

In freewriting this happens time and time again. It’s a process you have to learn to trust, and you can only learn to trust it if you try it out for yourself.

I’m not saying freewriting like this works for everyone. We all do things a little differently from each other. But it works often enough, for enough people, that if you haven’t tried it yet, you maybe should.

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16 December, 2009 12:35 pm

Write What You Don’t Know

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by Deb    in NonFiction Writing, Writing Prompts

Writers are often given the advice to ‘write what you know’.

It makes sense at first glance. After all, how can you write what you don’t know? The thing is though, there is so much out there in the big wide world that to only write what you know really restricts your chances of getting paid writing work.

Let me be clear, I’m not talking about writing in-depth, learned articles. I’m talking about the kind of writing that skims the surface and delves just far enough into the meat of a subject to inform someone who knows less than you do. And there is always someone who knows less than you do who could benefit from your initial research to gain a lead into a subject. If they want to know more, they go somewhere else, but you’ve given them a starting place.

Research is so easy to do when you know how, it’s worth learning the skills and putting them to use in writing. You suddenly find you can write intelligently on just about any general interest topic that takes your fancy. And that opens up a whole new writing world.

To anyone who wants to earn money from writing, I suggest honing your research skills and writing outside your comfort zone. Write about gold mining, about the history of innoculation, write a brief biography of a famous person, write a short article on how to make soap – anything that means you start from scratch and write from research.

When you’ve done a couple of articles, put yourself on a timer and see how fast you can do both the research and the writing without sacrificing quality. Remember, nothing in-depth, just basic information presented in a straightforward, readable manner. Aim for about 500 words.

It’s fun, it’s educational, and more importantly it expands your knowledge base and gives you confidence as a writer.

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10 October, 2009 5:45 pm

Who Says Exercise Can’t be Fun

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by Deb    in Nuts & Bolts Writing Course, Writing Prompts

I’m not sure why, but women writers always seem to outnumber the men in writing groups, so I’m always secretly delighted when there are a few male writers in the workshops.

Are women more willing to share writing experiences? Are women more open to exploring new avenues or maybe admitting they don’t always know it all? I wonder…

This morning’s workshop, however, was graced by the presence of two of those elusive creatures known as male writers, bringing with them an extra dimension, and I have to say it, an extra spark of humour.

We examined story shape, and the vital elements needed for good story beginnings, middles and endings. It’s a tough class. I do more talking than I normally like to, and there’s a lot of information to get to grips with.

By the end a little light relief is badly needed, so we finished with a fun and spontaneous exercise on writing story endings. The writers are given a line of fiction to end with, and the task is to write the closing paragraphs, finishing with that given line. Everyone gets a different line and the end results are inevitably funny, entertaining and highly individual.

Last to read was one of the men. Out comes a ribald little tale involving chastity belts and lost keys. It was hilarious and had the room in uproar, even earning the writer a round of applause!

Well done to you, you know who you are, and thank you for making everyone laugh out loud at the end of what was quite an intense workshop.

PS. If you fancy trying the exercise with your own writing group, it’s here.

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5:28 pm

Story Endings Group Exercise

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by Deb    in Writing Prompts

Here is the exercise we did if it you’d like to try it with your group.

Prepare a few lines that would be suitable for stories to end on. They can be anything, but a few examples are:

1. It was the last straw. Things would never be the same.
2. I can’t tell a lie.
3. Trust me on this, dogs are always bad news.

You get the idea. Just about anything that has that ‘final’ ring to it.

Make sure there are at least as many lines as there are writers, and number them (the lines, not the writers!).

Have each writer pick a number. The line with that number becomes theirs. Read it out and have the owner write it down. When everyone has their line, set a timer and write for between 5 and 10 mins.

Afterwards let everyone take turns in reading their endings. The results are often surprising and always interesting.

A variation would be to give everyone the same ending line, and then compare the differences. We all have an individual imagination so it’s interesting to see what different things people come up with from the same stimulus.

PS. If you do try this with your group I’d be really interested to hear how it went. Drop me a line – email deb @ writingoutloud.co.uk (remove the spaces), or leave a comment below.

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