1. The Writing Process Prewriting/Brainstorming Organizing/Outlining Drafting Revising Editing/Proofreading Sharing/Publishing (not always linear!)

2. Free Writing A particular type of brainstorming or prewriting

3. Why Free Writing? Most importantly, because it is when we write that we discover what we think. A result of free writing is often a focus for a piece of writing, whether the piece is creative or academic. The goal of free writing is to give a voice to the ideas running around in your head.

4. Free writing allows us to flow from one idea to the next without being concerned about whether the idea is a good one or not. This isn’t the time to judge the ideas, only the time to get them out.

5. Variation on a theme – the Focused Free Write Sometimes writers are given a focus for their free writing, thus the term focused free write. Focused free writes can be helpful because they give a starting point to the writer’s ideas.

6. So how does free writing work? Keep the pen moving until time is up! It may feel as if you have nothing to say, but if you keep writing, ultimately, something will surface.

7. Do not judge or censor your ideas—just get them on the page. Don’t worry about how your ideas are phrased. Again, just get them on the page.

8. Today’s first focused free writes… involve description. Description involves sensory details: What do you see? Smell? Hear? Feel? Taste? Remember, details help a writer show and not simply tell.

9. FFW #1: For five minutes, think about and describe items found in or around your home, yard, neighborhood Think about the family table, kitchen, playhouse, favorite hiding spot. Don’t limit yourself to right now or the recent past. Think back to childhood! No detail is too small or unimportant! Example: papers and books for the latest school project spread across the dining room table, anchored by the paperweight of a black and white cat

10. FFW #2: For five minutes, think about and write down common sayings you hear around your home or with your extended family. If possible, include the circumstances around when you might hear a particular saying. Example: “Coulthards aren’t quitters,” a reminder meant to encourage when it seems like life isn’t turning out quite as planned

11. FFW #3: For five minutes, think about and describe family members, relatives, friends, classmates, or pets who link you to the past. Example: a taller version of my own name, met by chance at the water fountain in the hallway

12. FFW #4: Think about and describe places that link you to the past—to childhood, even recent memories, or to a particular time of year. Example: crunching gravel as the car rolls to a stop, doors slamming shut as we walk toward a front porch guarded by sentinel boxwoods and lined with white rockers that invite us to sit and visit

13. Tonight’s Homework: Continue to add to the focused free writing you began today. We will be using many of these details in our first writing assignment.