Freewriting Exercise: Dialogue
A freewrite is a collection of the writers’ thoughts on a topic. It does not depend on grammar or spelling but, on connections and ideas. It is like being able to speak one’s mind without worrying about consequences. Freewrites can facilitate stronger writing because; they are an expression of thoughts without self editing. They allow the writer to look at all sides of a topic including silly thoughts, incomplete thoughts and disconnected thoughts. I use a type of freewriting I call webbing. It is a brainstorming exercise that I find lets me incorporate all my thoughts on a subject, link them together and trim out the ones not important to the subject matter I am trying to convey.
I know self editing is my worse enemy. Often I will change the words I am using because of spelling. Substituting common words leads to the loss of power in the messages I am trying to send. The text reminded me that I do a lot of crossing out and rethinking while I attempt to write. I need to remember to start with a main message, and then formulate the introduction and the conclusion. I think I will continue to try and use some type of freewrite when I am researching a main message. We are often taught to think before we speak, freewrites tell us write first then think about what we have said.
Hi Bette Jo,
ReplyDeleteWhen you are doing your webbing do you continually write or take the time to think about what you want to write? I know I am my own worst enemy and take to much time trying to decide what I want to write, I want it perfect. I work in a professional office and I want my writing to sound professional. I am very hard on myself when it comes to writing. When I write I always look up spelling of words on the internet and also I have a spellchecker in my purse because I write a lot when I am away from a computer. Your paragraphs are very informative, thanks. Barb
Just like Barbara, I am also curious about webbing and how you go about it. It seems like a creative way to lay out thoughts and ideas similar to a freewrite. Do you write out sentences or do you just jot down words as they relate to the subject matter and create sentence later?
ReplyDeleteHi Bettejo,
ReplyDeleteI love your point: "We are often taught to think before we speak, freewrites tell us write first then think about what we have said." I think it's correct; it's about putting our ideas down, so that we can fully consider those points before moving those ideas into an essay.
Rules for Writers, ch. 1 has a brief section on clustering or webbing. I think they're great; thank you for bringing them up! Webs are strong visual representations of an essay and can help with organization and finding relationships between ideas. I considered using them in our class, but the online format makes it difficult to share webs.
Thanks for your ideas.
Lauren
Hi BettieJo,
ReplyDeleteI love your ideas on freewriting and think that webbing is a great idea. I understand on where your coming from regarding self-editing being your worst enemy because I often find myself doing the same thing. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, I think that self editing is why so many people have such a difficult time writing. Personally i get stuck so much trying to rewrite what i have written that i loose track and waste time trying to figure out what I am doing. Instead we should do what you said and write first and edit later.
ReplyDeletehey, i agree with you on the editing. it is definitely my worst area of writing. i struggled during the free write not to try and go back and not correct my spelling. once that little red line poped up under my word, automatically i want to stop writing and go back.i think this exercise will help us to spell the word correctly the first time, that way we wont have to turn around.
ReplyDeletecody