Freewriting: From newbie to promoter

Freewriting? What the hell is that?

That was exactly my thought yesterday when I saw the term. Now, I had heard the word tossed around over different platforms previously but was never really quite sure what it was.

Then yesterday, I happened to come across an article which so very cleverly detailed what it is and how to do it. After reading it, that was it, I just had to give it a shot. You can find the article that ignited this flame right here. And I’ll leave that article to explain what it is if you’re curious as I couldn’t possibly try to explain it any better (I’m not even sure if I even fully understand it to be perfectly honest).

Over the last few months, I have been desperate to go back to creative writing after struggling to continue my story from NaNoWriMo. Not through lack of wanting might I add, but rather through lack of direction.

When I started the story way back in November, I had zero planning going in. I had the vaguest of vague ideas of what one of the characters might look like and the environment in which she’d live. But that was it.

No plan or plot or even a vague idea of what the overall theme was going to be. But hey, what was the worst that could happen?

I started writing and before I knew it, the story kind of started to write itself. But now, the story is at the point of needing structure. I need to start planning it and to be honest, that just doesn’t sound anywhere near as fun as the actual writing so I’ve put it off.

Cue freewriting.

So, I struggle with ideas. Inspiration. Thinking of the “what” to write about. You could give me the simplest idea and I could write, but deciding the topic to start with is something which I find incredibly difficult.

So the article referenced above really spoke me. It talks about using imagery as inspiration. And this is a concept I can definitely get behind. In my article on How to Breakthrough Writer’s Block, art and music were referenced as a source of inspiration and I definitely agree.

So I went to the Big G and asked for images of “history and fantasy”. I had kind of already made up my mind that I was going to write the scene, try to describe in words what the image was portraying. I scrolled through the images until one really jumped out at me.

Now, I know I haven’t really done what was described in the article on freewriting but you know what? That’s okay. I took the general concept and worked with it. Whatever you need to actually get writing, right?

Below is the image I used and below that it is what transpired after letting loose on the keyboard for 20 minutes with a quick 10 minutes to quickly re-read and edit. I’m not saying it’s a masterpiece by any stroke of the imagination, hell, it’s probably not even coherent.

But I took the image and adjusted it in my mind’s eye to make it look how I wanted it to, in order to fit with what I wanted to happen.

Wait, what?! I’m changing the image in my mind’s eye to fit what I want to happen? What’s going on? Is this…. is this an idea forming in my mind? Oh yes it is.

I’m not sure where this little piece is going to go or whether it’ll transpire into anything more (perhaps another half-finished story?) but I wanted to share it. Not because I think it’s actually any good but because I’m interested in showing and sharing the process. From first raw draft full of hastily written ideas and no fleshing into [perhaps] an actual story worthy of reading one day.

So while the below isn’t something I would ever claim to be proud of, it’s step one. It’s a start. It’s ugly and should never really be seen by eyes other than my own but I want to be transparent. I want to show to anyone who’s scared of starting that nobody’s first draft is “good” let alone perfect.

The plan is to revisit this in the coming days and try to follow some of the guidance in the freewriting article: scrap the original and underline a particular word/sentence and run with that a bit. Rinse, repeat.

 

To all those who struggle with ideas: We’ve got this. Keep pushing, keep going, keep writing.

Flames of yellow broke through the cracks in the thick clouds that were acting as an almost fog-like entity, preventing curious eyes laying sight on what truly laid beyond.

Jagged pinnacles pierced through the cloud, reaching up and tall into the mystery a long way beyond what any mere mortal could see. Even a dragon flying that high with its wings spread would look nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

But still, he couldn’t stop himself from searching the skyline for a clue of what lived in the fortress so vast and immense he guessed it’d take the best part of the day to walk its circumference. Whatever laid claim to such immensity certainly didn’t want to be seen, though.

The thick cloud wasn’t the only thing stopping him from searching the fortress. A lake sat between him and the elaborate stonework, teasing him with every ripple that shook its surface, goading him in the most placid way he’d ever seen.

Fighting with something he couldn’t even see, it took all his strength to control the movements of his own feet. It took more self-control than he realised he possessed to resist the urge to disrupt the glistening call of the water, trying to entice him to envelope his soul in its cool embrace.