I’ve been reading a book by Joe Pulizzi lately that has really had my head turning. In it, one of the concepts that he discusses to gain new ideas, if you’ve hit a creative block, is a technique called free writing. Free Writing is the process of setting yourself for a time limit (lets say that’s 30 min) and you’re just going to write.

During free writing, you’re not going to worry about your grammar.
You’re not going to stop to look at what you just read.
You’re also not going to worry about what to write, because when you run out of that topic, you’re just going to keep typing, even if it’s on another topic.

 

At first this was a really odd concept to me, but I’ve learned that it actually works. You’ll be amazed that, at first, you may only be able to write about bananas and unicorns, two topics that seem oddly unconnected, and then eventually you’ll hit something good. Free Writing is almost as if you’re just using the paper and pen (or computer and keyboard if you’re like me) to do your brainstorming for you.

 

And then this made me think about the idea of becoming more creative and creative hibernation. If creativity is a muscle, and we have to work it out… is Free Writing the process of working our muscle to the point of soreness, so we can actually see results of our labor? Is it the fine tuned process of ensuring that our workout is worth it?

You’ll be amazed at the ideas that come out, when you allow your work to move as fast as your brain works. Free Writing for me has seemingly taken the issues with the tool, or the slowness of the medium to get in the way of my creativity, and in the end, I find myself to becoming more creative.

Related Posts:  Tribe Talk 3: Intentionality and Story

If you’re not a writer, maybe there’s some other way to adapt the Free Writing concept? Maybe it’s just forcing yourselves to design over and over and over in photoshop. When you finish one idea, you immediately work on your next.

 

The concept is the same. How do you allow your mind to release the random creative blocks that get in the way, and let them stand on their own, as if you’re digging a hole underneath it, only to pass right through it again?

 

How can you benefit from Free Writing?