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Humanities LibreTexts

5.4.1: Description Activity- Freewriting in Public

  • Page ID
    170578

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    Goal

    In a 2021 study of the benefits of freewriting in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) conducted by researchers in Saudi Arabia, students’ results indicated that writing without rules or worries—freewriting—was a more effective approach than trying to think too much about how others want them to write. There is a popular, somewhat adult, cliché that writers use to describe the harrowing act of putting thoughts to paper: write drunk; edit sober. The metaphor works this way: if you write without cares about how you will be judged, without inhibition, brazenly, you will write more interesting and engaging material. Then, when your head is in the right place (on your neck and not affected by inhibition-lowering chemicals), you can re-read (revise) what you wrote, noting what wildness or inconsistencies you had not acknowledged before, and then making physical changes to your writing: edit.

    Directions

    1. Take a portable note-taking device with you to a place where people gather.
    2. Sit for fifteen to thirty minutes and write whatever comes to your mind without stopping except for 3-5 seconds at a time.
    3. Do not pay attention to errors or stop to correct your writing during this period of time.
    4. Do not worry about your writing making sense or the consistency of your writing.
    5. Try not to stare at people with your writing face on!