Writers logo

Freewriting Exercise

A challenge? A prompt? A rant? All three?

By Ashley LimaPublished 8 months ago 4 min read
11
Freewriting Exercise
Photo by Luca Laurence on Unsplash

I have not been motivated to write for days, nor have I found much inspiration. So, I'm doing an exercise that I was taught in high school to get the gears flowing. This will be ten, unadulterated minutes of freewriting. Whatever comes out of my mind will be on the page. I cannot promise proper spelling or grammar, I can only promise what comes out of me to be authentic. Feel free to give it a try and see where it takes you...

10 minutes on the clock, starts... now -

___________________________

the problem with writing is my brain works faster than my fingers and the words can't linger for too long or they'll be gone and i get impatient trying to come up with the next line, i don't like to take my time, i'm sure you've noticed that by now.

trepidatiously, terrifying, triumphant, elephant, couscous, watermelon, trombone, bizarre, bazaar, christmastime, halloween, bats, barbeque, rabies, vaccines, weanies, potatoes, pot roast, lamb.

my brains gone empty that was quick, I still have nine or so minutes to go and this isn't looking good for me. it will be interesting to see how many words I can get down on the page. i tend to have a pretty quick typing speed, but I haven't tested in a while. the urge to close out of this tab and take a typing speed test is far too strong. i thought this would give me something interesting to write, help me feel creative, maybe start a cool idea for a story, but no, just the ramblings of a mad man.

my bed sheets are green. green is my favorite color. it was my favorite color as a kid too, then i liked blue, then purple, now i'm back to green. yellow is cool too. mellow. daisies. summertime. honey suckle. bees. birds. trees. grass. arched windows. placated shelves. memories of tomorrow. that makes no sense. you can't have memories of something that hasn't happened yet... or can you?

who's to say. time is a social construct. god dammit. it always comes back to this. blip on a timeline nonsense. we get it. you're existential. pick another personality trait for fucks sake. yep, we know, self deprecating too. it's old now, get it together.

old, old, i feel old. i know that realistically, i'm not old. 26 is nothing. and one day i'll be twice that age looking back thinking i didn't appreciate being young when i was young. then i will feel old still. and 52 wouldn't be that old either. and i would be lucky to make it that far. because time is never promised. cruel. cruel. devious. devilish. merciful. tirade. tumultuous. is this the second time I've written this word in 10 minutes? i do like that word. titillating. i like 't' words. 't' is a good letter. sounds nice rolling off the tongue. t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t.

good god, i still have four minutes to go and this really has not helped me much. nope. no new ideas for a story. no lines for a poem. before i sat down to do this my brain was firing off rapidly now if i stop to "think" my head is completely and utterly empty. what a mess.

i have been reading a lot lately. what have i been reading? well that is too cringey to disclose, but it's been nice to escape to other words and i'm enjoying the time i've spent with my nose in books (staring at the kindle app on my ipad).

e-readers are just better

i'm sorry.

don't get me wrong, i have a "library" well, not exactly because I think one needs 1,000 books for a library and while I certainly have hundreds, i don't think i've pushed the 1,000 mark yet. one day, one day indeed.

once we finish the basement and put the master bedroom down there, my kid is going to take our bedroom, and I get to turn his current bedroom into a proper library. i want shelves going from the floor to the ceilings. i want a freaking ladder that slides across the hardwood floors. i want my writing space and desk to be decked out in dark academia decor... all so I can read from the kindle app on my ipad. what can I say, i'm generation z. i like my technology. is that so bad?

oh good god, a minute left. i'm almost at the finish line. a shame. not much interesting words, much more drivel. i don't even want to look at all the mistakes i made. i'm just going to bite my tongue, hold my nose, and press submit.

i think my writing speed is pretty much where it was at before. writing non stop and almost at the 800 word mark. but that also isn't considering the words i wrote before to preface this whole thing. oh well what am-

FIN.



ProcessWriting ExerciseWriter's BlockLifeChallengeAdvice
11

About the Creator

Ashley Lima

I think about writing more than I write, but call myself a writer as opposed to a thinker.

Reader insights

Nice work

Very well written. Keep up the good work!

Top insight

  1. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

Add your insights

Comments (6)

Sign in to comment
  • Mackenzie Davis8 months ago

    "memories of tomorrow. that makes no sense. you can't have memories of something that hasn't happened yet... or can you?" There's your gem! Loved reading this, Ashley. I should do this more often!!

  • Yusuf Alam8 months ago

    👌👌👌

  • This was an excellent exercise! My favourite colour as a kid was yellow, followed by turquoise. Then it was green during my early teenage years. Then it was red, black and white since my late teenage years until now.

  • Mark Gagnon8 months ago

    Well, that was a journey, I'm just not sure to or from where. If it worked for you, that's what counts.

  • Mattie :)8 months ago

    My mind has also been blocking out creative street. Great post Ashley. I like to think up five or ten words to try and spring my creative self back awake. Sometimes it actually works :)

  • Alex H Mittelman 8 months ago

    Lol good exercise!

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.