Now that I scared some of you talking about math the other day (oh my goodness how I wish I was good at mathematics), I wanted to talk about something a little less scary, but scary in its own way. Freewriting. I personally find freewriting daunting at times. It’s my type A personality at war with my creative side. But when I think of freewriting as a brainstorm, rather than a trick question, that’s when I can really get into it.
Last year in one of my classes at the Attic Institute, the instructor asked us to freewrite using the prompt “airplane,” and it led to a new scene in my current WIP, which strengthened the central mystery of the project. Remembering this now reminds me to be less resistant to prompts, which for some reason I sometimes feel are an easy way out. However, I recently read a few old blog posts of Laini Taylor’s in which she spoke highly of prompts, and how a few of her published works started out as such. If it’s good enough for Laini Taylor, it’s good enough for me.
Today’s assignment: freewrite for 20 minutes (if you can’t manage that, pick an increment of time that works for YOU). If you need a prompt, how about: CITY OF ROSES.
