No, Free-Writing Is Not Like "Free Willy."

Free-writing is a creative exercise intended to take writers outside their comfort zone, and help them find unexpected inspiration. Familiarity not only breeds contempt, but it can result in some stale writing, or "writer's block" altogether.

Often guided by a prompt in workshop-settings. free-writing is a technique in which a person is given a set amount of time to write without stopping, and without self-editing of any kind. Free-writing follows a stream of consciousness and all the impulses there-in. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, structure, logic, editing, and all other rhetorical concerns are completely ignored. Write with reckless abandon about whatever feelings or thoughts the prompt stirs. There's no rule. Just write.

There are a lot of distractions which can curb one's creativity and stall the writing process. Free-writing is like a defibrillator for the thought-process. For those in a rut, those who just can't get started, and those who want to sharpen their style, free-writing can help alleviate some of the anxiety about where an individual is at with their writing, which in turn can allow for more creativity.

Sometimes called pre-writing, or a rough, rough draft, the speed and time limit for free-writing on prompted topics is a way to get rapid-fire thoughts down on paper (or computer screen) without having to be burdened by organizing all of them.

Like all writing, effective free-writing take practice, and it's not uncommon to end up with some unusable material. It's also not uncommon to use your notes to write your best work to-date. One reason workshops are helpful is because you can get unbiased constructive feedback that can help you establish a healthier sense of self-criticism when you're writing on your own.

Free-writing is an excellent opportunity to discover a whole new side of who you are as a poet and writer.