With how writing is treated in high schools, it’s no surprise that many students dread the act of writing, and put off writing papers until the very last moment possible. Needless to say — this is a bad plan. Not only does this leave you short on time, but if you labor over trying to write the perfect paper the first time, then you’re likely wasting a lot of that precious time.
This is where free writing comes in. It goes against everything high school probably taught you, but it’s a surefire way to get through your paper quicker, and if you follow these three easy steps, you might find it’s a strategy that works for you.
STEP ONE: Make sure you have your basic essay idea in your head, including all citations and evidence.
This part is important, because if you’re writing a research paper, then you’re going to need to have your research done beforehand and know the vague supporting ideas you plan to use; that’s just part of the process, and free writing won’t really help with getting that done faster. However, if you’re writing a personal narrative, then you might just need to identify the moment you want to write about; or if you’re writing an opinion piece, just have the topic you want to argue about in mind.
Also worth noting: if you’re the kind of person that is organized and operates using outlines, make sure you have that prepared as well before you begin step two. But if you’re the kind of writer that likes to bravely forge ahead into the wilderness of the unknown, then advance to step two.
STEP TWO: Stop trying to edit while you write.
The instructions here are fairly simple: Just start writing. Don’t edit, don’t reread, don’t pass go or collect 200 dollars. Just write. Turn off the editorial voice in your head and simply write whatever comes to you. Even if it’s mush. Even if it’s repetitive or poorly worded or doesn’t quite make sense. Just get the ideas out of your head and onto the paper. This is critical, and it should go on until you run out of the thoughts you had planned for your paper.
This step is going to be harder than it sounds, because we are largely taught, unintentionally, that ideas need to be perfected before they come out of our heads and are committed to writing. As a result, we often end up editing the thoughts as they are coming out, and this ends up being incredibly tedious and time-consuming. We fiddle for long minutes with finding the perfect words to express what we mean. We write, erase, and reword sentences until they are flawless. We stare at the wall as we wait for ideas, whole and lucid, to hit us across the face like a ton of bricks. But what isn’t said enough is that it doesn’t need to be perfect the first time! In fact that there are no good writers, only good revisers, as most professional writing we see today has been revised several times over.
STEP THREE: Revise that mush!
NOW you have permission to go back and rewrite, edit, and revise the imperfect thoughts that you’ve written. Only now does the amorphous brain goop that spilled onto the page in the previous stage have any obligation to start looking like recognizable, coherent thoughts. Once you have all of your thoughts out on the paper, take your editor’s pen (or your cursor, depending on your editing preference) and go through your free written essay, moving, rewording, and deleting things as necessary.
While this may sound like a lot of work, it can save much more time than attempting to compose a perfect essay the first time, as revising words to better fit what you mean is significantly easier than generating content the first time around. And oftentimes, once you are able to see the full picture of your essay in your head, from start to finish, you’re more easily able to understand what you’re trying to say.
And if you’re worried about revising, don’t hesitate to bring your first-draft paper into the writing center! We’re always happy to help.
Happy Writing!
Have a question? Submit it to us, or come see us in the Writing Center for some more great advice!
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