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Writing
Getting from Notes to Your Draft
Freewriting
Freewriting is exactly what it sounds like: freely writing. The purpose is to write without worry and without stopping. Writing without stopping means that we resist the urge to edit as we go. We focus on generating ideas of all kinds without worrying about their value or usefulness.
Freewriting releases your commitment to perfection and allows you the platform and freedom to share your thoughts without any inhibitions. Write what you are thinking. The entire point is to get your ideas flowing and to induce deep thinking. This isn’t something anyone else is going to see. You won’t be turning this in. So, there will always be time to revise it later. As you sit down to write freely, consider the freewriting strategies below.
Types of Freewriting
- FREE
- TIMED
- FOCUSED
- WORD ASSOCIATION
Free freewriting sounds really free, doesn’t it? It is. The goal here is to write until you don’t feel like it anymore or your brain is tired, with no timer and no worries about your worries. If you’re worried, write about it! After all, a mind that is allowed to let out insecurities and worries is a mind that now has room to focus on the topic at hand.
While the amount of time you decide to write is up to you, decide how long you would like to write and set a timer. The purpose of this is to motivate you to carve the time out and commit to writing anything you are thinking of on the topic. If you go off topic, it’s fine. During this timed session, don’t stop writing until the timer goes off.
Staying within a five-to-ten-minute range, focus solely on your assignment prompt and write as much as you can without hesitation or going off topic. Anything that relates to this topic is great to write about. Try your best to stay on topic, but if you aren’t sure about something, write it anyway. Write until your brain stops coming up with new things to say.
Let’s say your professor wants you to write a paper about technology addiction. Write that in the center of the page. Then, write whatever you can think of about technology addiction. Writing down everything you know about a certain word or topic is a great way to see where your knowledge level is on the topic and will indicate how much research you’ll need to do later.
Free freewriting sounds really free, doesn’t it? It is. The goal here is to write until you don’t feel like it anymore or your brain is tired, with no timer and no worries about your worries. If you’re worried, write about it! After all, a mind that is allowed to let out insecurities and worries is a mind that now has room to focus on the topic at hand.
While the amount of time you decide to write is up to you, decide how long you would like to write and set a timer. The purpose of this is to motivate you to carve the time out and commit to writing anything you are thinking of on the topic. If you go off topic, it’s fine. During this timed session, don’t stop writing until the timer goes off.
Staying within a five-to-ten-minute range, focus solely on your assignment prompt and write as much as you can without hesitation or going off topic. Anything that relates to this topic is great to write about. Try your best to stay on topic, but if you aren’t sure about something, write it anyway. Write until your brain stops coming up with new things to say.
Let’s say your professor wants you to write a paper about technology addiction. Write that in the center of the page. Then, write whatever you can think of about technology addiction. Writing down everything you know about a certain word or topic is a great way to see where your knowledge level is on the topic and will indicate how much research you’ll need to do later.
Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing
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How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing? -
What Is College Writing? -
Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?
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Doing Exploratory Research -
Getting from Notes to Your Draft -
Introduction -
Prewriting -
Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition -
Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience -
Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started -
Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment -
Rewriting -
Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic -
Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy -
Rewriting: Getting Feedback -
Rewriting: The Final Draft -
Techniques to Get Started - Outlining -
Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques -
Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea -
Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting -
Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas -
Writing: Outlining What You Will Write
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A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone -
A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction -
Critical Strategies and Writing -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis -
Developing a Paper Using Strategies -
Introduction -
Kinds of Assignments You Will Write -
Patterns for Presenting Information -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data -
Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts -
Supporting with Research and Examples -
Writing Essay Examinations -
Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete -
Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing -
Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question
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Introduction -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources -
Research Resources: What Are Research Resources? -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources -
Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure -
Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure -
The Nature of Research -
The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated? -
The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed? -
The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?
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Academic Integrity -
Giving Credit to Sources -
Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws -
Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation -
Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides -
Integrating Sources -
Practicing Academic Integrity -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources -
Types of Documentation -
Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists -
Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style -
Types of Documentation: Note Citations
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Introduction -
Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews -
Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers -
Writing Arguments -
Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure -
Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument -
Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion -
Writing Arguments: Types of Argument
Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing
Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing
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Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project -
Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report -
Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve -
Collaborative Writing: Methodology -
Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation -
Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members -
Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan -
Conclusion -
General Introduction -
Peer Reviewing