What is Free Flow Writing? & How Do I Do it?

Free-flow writing is a highly effective tool that opens communication between your conscious, cognitive mind and the unconscious, intuitive mind. 

Set yourself a specific period of time, this might be 2mins, 5 mins or 10 mins, depending on how comfortable you are with the idea of writing, or how much you think you have to say.  Once you have developed this skill you can increase the time that you choose to allocate to flow writing.

Be in a comfortable environment, one that is warm and well lit, and preferably one where you will not be interrupted mid-flow!  Turn off all phones, shut down your computer, lock your door.

Be clear about what you want to write about, this is your starting point, it is a good idea to create a title so that you have this in mind when you’re writing.

Then you start writing....

·        Flow writing is entirely for your eyes only, to develop your understanding and awareness of self; you will not be graded or judged on what you have written, because no one else ever has to see it!  Because of this you do not need to be concerned with Spelling, Grammar, or how legible your hand-writing is.  (Phew! What a relief!)

·        It’s best to use complete sentences and avoid bullet pointing your ideas, if you feel you’re going to run over your allocated time, that’s great, keep on writing! 

·        What you’ve written doesn’t have to make complete sense, or be a perfectly structured sentence when you read it back.  The aim of this process is getting in touch with thoughts, ideas, and feelings, not creating a perfect essay.

·        Keep on writing, you can write beyond your allocated time but don’t stop before it!  This may mean that you repeat the same sentence several times; keeping the pen in motion facilitates the flow of ideas. 

·        Once you start writing other ideas may flow too, which is great.  When you find yourself writing about something different to what you had originally intended, ask yourself if this is a valid part of the process, or are you avoiding the real issues?  Then keep on writing!

Lastly, enjoy the process, chances are you’ll be more in touch with yourself and have learned something, or been reminded of something about yourself that you’d forgotten.  Sometimes flow writing can get us in touch with our emotions, this is a perfectly natural part of the process; if it occurs, acknowledge your feelings, they can be excellent tools, particularly in decision making processes, and in our ability to take appropriate positive action.