I must admit I've been waiting for this moment for quite a bit :D
From the get-go, I loved the idea of the Over 20 Club, it meant passion, it meant dedication, persererance, you know...all that. And I liked the idea of sticking with something.
It was only later that I discovered it also meant joining the ranks of some pretty wonderful people, not to mention amazing writers! Many of my new favorite authors have come from the freewriting community, who are people just like you and me, you know, and that seems incredible to me!
Rick is not impressed...
I was first introduced to freewriting by my friend @marie-jay, whom I'm a huge fan of and who joined a bit before me. I never saw myself as a freewriting person.
Well, if you think about it, that's what I've always been doing, freewritng in the true meaning of the word. But not this. I thought the idea of just writing for 5 minutes on any given word or topic...childish. What could come out of just 5 minutes of writing?
Nothing, right? Certainly not a great story. But it did. I remember the first day I set that timer that I wrote with such speed, such passion, it was a real breath of fresh air to me. Because when you're writing a longer story, even if it's just a short story (a longer short story, if that makes any sense), you're in this process, you're clocking in the hours. Even now, when I finish this post I've got to return to a longer story I'm doing off-Steemit. And I love it. I love all the stories I've written. But freewriting feels so...well, free. No strings attached. Whatever comes out in these five minutes, well, that's it. And that's such a great feeling.
It's a very good lesson that even this teeny-tiny story is worthwhile and good and can be beautiful. I must say being part of the freewriters has given me so much strength as a writer. So you're stuck or you come up with a story you don't like, well, there'll be another one tomorrow. It has taught me to trust myself more and push myself further. And I love it.
Ha, I just wrote the title and I realized I've joined the over 20 club, despite not being over 20 myself :D
I was asked by the wonderful @freewritehouse to choose some of my favorite freewrites for this post. And the one I immediately went to was my very first freewrite.
Lies - a weekend freewrite
My grandfather lied to my grandmother. I guess it runs in the family. That's why I wasn't surprised when I heard the lie come out of my own mouth. I'd never lied to Charlene before, but I guess there's a first for everything. Besides, I don't know if I'm fully to blame...after all, Grandpa did the same thing.
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Owww, it was a weekend freewrite – my favorites! I actually forgot this freewrite completely, so it was as big as a surprise to me as it is to you.
Freewriting as Therapy
If you listen, probably any freewriter will tell you this. Freewriting, or rather writing in general, has this wonderful gift of healing. Because even if you try to control the stories that come out, you can only do it for so long, and at a certain point, details starts spilling out of your mind. You find yourself writing about the strangest things or giving your characters all sorts of weird attributes, something your great aunt used to do, something you saw on the street and never quite forgot...
That sort of thing.
And then, there's that first prompt that really makes a break in your defenses, the first one where you write something dark or upsetting or even just wondering...Because we all have these deep, rich inner lives that no one knows about and with freewriting, you get to do this beautiful thing where you can sort of give those lives away to other people, to imaginary people in your stories.
You get to explore your mind and your heart.
And you start asking questions. Okay, X is a recurring theme in my stories...why? What's driving me to come back to this subject?
And where all those issues seemed so...complex, who would've thought they can be resolved or at least tackled so easily?
Well, since I scrolled all the way back to the beginning of my freewriting journey, here's another oldie -
The Second Church
I want to go to your church, yet I don't know what church you go to. Hell, I don't even know if you go to church at all...Maybe you don't, but still, you must go somewhere. And I want that, I want that place, i want you. But you don't care, of course, why would you?
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See, as I was saying therapy. I don't think it's very hard to understand what this one's about, but I find that it's a wonderful outlet, when you're brimming with butterflies and love to be able to write, to create the poetry of your feelings.
The Pyre Pair
My only defense was to write down every word they said. It helped me keep note of what was going on at the time. 'm very bad at remembering, although I didn't use to be. But now, with everything that's happened...I suppose it's true what they say and life eventually takes its toll on you. I wrote every thing down, not just the words. I made scribbles of the actions of my captors, of their looks. I became very good at watching. I watched people and the little birds that came to my window.
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This is another one I just loved, and again, it was therapeutic in so many ways. I didn't even know I had this thing stuck in my mind, but then I unlocked it.
Little Beasts
I had this system for getting exactly what I wanted from people. You could call it a gimmick, I suppose, but that would be childish, I think. It's not a gimmick and it's not a trick, it was simply magic, as I always told everyone.
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Okay, I must admit I was picking a bit at random, since you can't really choose between your stories. It's like choosing a favorite child. Only, I suspect, harder.
So, anyway, I hope I got your interest. :D
I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to @mariannewest for hosting the amazing 5 Minute Freewrite Challenge, to the @freewritehouse for being such a wonderful place where we can find each other and to @marie-jay for introducing me to this beautiful community!
Thank you for reading,
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