Freewriting to Unlock Your Creativity (Novel Sprint Prep)

Freewriting is one of the simplest tools in a novelist’s arsenal, yet it’s also one of the most powerful. It helps you move past self-criticism, loosen creative blocks, and explore story ideas in a more laidback environment. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s permission: to write badly, freely, and continuously until the story starts to move on its own. Whether you use it to warm up before drafting or to push through a wall mid-scene, freewriting lets you bypass overthinking and reconnect with your creative instincts. Below are the key takeaways from this session with Rebbecca Van Laer, featuring a few practical ways to use freewriting throughout the Reedsy Novel Sprint this November. As a bonus, download the slide deck for this webinar right here.

Why freewriting works (06:15)

With freewriting, you can quiet your inner editor and shift your focus from the outcome to the process. When you cast perfection aside, you open the door to surprise and discovery: characters speak more naturally, scenes evolve in unexpected directions, and ideas you didn’t know you had start to surface. 

Treat it as a pressure-free space where mistakes don’t matter, and allow your detours to lead you somewhere meaningful. 

Two ways to use freewriting in November (and beyond!) (08:25)

You can take two main approaches to freewriting:

1. The “Zero Draft” Method — Use freewriting as your main drafting mode. Let yourself discover plot twists, backstory shifts, and new character dynamics as you go. The goal is exploration, not control.
   
   

2. The Daily Warm-Up — Spend ten minutes at the start of each session freewriting about your next scene, your character’s goal, or anything that feels unclear. This helps clear creative fog and sets your focus for the day.

Whichever route you take, consistency matters more than precision. The more often you write without judgment, the more confident and fluent your storytelling will become.

Rules to keep you writing (09:20)

The most important rule of freewriting is simple: don’t stop. If you happen to stall, continue to write through the silence. Even if it’s just, “I don’t know what happens next,” or a long string of ellipses. 

Momentum is everything in freewriting. Follow odd tangents, chase stray thoughts, and don’t worry if it feels messy or off-topic. You can always pull structure from chaos later, but you can’t revise what doesn’t even exist. Remember it’s about progression, not meaning; trust that clarity will come once you’ve let yourself write freely.

Sprint 1 & reflection: joy lists & planting the seed of a story (12:00)

Start your first ten minute sprint with something light: 

• Write a list of things that bring joy, either to you or your protagonist. 

Ordinary pleasures will help ground your story and set up what’s at stake when the conflict eventually arrives. As you start listing them, let one detail pull you deeper into the story. If a memory or image starts to bloom, pull on that thread and sew it into a paragraph or a moment of action.

Pause to reread what you’ve written once the sprint ends. Highlight any line that could grow into a story element (a sensory description, a flash of backstory, or a “normal world” moment you might expand later). Remember, your goal isn’t a perfect passage, but raw material that you can shape to your liking later. 

Sprint 2 & mid-session boost: clarifying your “why” (25:45)

Once you’ve warmed up, use your next ten minute round of freewriting to explore why this story matters to you. Consider:

• What do you want readers to take away? Why now? 

Once you understand your “why,” your character arcs and plot choices will naturally align around it.

As the session unfolds, use formatting as a tool to keep your momentum. When energy dips, hit return: paragraph breaks can help you create micro-pauses that reset your focus. Don’t bother correcting typos at this stage; sometimes a slip of the finger can reveal an image or phrase worth chasing. 

Sprint 3: “What happens next?” and raising the stakes (43:02)

If you’re stuck between scenes, try the simplest prompt of all: 

• What happens next? 

Choose any moment — your opening, midpoint, or climax — and freewrite what follows immediately after. Focus on raising the stakes, revealing character through reaction, or reinforcing your central theme. You can write the scene directly or write about it, describing how it might unfold. The point is forward momentum: turning uncertainty into curiosity, and curiosity into words.

Recap: warm-up, drafting, and reflection (55:23)

Rotate freewriting through your process in three ways: 

1. As a warm-up to lay the next day’s “tracks;” 

2. As a sprinting method to hit your daily word count; 

3. A reflection to note what worked, what didn’t and what to explore next. 

This “parking downhill” habit (i.e, ending a session mid-moment rather than mid-sentence) keeps your creative engine whirring overnight. So, when you next return to the page, you’ll already be in motion!