Lyn McPherson

I'd like to introduce you to something I call free flow writing. 

This is the type of writing where words come through you, rather than to you.  It's non-deliberate, unintentional writing that occurs in an almost meditation-like state.  It's a beautiful, most rewarding process that often results in breakthrough thinking and knowing. 

This type of writing occurs for me when I'm deeply passionate about a subject and when I've done a lot of (conscious and unconscious) thinking about it.  Then, suddenly, I'm compelled to write, usually out of the blue, when I'm not consciously thinking about it.  It's as if the writing writes me, and often sets me free.  For this reason, I feel I'm receiving writing. 

Have you ever been rudely awoken from a deep sleep, with words buzzing in your head like busy bees desperate to land on their nectar; desperate for the pollen that they know will make honey, but trapped in a box?  The box is your slumber, your bed.  The box is your head.  The nectar is the paper, or the computer: somewhere for the words to land.  And the honey is the result.  This summarises the process of  free flow writing.

If you would like to experience this style of writing, or if you wish it to happen more often, here are a few tips that I find assist me greatly:

12 Steps to Free flow writing

1. Choose a subject you are extremely passionate and inspired by.
   
   
2. Be committed to discovering more about this chosen area of interest.
   
3. Be open-minded about where the writing will take you.  Avoid the temptation to decide on outcomes, or direction. This will only limit, or destroy, the process.
   
4. Be well intentioned.  Personally, I cannot enter this space if I'm motivated by my own ego or self-appraising antics.  For instance, if it's a goal to look better than others, show someone up, become famous, or make money, access to this space will be denied.  And you can't trick it. 
   
5. Take time out and feed your soul.  Do what calms you.  For each of us, this is something different.  Ask yourself what it if for you.  When you're in this place of calm, take the time to consider your passions in life and how you would love to make a difference.  I find taking time out to listen to emotionally moving music often also transports me to a place of trance and transformation.  The more meditation, yoga and bushwalks I do, the more I receive writing.  When I'm fighting life and feel overwhelmed by it, the door is locked, and I know this is a sign to take time out.  So, I get to the sea and imagine possibility.
   
6. Associate with pure, like-minded people who are also genuinely committed to ideas that support your greater good.  They don't need to have exactly the same passions, but they need to inspire you.  I often receive writing after an afternoon or evening with a friend who stimulates and motivates me.  Encouraging influences are vital, not just for our writing, but for our dreams.
   
7. Protect what you receive but never "own" it.  If you consider what you receive in this place as sacred and special, it will come to you more often.  We can be grateful that we were chosen to receive these special words and this understanding, without feeling it makes us better than others.  Ego and self-glorification is free flow writing suicide.
   
8. Believe in yourself.  This may sound contradictory to the last point, but it's not.  True confidence is about passion and making a difference, believing in yourself and believing that anything is possible for you and in your life.  Celebrate all you are and appreciate where you're at, regardless of where you're going.
   
9. Don't wait.  The words only buzz around briefly in your head…if you're lucky, a minute or two.  Then, if you haven't given them a landing place, they move on freely just as they should.  So catch them and honour them, and keep them flowing freely to others on paper now, just as they should.  If I'm driving, I have to find a scrap of paper, quickly, and scribble at the next traffic light, releasing my bees to their nectar. 
   Often, in desperation, I find myself using the steering wheel as a desk, hoping I look up before I collide with the next car or telegraph pole.  And when I receive writing as I'm trying to go to sleep, I can be up and down to the bathroom releasing the words, shivering cold and desperately tired, my husband, Duncan, groaning in the background for a normal wife.  The worst is the morning free flow, which wakes me up! 
   
   Now, I'm certainly not suggesting you do what I do and risk crashing your car, but you could have a pad of paper in the car, like I should, if that's where you receive writing.  The point is that when the words flow to you, I guarantee it will not be convenient, but try to find a way to write them down anyway.  When you write the words down, no matter where you are, you keep the flow going.  You become the conduit.
   
10. Follow your instincts and do what feels right.  The more I listen to my instincts and intuition generally in life, the more free flow writing I receive.
    
11. Don't think too much.  Thinking creates a barrier at the point of entry.  The flow will stumble and fall over your thoughts.  So when thinking occurs, let it, but as soon as the flow comes back, try to let the thinking go.
    
12. Surrender judgment and expectation.  Don't even consider what others think.  This will stop you before you've started.  Try to allow free flow writing to be an escape from worrying and judging, thinking and planning.  Don't be concerned if you don't get much of it.  Just appreciate and value every little step you take as great steps.

I know this form of writing is not always possible.  I imagine it occurs for non-fiction more than fiction writers, as I've only experienced it as a non-fiction process.  It's also difficult to receive writing when you have deadlines and briefs.  Therefore free flow writing is a gift most accessible to those who are not yet under the direction of publishers and agents.  There is much more creative freedom available to free writers than freelance writers. 

I hope these free flow writing tips help you access something you've never imagined possible, whether you're a free flow writer already or whether you're about to discover this enlightening world.

Part two of this piece will provide you with an exercise that I've discovered propels me into receiving free flow writing.  In the meantime, try to follow the 12 Steps above; so that when you use the exercise you are ready for the magic I hope you will receive.

© Copyright Lyn McPherson 2009

NOTE: I would like to acknowledge how wonderful it has been for me to meet and discover Marg and this incredible forum.  What a gift this website is to all writers.  And finally, on a parting note, I'll reveal a secret…this little piece is in itself an example of free flow writing so I'm off to bed.  Goodnight!