Freewriting Exercise [Communication]

Freewriting Exercise

Here in this essay “Freewriting“, the author persuades his readers using his various ideas, examples as well as supportive opinions. Here, the author has put forward his opinions related to writing skills and their improvements through the process of freewriting. The author here in this essay has suggested his tips to improve writing skills for all his readers.

Ways With Words 

The words in the crossword puzzle are from the text. Find them in the text to solve the puzzle based on the clues given below. 

Down: 

  1. to be preoccupied with a single topic or emotion: obsessed 
  2. to move slowly and quietly in a particular direction: creep 
  3. orderly, logical and consistent: coherent 

Across: 

  1. to utter rapidly or unintelligibly: babble 
  2. to insert something between other things: interpose 
  3. unreadable handwriting: squiggle 

Use the following words in sentences of your own: 

massive: A massive earthquake hit last night. 

consciousness: We have to follow the social consciousness. catch-as-catch-can: They will win the match catch-as-catch-can. 

give up: I never want to give up my good habits. 

abandon: The boys abandon me in the middle of the forest. 

lousy: He has got lousy remarks from his boss. 

editing: I keep on editing my script.

Grammar

Adjectives and Adverbs

Read the following sentences from the text and notice the words that are underlined. 

Do freewriting exercises regularly. 

Go quickly without rushing. 

No wonder the producer gets nervous, jumpy, inhibited, and finally can’t be coherent. 

You can throw away lousy beginnings and make new ones.

The underlined words in (a) and (b) are adverbs, and in (c) and (d) are adjectives.

Notice that we can form adverbs by adding the suffix ‘-ly’ to an adjective, and adjective by adding the suffix ‘-y’ to a noun.

Note that adding the suffix ‘-ly’ to the noun makes that noun an adjective (e.g. friend – friendly, love – lovely, beast – beastly, scholar – scholarly, month – monthly, etc.).

Change the adjectives into adverbs and nouns into adjectives, as shown in the example

rain, careful, bush, spice, perfect, automatic, snow, blood, certain, cloud, fair, general, heavy, bag, proud, rapid, mood, noise, proper, air, final, common, beautiful, frequent, snow, hungry, cream, dust, ease, ice, oil, spice fun, hand, greed, health, hill 

Answer: 

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate adjective or adverb: 

  1. Pramila is playing …… (quiet/quietly). Answer: quietly 
  2. Hari speaks very …… (loud/loudly). Answer: loudly 
  3. Mukesh is a …… (careful/carefully) driver. Answer: careful 
  4. The test was …… (easy/easily) and we finished in time. Answer: easy 
  5. He is fitting the …… (automatic/automatically) door in my house. Answer: automatic 
  6. My uncle speaks………(perfect/perfectly) Chinese. Answer: perfect 
  7. It was raining very …… (heavy/heavily). Answer: heavily 
  8. She looked very …… (calm/calmly), but I am sure she was feeling very nervous. Answer: calm 
  9. Comprehension

Answer the following questions: 

Why is freewriting also called ‘automatic writing’? 

Answer: Freewriting is also called ‘automatic writing’ because it is a continuous process of writing which is free from spellings, grammar and topics.

b. How do you differentiate writing from speaking?

Answer: Writing moves on through written means where we can edit mistakes whereas speaking moves on through oral means where there is no editing option. 

What are the biggest obstacles in the writing process, according to Elbow? Do you agree with him? Why? Why not? 

Answer: According to Elbow, the biggest obstacle in the writing process is compulsive premature editing. Yes, I agree with him because editing prevents a writer’s natural creativity. 

How can freewriting overcome ‘writer’s block? 

Answer: Freewriting can overcome ‘writer’s block by giving freedom to writer’s writing and undoing the ingrained habit of editing. 

  1. What do you mean by ‘voice’ in writing? 

Answer: By ‘voice’ in writing, we mean the source of power in writing which includes a sound, a texture and a rhythm. 

Elbow uses a simile to explain that freewriting “is like writing something and putting it in a bottle in the sea.” What does this mean? Explain. 

Answer: This means that freewriting is an automatic writing process that avoids any kind of editing. Freewriting keeps on moving on and on. 

Critical Thinking On Freewriting

How does the author persuade readers in this essay? What is he trying to communicate to the readers? 

Answer: Here in this essay “Freewriting“, the author persuades his readers using his various ideas, examples as well as supportive opinions. Here, the author has put forward his opinions related to writing skills and their improvements through the process of freewriting. The author here in this essay has suggested his tips to improve writing skills for all his readers.

According to him, the best way to improve writing skills is through freewriting. Freewriting should be done repeatedly to enhance writing skills. He calls it automatic writing where a writer can put forward his/her feelings in a spontaneous way.

Freewriting never accepts feedback. He further adds the most important part of freewriting is ‘non-editing’. For him, editing is the greatest obstacle in the writing process. The habit of compulsive and premature editing prevents the creativity of the writer. The process of writing becomes hard as well as dead through the process of editing. For the author, freewriting should be kept away from the editing process which hampers the authentic feelings and natural way of the writer.

According to him, the main source of power in our writing is ‘a voice’ which includes a sound, a rhythm and a texture. It is the force that makes readers listen to the writers. It is the energy that drives the meanings into the thick skull. 

Elbow said, freewriting “is an exercise in bringing together the process of producing words and putting them down on the page.” Do you agree with his statement? Why? Why not? 

Answer: Yes, I agree with his statement. Freewriting is an automatic writing process where the ideas of the writer can be seen in spontaneous ways. In this process, words are produced, brought together and put down on the page. This process can be done within a short period. In the process of freewriting, the writer must write spontaneously without thinking about different obstacles as grammar checks, spelling checks and so on. The writer must be away from the concept of editing. His/ Her writing flow must keep on moving with his/her free release of ideas. If freewriting is practised more often, the writer gets rid of editing worries. Freewriting can overcome ‘writer’s block by giving freedom to the writer’s writing and undoing the ingrained habit of editing. 

How did you learn to write? What was particularly difficult in writing? What inspired you to write? What are some of the challenges that you still face while writing? 

Answer: I learnt to write by doing classwork writings and homework writings repeatedly. Grammar, as well as spelling, was particularly difficult in writing. Written articles related to stories, reports, news etc inspired me to write. There are some of the challenges that I still face which are as follows: 

  1. I feel hesitation while connecting more sentences. 
  2. Grammar still creates a lot of obstacles in my writing. 
  3. I feel difficulty in creating new ideas quickly. 

Writing/Freewriting

  1. Write short notes on any one of the following topics: 
  2. My school library 
  3. Moral values 

My School Library 

I like most My School Library Library refers to a place where we find different kinds of books and a peaceful environment to read. The library is the best place to achieve knowledge through reading varieties of books. In the library, people get a chance to read different kinds of books according to their choices.

Most people prefer to read books in the library because of its peaceful environment. I also prefer to spend my time reading books in the library. I’m a student of grade eleven in Super International college. There is a fine facility of the library in my school. There are all sorts of books available in my school’s library.

I have become a member of my school’s library. To get a membership card from the school’s library, students need to pay five hundred rupees for a year. Our school’s library has provided membership cards to all the members. Due to its facilities, I have got lots of advantages in my study.

I have got answers to all my education-related queries from there. In the matter of making notes, understanding subject matter, my library has provided me with fine facilities. Thus, my school library is the best library which has helped me a lot in my studies. 

Moral Values 

I Like Most Moral values refer to those values which teach us the good aspects of life. Moral values make any individual perfect. These values make people good and positive in their attitudes and behaviours. These values keep people away from doing evil things in society.

Most people learn these values from their homes as well as societies. Moral values include various essential aspects of a human’s life as culture, religion, truthfulness, patience, obedience, honesty, integrity, hard work, responsibility, respect, tolerance, loyalty, public-spiritedness, freedom, respect for humans life and dignity of persons. Others include justice, fairness and equality.

All these things are very much important in everyone’s lives. A person with all these qualities is considered to be a perfect human being. These moral values nourish people in a very well manner. Most of the successful people in the world are the outcomes of these values. If we follow these moral values in our lives, we won’t feel any kind of difficulty in our life.

Among all these above-mentioned moral values, I like responsibility the most. Responsibility makes people responsible for their duties. It makes people realise their duties towards their people. Most people get the proper way ahead in their lives only after being responsible. Those people who try to escape from their responsibilities in their lives, never get happiness and success in their lives. Thus, living a responsible life means living a perfect life. 

Grammar

Position of adverbs 

  1. Study these sentences. 
  2. Perhaps she is not coming to the party. 
  3. I sometimes visit him in the supermarket. 
  4. He drove the car carefully. Here the words in bold are adverbs. 

Adverbs can be placed at the front, in the middle or at the end position of a clause or sentence. 

Rewrite the following sentences with the adverbs in the appropriate place. 

  1. I watch television. (often)  Answer: I often watch television. 
  2. Have you been to Janakpur? (ever) Answer: Have you ever been to Janakpur?
  3. They play football on Saturdays. (sometimes) Answer: They sometimes play football on Saturdays. 
  4. The weather is bad in November. (always) Answer: The weather is always bad in November. 
  5. We have fish for dinner. (seldom) Answer: We seldom have fish for dinner. 
  6. Pritam doesn’t get up before seven. (usually) Answer: Pritam doesn’t usually get up before seven.
  7. I was very tired and I was hungry. (also) Answer: I was very tired and I was also hungry. 
  8. Did you enjoy the flight? (both) Answer: Did you both enjoy the flight? 

Rewrite the following sentences placing the underlined words in the right position. 

  1. I never have understood her. Answer: I have never understood her. 
  2. We are often invited to parties. Answer: We are often invited to parties. 
  3. We all were tired, so we all fell asleep. Answer: We were all tired, so we all fell asleep. 
  4. Rajan drives always to work. Answer: Rajan always drives to work. 
  5. Pradip hardly ever watches television, but he reads newspapers a lot. Answer: Pradip hardly ever watches television, but he reads newspapers a lot.
  6. We enjoyed it very much the party. Answer: We enjoyed the party very much. 
  7. My brother speaks fluently English. Answer: My brother speaks English fluently.