Writing Without Purpose (on Purpose)

I love Saturday mornings. It’s the first day of the week where I get to wake up with the sunrise. It’s the day that I don’t have to rush out for a run or to work. I let myself chill.

Even chill has its routines. I boil a kettle of hot water for tea, I play my favorite smooth jazz tunes and I open my laptop to write an upcoming blog post for my blog.

By Saturday morning, I usually have an idea on what I want to write about for the week. But this Saturday, I have no clue.

Keep in mind, I’ve blogged for over six years. I’ve already covered a lot of ground when it comes to creative writing, digital marketing, editing, social media and blogging.

What is there left to write about?

I didn’t want to waste my Saturday morning without having a completed blog post to show for it, so I put myself to the challenge. I must discover a topic worthy of my next blog post.

But what?

Writing Without Purpose: The Method

I did what any productive writer does when stuck: I opened a journal and did some freewriting.

I wrote whatever came to mind. So I first reflected through my workweek. Then wrote out an around-the-apartment to-do list. Then I summarized the books that I’m currently reading.

This is pretty boring, I thought.

But that’s when it hit. I scribbled down vivid scenes from my past as if it were the present. I started having random thoughts and I wrote them down without over-thinking it.

And the most random thought of all: What if writing without purpose has a purpose?

The Purpose of Writing Without Purpose

Most of us only have a limited amount of time in a day to dedicate towards writing. So spending time writing about nothing sounds like a waste of time.

But it could be the way out of your writer’s block. Or a stuck spot in your story.

Think about all the thoughts you have in a day. It’s a lot. And many of those thoughts don’t just disappear. They linger inside your brain, bouncing off the walls of your skull for you to replay on repeat.

And this is what you bring to the table when it’s time to sit at your writing space and write. How can you focus on what needs to happen next in your story when you’re still thinking about everything else going on in your life?

Freewriting lets you put your thoughts in a proper place so that you can focus on your creative writing. Spend ten minutes flushing out everything that’s spiraling within your mind. Bleed it all out onto paper with your pen.

You may find just writing it down solves some problems in your life. You may find just writing it down brings you peace of mind. You may find just writing it down means that it’s no longer your responsibility to think about anymore.

Ten minutes. That’s it. You’ll be amazed how many nonsense words you can get out in 600 seconds so that your concentration is on your creativity, not the conference room.

Do you ever write without purpose on purpose? Share your stories in the comments section below.