Day 495: Revisiting Freewrite Traveler
Today
I was going to use my Alphasmart at my standing desk to see if location helped me write faster, but my standing desk is a bit messy today, so instead I’m going with another experiment I wanted to do, which is using my Freewrite at my sitting desk.
Right after my writing sprint, I’m also going to try self-editing the text with my Freewrite to see if I can get used to the navigation buttons. It could be that I have difficulty using the Freewrite simply because the navigation is unfamiliar to me.
I’m only doing one 25 minute sprint. I’ll only be doing single sprints until I finish blocking book 4 and (hopefully) all the rest of the books in the series, so that I don’t run into the confusion I’m suffering from writing in one timeline and blocking in a future one.
***
Evaluation of writing and editing on the Freewrite Traveler
I actually wrote quite fast on the Freewrite today, but unfortunately the reason is because I copied almost word for word what I’d written in my blocking notes for this particular segment of the scene. When I’d been blocking, I had jotted down some writing for my character’s monologue, and today’s writing on the Freewrite just happened to coincide with those several paragraphs. So today, at least, writing on the Freewrite at my sitting desk did not make me write faster.
I checked the section of my blocking notes for yesterday, but I didn’t have the same type of notes where I had just copied them word for word. So the writing yesterday on the Alphasmart was actually writing, not just copying my blocking notes.
I typed a little slower on my Freewrite today so that I wouldn’t have as many typos, but I still had quite a lot. And because of the lag between keyboard strokes and the screen, it was irritating to correct typos even for a word or two behind where the cursor was at, because I’d have to backspace a little, wait for it to show up on the screen, and then figure out how many more backspaces to do to delete the word.
It was the same with editing on the Freewrite. Moving the cursor involved using two hands, which isn’t really that big a deal, but what was annoying was that I’d hit the arrow button a few times, have to wait for the cursor to reposition on the screen, and then figure out how many more times to hit the arrow button to get the cursor where I wanted it. It’s easier to move around on the Alphasmart also because I can move up and down lines on the Alphasmart, but I can’t do that on the Freewrite—I can only move one word at a time, or one entire paragraph at a time.
Of course, that’s the entire point of the Freewrite—to make it difficult for you to backspace and navigate, so that you just keep writing and moving forward. I completely understand this writing method and I know it works really well for many people. Writing without correcting your typos is supposed to help you get into flow state faster and easier.
I probably need to somehow get rid of this weird quirk in my brain that makes me absolutely need to correct a typo if I see it. Seeing a typo nags at me, and that minor mental irritation might be keeping me from relaxing into flow state.
I keep trying to use the Freewrite, but maybe I should just listen to my gut that suggests I’m not the type of writer who needs a tool that prevents me from going backwards to correct typos in order to force me to keep working and moving forward. At the very least, I think I enjoyed writing on the Alphasmart more than the Freewrite, for whatever reasons, and isn’t that ultimately what’s most important?
Blogging
I decided not to do any blocking on Sundays in order to make it more like a day of rest from work. However, I’m still doing my writing and email/social media checking in order to keep up my streaks (and hopefully develop better discipline for both of those things).
I’ll spend some time today reading, but I also realized I have some blogging that needs to be done, so I’ll work on that today.
***
Tired
I got a lot of blogging done today, although not all that I had wanted to do. I also kept my email/social media streak alive and checked my email, but I only briefly checked in on social media today.
I also refilled the creative well and re-read a couple light novels that I had really enjoyed the first time, and enjoyed them just as much the second time.
However, I was doing some family stuff and stayed up a little too late, and now I’m pretty tired.
Tomorrow
I think I’ll try using the Alphasmart at my standing desk (assuming I can clean it up) and also try editing on the Alphasmart. I’m not sure how the editing will go since the editing today on the Freewrite was rather frustrating, and the Alphasmart was also meant to be a tool to force you to keep writing. But there’s no lag between the keys and the screen on the Alphasmart, so it might even end up being a good way to do my edits. I won’t know until I try.
I will also continue to work on the blocking tomorrow. I hope I can get more work done. I will try to take advantage of my higher energy levels in the morning and get the blocking done earlier in my day, and that might help me be more productive.
***
Writing: Time spent: 30 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 888 words
Writing: Overall writing speed: 1765 words/hour
Writing streak: 8 days
Editing: Time spent: 16 minutes
Blocking: time spent: 0
Email/Social Media streak: 6 days
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 4 hours, 32 minutes
My takeaway for today: I keep trying to use the Freewrite, but maybe I should just listen to my gut that suggests I’m not the type of writer who needs a tool like this, which prevents going backwards or navigating within my text. Ignoring my typos may not enable me to get into flow state.
I was going to use my Alphasmart at my standing desk to see if location helped me write faster, but my standing desk is a bit messy today, so instead I’m going with another experiment I wanted to do, which is using my Freewrite at my sitting desk.
Right after my writing sprint, I’m also going to try self-editing the text with my Freewrite to see if I can get used to the navigation buttons. It could be that I have difficulty using the Freewrite simply because the navigation is unfamiliar to me.
I’m only doing one 25 minute sprint. I’ll only be doing single sprints until I finish blocking book 4 and (hopefully) all the rest of the books in the series, so that I don’t run into the confusion I’m suffering from writing in one timeline and blocking in a future one.
***
Evaluation of writing and editing on the Freewrite Traveler
I actually wrote quite fast on the Freewrite today, but unfortunately the reason is because I copied almost word for word what I’d written in my blocking notes for this particular segment of the scene. When I’d been blocking, I had jotted down some writing for my character’s monologue, and today’s writing on the Freewrite just happened to coincide with those several paragraphs. So today, at least, writing on the Freewrite at my sitting desk did not make me write faster.
I checked the section of my blocking notes for yesterday, but I didn’t have the same type of notes where I had just copied them word for word. So the writing yesterday on the Alphasmart was actually writing, not just copying my blocking notes.
I typed a little slower on my Freewrite today so that I wouldn’t have as many typos, but I still had quite a lot. And because of the lag between keyboard strokes and the screen, it was irritating to correct typos even for a word or two behind where the cursor was at, because I’d have to backspace a little, wait for it to show up on the screen, and then figure out how many more backspaces to do to delete the word.
It was the same with editing on the Freewrite. Moving the cursor involved using two hands, which isn’t really that big a deal, but what was annoying was that I’d hit the arrow button a few times, have to wait for the cursor to reposition on the screen, and then figure out how many more times to hit the arrow button to get the cursor where I wanted it. It’s easier to move around on the Alphasmart also because I can move up and down lines on the Alphasmart, but I can’t do that on the Freewrite—I can only move one word at a time, or one entire paragraph at a time.
Of course, that’s the entire point of the Freewrite—to make it difficult for you to backspace and navigate, so that you just keep writing and moving forward. I completely understand this writing method and I know it works really well for many people. Writing without correcting your typos is supposed to help you get into flow state faster and easier.
I probably need to somehow get rid of this weird quirk in my brain that makes me absolutely need to correct a typo if I see it. Seeing a typo nags at me, and that minor mental irritation might be keeping me from relaxing into flow state.
I keep trying to use the Freewrite, but maybe I should just listen to my gut that suggests I’m not the type of writer who needs a tool that prevents me from going backwards to correct typos in order to force me to keep working and moving forward. At the very least, I think I enjoyed writing on the Alphasmart more than the Freewrite, for whatever reasons, and isn’t that ultimately what’s most important?
Blogging
I decided not to do any blocking on Sundays in order to make it more like a day of rest from work. However, I’m still doing my writing and email/social media checking in order to keep up my streaks (and hopefully develop better discipline for both of those things).
I’ll spend some time today reading, but I also realized I have some blogging that needs to be done, so I’ll work on that today.
***
Tired
I got a lot of blogging done today, although not all that I had wanted to do. I also kept my email/social media streak alive and checked my email, but I only briefly checked in on social media today.
I also refilled the creative well and re-read a couple light novels that I had really enjoyed the first time, and enjoyed them just as much the second time.
However, I was doing some family stuff and stayed up a little too late, and now I’m pretty tired.
Tomorrow
I think I’ll try using the Alphasmart at my standing desk (assuming I can clean it up) and also try editing on the Alphasmart. I’m not sure how the editing will go since the editing today on the Freewrite was rather frustrating, and the Alphasmart was also meant to be a tool to force you to keep writing. But there’s no lag between the keys and the screen on the Alphasmart, so it might even end up being a good way to do my edits. I won’t know until I try.
I will also continue to work on the blocking tomorrow. I hope I can get more work done. I will try to take advantage of my higher energy levels in the morning and get the blocking done earlier in my day, and that might help me be more productive.
***
Writing: Time spent: 30 minutes
Writing: Total number of words: 888 words
Writing: Overall writing speed: 1765 words/hour
Writing streak: 8 days
Editing: Time spent: 16 minutes
Blocking: time spent: 0
Email/Social Media streak: 6 days
Time spent doing other writing-related business: 4 hours, 32 minutes
My takeaway for today: I keep trying to use the Freewrite, but maybe I should just listen to my gut that suggests I’m not the type of writer who needs a tool like this, which prevents going backwards or navigating within my text. Ignoring my typos may not enable me to get into flow state.
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