August 27, 2021
Freewriter is a nifty app that encourages a stream-of-consciousness type of writing. The kind where everything feels in the groove and effortless. Open Freewriter, and you'll see a translucent screen with the prompt "Start Writing."
As you compose, the words flow off to the left of the screen, so you're focusing on a sentence worth of copy at a time. If you pause while writing, the sentence turns gray and starts to fall to the bottom of the screen. Until you get into the flow, this might make you feel panicky. Where did my words go? Fortunately, you can pop open a revision window where you'll find everything you've written.
At the bottom left of the screen, a timer counts down from five minutes, which encourages you to write in chunks. At the end of the session, Freewriter displays the percentage of time spent writing versus agonizing. So, those with a competitive bent can gamify it and reward themselves with chocolate bars as they become more proficient.
You won't want to write a novel with Freewriter, but it's a helpful tool to spur you to get started and break the ice. We use it to jump-start creative writing, to cut through all the numbers and ideas you have in your head and put something down on paper. Because that's what it's all about.
Download for free from Google Play and Apple's App Store.