Nonstop writing

Nonstop writing is a simple idea. Ask students to write for a given amount of time without stopping, keep the ink flowing! I came across this idea for writing in the classroom in Chapter 4 of the book, Content-Area Writing Every Teacher's Guide, by Harvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman and Nancy Steineke. I like this approach to pre-writing because there is no right or wrong answer. There is no set amount a student should write and it doesn't even have to make sense to the reader. The teacher gives a prompt and students write about whatever comes to mind when they think of that word, then connections to that word, until time is up. Usually, the final thoughts are pretty distant from the initial prompt word, but that is the idea in nonstop writing. Get all the thoughts down on paper.
I recall doing this activity a few times in grade school and high school. I did not see much value in it because we never did anything with it. It would have been interesting to see where other people went with the prompt or to take an idea from the nonstop write and explore it futher. It is important to use the product of a writing strategy in the classroom so that students do not see it as simply an exercise in releasing ink from their pens.