Writing is like running. (I thank Murakami for that insight.) Sometimes, you do it ‘cause it’s good for you – and to maintain the habit, the discipline. Sometimes, you want to see where you end up. You know you want to go somewhere, but don't know where. So you run. And hope that maybe you’ll figure it out once you get there. But you don’t always feel like it. Sometimes, you need a warmup. Maybe you want to walk a bit, or pace, or do some jumping jacks. Free writing can also be a warmup for writing something more serious (running). And you wouldn’t do anything unless there’s a benefit. But you don’t always know what the benefit is. Yet you have faith that there is one - because it's helped you in the past. So, sometimes, you just start; you try to not think, just do. And you reach flow. That is an end in and of itself. And, in that way, writing is also like meditation.