The problem with freewriting is knowing when to end the book. Sure, you look at your word count and think, "hmm, I need to kill someone." Or, "I need more sex." Personally speaking, yeah, sure, I do, but writing wise, we're talking about word counts. Pay attention. Free writing is a process by which you have an amorphous idea and run with it. You have no middle and no ending in mind, just a vague thought that the book will finish on it's own.
Hah! I have over 100k and have just killed off two more people. Jeez, am I blood thirsty or what? That makes five, no, six dead bodies on the ground. I have one accident, one assault and one near-rape, too. It's all go on the Deception front, but I now need an ending. Should I kill the fucker off? Should I have him duly beaten by the big, buff cop? Should I have him escape? Now that would be cruel, wouldn't it?
I'm in nowhere land with a number of solutions available. The perp has finally lost it, and if I go his way, more people are going to die. If I go the cop route, a kidnapping and assault ensue. If I go the 'accidental arrest' route, that lets the reader down, I think, because there's no real climax until the unveiling.
This is what free writing is all about: the uncertainty. I can see why Sue Grafton doesn't, or didn't plot, because the author is in the dark as much as the reader, and surprises always happen.
I think I'm just going to see what happens. After a bit of sex. In the book! Perverts!
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