I love free writing just for the reason of I do go off onto tangents and explore all sorts of ideas that I wouldn't otherwise. Some of these have gone on to become short stories of their own and way off target of what they were originally for. Also, sometimes when I can't get an idea I sometimes just start writing describing an object or something to get my words flowing. I can always go back to these writings later and pull something out of it even if it is just an awesome word that I used as a description.