I usually have my brain blanked out most of the time during session. I have got a lot better at that.. I just try to be a thought-less robot.
How do you guys prompt yourself in S3 freehand?
Any tips here would help. I am concerned I might be screwing up here.
It just seems like I always have 3 aspects. Ever have just 1 or 2?
Thoughts?

thanx.

S3 is fully kinesthetic. Once you start 'thinking' about how many aspects you have you are bound to mess up.

Remember that the unconscious is the master problem solver. It will only give you as many aspects as required to solve the problem, no more and no less.

I should add that a common beginner mistake is to truncate your S3 freehand, typically at 3 aspects. You can easily avoid this by continuing to scan the page until you feel no more are present (and not automatically stop when you hit 3).

I almost hesitated to ask this question, fearing it may cause me to think about it too much. I'll just trust my subconscious to work it out.
I'll stick my pen on the paper, wait for impressions, and try not to spend more than 15 seconds on my freehand sketch. Also, when I get to this point I usually look away from where my pen is, to attempt to make my hand do whatever it needs to do.. afraid I'll think/read into what my hand is drawing. When I label the aspects I look back. If this is wrong, correct me.
Thanks.

First, don't look away, you're inviting speculation. Focus on the task.

Second, don't touch the paper with your pen, hover just above the surface to allow for ease of movement. This allows you to move your hand around and "scan the page."

Finally, don't hesitate, commit to an archetype then scan for the next until you feel there are no more.

I think I understand a little better now. Let the pen tip hover over the paper, commit to an archetype, float/scan, feel if another is present, take it one at a time, until i feel there are no more. I'll just do my best and see if it works itself out. Maybe time will tell. thanks.

You got it

Note to newbies, this advice applies to the S3 only. In S2 and S4, you should be touching the pen to paper! I only mention this because at a workshop someone was confused in which section to apply seemingly conflicting advice at a workshop. The advice by the two pros wasn't in conflict, it was the inability of the newbie to identify the differing stages the 2 points of advice applied to.