Daily prompts are a fun way to keep your writing fresh. An injection of something new to keep your brain on its toes.
Restrictions on how you write your daily prompt are even better: 50, 75, 100, 250 or 500 word limits keeps the editor in you happy. Timed prompts are fun exercises too.
Challenges like the Australian Writers Centre’s Furious Fiction tick every box: multiple prompts and specific words combine in a story of up to 500 words to be submitted within 55 hours. It kicks off on the first Friday of each month. Try it.
I’ve written multiple stories that haven’t been entered (either unfinished or not up to par), and just as many that I’ve submitted. For me it’s the joy of writing, and the thrill to see if you get a shout-out (still waiting on that coo-ee. One day, perhaps).
So it was with great delight that the mighty Paragraph Planet introduced Writing Workout, a stunningly simple prospect: a daily prompt is provided, but you only have 5 minutes to write.
There are no expectations. You aren’t required to submit what you’ve written, you can even leave it in the digital realm and let it dissipate with all the other 1s and 0s on the page. Or you can email to yourself to continue working on.
I’m having them emailed, mainly so I can go back to them at a later date to see if anything sparks my creativity.
But for now, it’s a good way to kickstart the writing day.
First, visit the site. Once you commit, you get your first timer, a counter clicking down from 5 seconds on the intro screen. A brief introduction to help you focus.
Four seconds. The scant words on the screen remind you that you can email the results to yourself.
Three seconds. It’s hard to go past the big ‘Remember’ staring at you underneath the countdown, but you gaze at the words below
Two seconds: ‘Relax, your ideas are only seen by you’
One second. ‘Relax’. I’d like to see that in bigger letters. Like The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Or ‘Don’t Panic’
The screen changes and it begins.
300 seconds.
Great. Now I’m panicking.
Against the clock, your brain immediately hits fight, flight or shutdown mode. You have to embrace the fear and let go of any inhibitions.
Do not think about spelling mistakes. Do not worry about grammatical errors. Don’t even get bogged down by plot, characterisation or … heck … anything.
Just
Write
Words
At this point I’m still allowing my over-analytical brain to guide me. I’m still trying to write something cohesive. I’m still correcting my spelling errors.
I’m wasting time.
This is Day 4’s result: using this opening line as a starting point:
#writingworkout
In the palm of his hand was a letter
he had grasped tightly to keep it safe from the rain. Now in a sheltered doorway he had the chance to open it. Water dripped from his hair onto the envelope causing the ink to smudge, The ‘a’ in ‘Gerald’ now looked like a messy ‘o’. He couldn’t risk damaging the contents like this. He popped the letter between his teeth as he ran his fingers through his hair, pulling it away from his face. Using his palms he squeegeed the water out of his hair, off his face. Now he could risk it. He flipped the envelope over and flicked a finger under the seal. It was damp enough to not require effort to open. As delicately as he could muster, he removed the letter itself. Finally he would know what Carol’s last words were. He unfolded it. It was blank.
142 words in five minutes. That’s one word every 2.11 seconds. And I went back to edit. And I kept trying to think instead of just allowing words to flow. I used inverted commas instead of just ‘letting it go’. (Ugggghhhh, I can’t stand that song)
Granted, I’m a touch typist. I enjoy writing with my eyes closed occasionally. But what could I achieve if I stopped allowing my brain to get in the way of writing?
To be truly free in expression.
Of course it would be garbage. That’s not the point.
The aim of the exercise is to activate your creativity.
And you never know, out of that 5 minute spark may come an ember that begets a mighty blaze.
Try it. Even if it doesn’t feel like your cup of tea, it may lead places you never expected.