For a writer, blocking off at least an hour a day to write sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? For me, this approach (“write for an hour”) turned writing into a punishment. Ironically, I’ve found that by giving myself a laughably short amount of time to write, I end up being more prolific and versatile, developing ideas I wouldn’t have paid attention to if I’d had the time to be more selective. There’s no dilly-dallying or daydreaming, and the writing is more succinct. I let myself write past the deadline if I want to. (Tricky.)
My assignments sound like this:
Write about your trips to New York in 10 minutes or less.
Make up the plot of a children’s story in 3 minutes or less.
Describe a sunset in 1 minute or less.
If you ever get stuck, try the exercise “100 topics to write about in 10 minutes or less.”
Photo: amaryllis