Member-only story
Writers: 6 Minutes to Your Next Masterpiece
One of my all time favorite hip hop songs “The Show” by human beat boxer and ultimate entertainer Doug E. Fresh, boasts that you’ll hear “the best darn rappers of the year…” Why can’t writers be this confident and braggadocios? The one-eyed patch wearing legendary co-rapper Slick Rick says on the song, “6 minutes, 6 minutes, 6 minutes Doug E. Fresh you’re on…”
Writers when you sit down to begin a new idea or make progress on a draft you’ve been working on forever, sometimes it’s daunting. You wish there was a simple way to get started, to map out your vision and make more headway than you’ve ever made before. Well there is. I propose the 6 minute writing challenge. That’s right. Write. Let’s see how much you can accomplish in 6 minutes on the clock, putting fingertips to keypad. As soon as you start, like Doug E. Fresh — you’re on!
NOTE: This exercise is for writers who have trouble getting started. Sometimes we need to trick ourselves to doing what we know we need to do!
Here are six steps to get you going. Set your timer for 6 minutes.
- Do you really need to start with a title? NO. Sometimes starting with a title can bog you down. Skip the title and go straight to your opener.
- You need a hook. You need something to make the reader gasp or at least not yawn. Whatever…
