Posted on by writershilpa

30 Minutes timer to just write.

What is the thought that first comes to mind when you sit down to write? Many a time, the mind is blank, because you did not plan on writing, but you had to write something. Maybe it is for a prompt given by Blogadda and you have only that much time to write a post and mail it to BA before SUnday midnight. Maybe, you are to take part in a blogging contest or some such thing and having wasted the entire day you now have only some minutes to write and so there you are at your desk, scratching your head about what you can write!

At other times, thankfully, you are all ready with your topic, with a rough draft in your diary or even in your mind as to what it is that you are going to write about. In that case, kudos to you! You are a very good planner and always do your homework on time, so, here’s a pat on your back!

However, if it is the former scenario, then, I know what you are going through! A thousand ideas crowd your  mind and you are at your wits’ end trying to choose the right one, the ideal one.  At such times, you still are lucky – at least you have some idea floating around in your  mind. . For, there are also times, when the mind is blank; you suffer from the curse called  ‘Writer’s Block’; you  berate yourself in turn for being so tardy. “Why can’t I come up with a simple topic to write about?” 

And, then, to fight those blues, you just decide to take a quick break and go off to Facebook, or Instagram, or some such place to hang around for a while. And, before you know it, 30 minutes of your time has flown away! You curse yourself again and come back to your blog, wringing your fingers in distress, trying your darndest to come up with something, anything, to write about.

This is exactly what happened sometime back with me. Sometime, as in a while ago, when I sat down to writing a post for tomorrow – my day of posting on my blog. I publish a post on my blog Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and more often than not, I prepare the post a day in advance, choosing the topic from a list I work on in my diary. Yes, I am a good girl like that, but I too have days when I lag behind in  doing my homework and thus fall short of time as well as ideas to write about.

So, as I said, I was blank a while ago when I wanted to write something. I left my table and went off to the kitchen to finish a few chores. I also stopped to chat with my pet parrot and click a few pictures of my colourful coffee mug ( what if I need the picture someday to post on Instagram?). After spending  a lot of time on all of the above activities, I came back to my table and fired up my laptop. Going for a ‘walk’ to one of my favourite addas (Blogadda, I mean) I found the perfect  prompt for ‘Write Over the Weekend’ (WOW).

The prompt was to write a post in 30 minutes – after setting the timer –  with whatever comes to the mind. No thinking, no reflecting, no pondering…nothing. Just write. Let the fingers fly over the keyboard and see what comes up! I found it to be the perfect topic to write about, and well, here I am. With my post almost done and 17 minutes to go!

Isn’t that great?

At the risk of sounding like a braggart, I am not bad, at all! I could indeed write a decent post within 30 minutes! Thanks, of course, to the prompt, without which I would still be sitting twiddling my thumbs, scratching my head and cursing myself for not able to come up with a single idea to write, despite being a blogger for the past four years now!

So, thank you, Blogadda!

 

Have you tried this exercise ever? If not, then do try it out. Set the timer for 30 minutes and write whatever comes to your  mind. You will be glad you aren’t as rusty as you thought you were! And, it’s fun, too! 

 

Love,

SHILPA…

P.S.

I completed this post in 30 minutes and I swear I did not cheat!  

 

‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’

37 Replies to “30 Minutes timer to just write.”

  2. I love that prompt. Will use it on a rainy day when I don’t find anything to write. Social media is so distracting… Takes a lot of self control to close all the tabs and focus on the task ahead. You did great 😀

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  3. I love timed writing sprints. Nothing like some stream of consciousness writing to help the fingers unlock themselves 🙂 That said, I schedule posts a month in advance 😉 He he, that’s also because I only write 4 posts a month and not 4 a week.

    But I love free writes. For the simple reason that they let me feel free and allow my mind to unclasp from a routine. It’s the best thing about writing and I love it!

    And hey, not bad at all. That’s a pretty decent bit of writing in 30 minutes!

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    1. Hey, I thought you wrote two posts a week! Will have to observe closely from now on! Hehe
      Yes, writing simply because you want to write helps you write with ease. If it is something we enjoy, it will definitely come with not much effort!
      Thank you, Shy! I, too, felt it was not bad for something written within 30 minutes. 😛

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  4. Four days of week with a planned list is awesome. I am a combination of both. Sometimes, I get an idea and cannot wait to write. Sometimes, I create a post, let it lie around for couple days before I get back and write again. Sometimes, with all the time in the world, I do not know what to write. But, prompts give me that extra push. Right now I am toying with the idea of rewriting a fairy tale in a modern setting. But not able to decide on the story.

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    1. That does sound like fun, Lata. A fairy tale in a modern setting is something we all can do with. With all that keeps us busy once we grow into adults, we all tend to forget fairy tales. So, reading it with some changes will make it fun, for sure!

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  5. You know, most of the posts that I put up are written within 30 minutes. As a matter of fact, this is how I do my professional writing or editing. I just log off all the other distractions, only keep my email on and then write. It always works well. Of course, for blog posts, I write the first draft and leave it that way. Then I go back later, proofread, edit and put an image ready to publish. If it is a heavy duty emotional post, I leave it to stew for a few days, come back when I am calmer and see if I wish to rewrite some stuff. So those tricks work well for me. And you know I hardly ever schedule. 🙂

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  8. Free writes are great to get rid of writer’s block. And even with stories and long form, it’s great to have a timer system. I learnt about this through an author who started the hashtag #500in30 which basically meant aiming to write 500 words in 30 minutes. It seems doable and therefore not intimidating.

    For NaNoWriMo this year, I’ve been doing that. Two or three 30 minute blocks and I can write about 1500-2000 words. It helps this year, I have a plan and a bit of an outline for my chapters.

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    1. I like that hashtag you have written about, Sanch. It is really doable.
      About your NaNoWriMo…keep going. It’s good that you are following this formula.
      It really helps, else one would be stuck with a blank screen for hours on end!

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  9. Awesome Shilpa. I am going bonkers with a fiction that I am doing, quite intense and a new genre for me since more than four days. I am half way with lots of revision and need to make the final nail biting and scaring the shit with fear raised higher.

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    1. Are you doing the NaNoWriMo, Vishal? If so, then hats off to you, buddy! I can imagine how scary the whole exercise must feel! I find it terribly intimidating, so I keep saying to myself that I am writing enough with 4 posts a week, and so I don’t need a NaNoWriMo! 😛
      Wish you the bestest, Vishal!

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    1. Thank you, Anagha! How well articulated a comment it is! Loved the words you used!
      Yes, it does get difficult to keep the mind from straying, but then it is so necessary that we do it so that we do a better job of writing! 🙂

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  11. 30 minutes would mean poetry or a short fiction post for me. I can strangely remain focused while writing without opening any other tabs until I want to confirm the meaning of some word to use google. I used to take part in the WOW prompts every week earlier, but then it got really tough for me to write during the weekends. But just like Raj, I keep the prompt for a rainy day when I have nothing else to do.

    You are doing great, keep it up.

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    1. I too used to do those WOW prompts earlier, but haven’t been regular of late. Glad I did it this time..found a good prompt to write on! 🙂
      Thank you, Soumya! 🙂 You too doing great! ❤

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  13. Shilpa, I had read a book on writing, The Artist’s Way. This was recommended by a dear friend and awesome blogger, Corinne. This book helped me get over writer’s block and also helped me grow as an artist 🙂 Loved your writing exercise, I had written a post on writing within a timeframe. Sometimes the thoughts that come up in this kind of writing surprise us 🙂

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    1. Hey, I have read that book, too! It was gifted to me by a dear friend and I was so inspired by that book that I diligently did all the exercises given in it. It was after I finished reading that book that I created my first blog, ‘Feelings’.
      True, writing within a timeframe helps us learn so much about ourselves!

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  14. I used to. Often when I’d get stuck, I would set a timer and write …or rather ramble is perhaps the right word here.
    And it was fun. Because in the hurry to sort of get it all done, you sort of close out your inner editor and just keep writing. Not all of it gets published though, but hey, at least I write.

    It’s a good exercise for writers when we get stuck.

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    1. True, Sid.
      Most of the times, during such exercise, we tend to pour our heart out, shut out all the other distractions, and just concentrate on writing. And, as you said, it can’t get published, but, at times, something sensible does get written and we do publish it and it resonates with people, too!
      That’s how I have written some of my posts! 😛

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