The year is coming to an end, and with that, I continue the annual tradition of writing ax words about piece x. This year, that means trying to cram 2022 into 2,022 words. As you can imagine, that’s a lot. I usually write 5,000-6,000 words and then have to brutally edit it to try to hit my word limit. However, part of the challenge is to relive all the ups and downs of the year without getting overwhelmed. The trick is to keep your fingers moving no matter what. And recently, I found an app for that and I wanted to share it with you guys. After all, this is the season.
As a writer, you’ll often find yourself reaching for the save button. After all, it is your lifeline. After all, a short-term power outage or a computer glitch is all it takes to make all your hard work pointless. But what if it is? to be no save button? What if there was no staring out the window for inspiration, no stopping to think of a witty phrase, and no way to stop for a break? What if this is like the movie Speed 2, except instead of a boat you’re on a bus? What if when you slow down, it explodes? Good. Welcome to the world of extreme writing.
That is the premise to The most dangerous writing app. If you stop writing for more than a few seconds, you will see your writing disappear. And, if you’re particularly slow about it, that’s the end. Your words disappear into the digital ether, never to be seen again. Don’t pick up your phone. Do not react to a notification. If the FedEX guy finally shows up with the parcel you’ve been waiting for SO MUCH, there’s no way to slow down even a second.
Encouraging you to focus and really a great tool to find and maintain your fluency, The Most Dangerous Writing App is a great idea. Being forced to write a few words per second means that the fear of the blank page disappears and having to keep writing will help you stay confident.
In many ways, the app reminds me of National Fiction Month (NaNoWriMo), where you need to read a 50,000-word novel. Or something. I can not remember. Normally, I would Google it to make sure I got the word count right, but I can’t stop because if I open a new tab, I’ll lose what I’ve written so far in this article. Argh! But that’s okay, the important thing is that it will both help you begin write and really force you to Finish One piece is fine. Because, well, if you don’t finish it, you lose it. And I don’t want that. Nobody wants that.
It’s not exactly an advanced app, but it’s a surprising and fun way to force you to start writing and keep writing. It makes me think about the way I write very differently. Incidentally, it proves that I can also, in fact, write for five minutes straight, which is quite a nice gift to be able to give to myself.
I’m also sure that TechCrunch editors will be happy that I write continuously for 5 minutes before hitting publish, pausing long enough to add some links and featured images but not for the editor to edit. my spelling mistake. Sorry, Henry.
