You may have notices, I’ve discovered a new addiction, I mean passion: the five-minute freewrite.
The five-minute freewrite is exactly what I need to help me develop my storytelling muscles/technique. I am not a literary writer, I have no qualms about this. To sell enough stories to make money, Indie authors must continually hook in their readers. Every chapter, every story, every novel must end with a cliffhangers big reveals. As a self-published Indie author, I am a writer of pulp fiction; a writer of Penny Dreadfuls.
Netflix are the modern masters of the Penny Dreadful. Watch their ‘Netflix Own’ series and you quickly realize the episode plots are all devised with one aim in mind: to keep you binge-watching the series.
The idea of the 5 Minute Freewrite, is to spend five minutes writing non-stop to see what you produce, freeing the brain from the shackles of the dreaded editor and making writer’s block a thing of the past. A most noble aim.
In my case, the editor appears to have greater control than ever. Using the writing prompt, I knock stories around in my head for a few hours, while going about my daily business. When I find an intriguing idea, I jot it down. Later, I spent five minutes on creating a story structure, then five minutes writing the story, and a further five minutes editing the story.
I am using a simplified story arc for these five minute writes:
- Stasis
- Quest
- Complication
- Action/Choice
- Climax
- Twist/Reveal
With this simple structure I can construct a five-minute entertaining and intriguing story that will hopefully delight.
Using this five-plus-five-plus-five-minute technique I can hopefully write good rounded stories, which is my main aim. I’m not expecting to win any freewrite prizes, as I’m not entirely sure I’m entering into the spirit of the five-minute freewrite in its entirety, but it is what I need at the moment to grow as a storyteller.
This piece of writing first appeared as part of the ‘5Minute Freewrite’ on Steemit.
Why don’t you give it a go. Let me know how you get on in the comments. Better still, join in the fun on Steemit.
Nick Travers 