The Write Stuff

Write a bestseller in just five minutes!

I know a lot of writers. Real writers. Writers who write every day, or close to. Writers who know that all it takes to write (beyond learning the alphabet and the rudimentaries of stringing words into thoughts) is to write. Some of them have published bestselling novels. Some are regular columnists for respected papers. Some have been published locally or have self-published. Many haven't been published. Yet. But they write.

I know a lot of wannabe writers. Wannabes who talk about how much they want to write. Wannabes who complain they have to much to do (families, jobs, responsibilities, for pete's sake!) to find the time to write. Not one of them has written a worst-selling novel. Not one of them has a column with the most pathetic of papers. Not one of them has been published locally (at least not since school) or has self-published. And they won't be. Because they don't write.

It doesn't take much to write. Sure, a lot of people will tell you to write at least 500 words, 1000 words, 2000 words every day. Others will say write for at least half an hour, an hour, two hours every day. And to the wannabe whose excuse is that there's no time, those are nearly impossible goals to agree to stick to. That's when we turn to Jerry Cheaver's Immediate Fiction: A Complete Writing Course.

John Cheaver's primary, numero uno, can't miss rule in Immediate Fiction is to spend at least five minutes every day on your work in progress.

That's right. Just five minutes.

Okay. I can hear you through the computer. "How on earth will anyone get anywhere if they only write five minutes? Get real."

First, just because you promise yourself you'll write at least five minutes doesn't mean you can't write more. Sometimes (maybe even often) you will. But if you only promise yourself at least five minutes, you will always be able to find the time. Even if it means hiding in the bathroom away from the kids or coworkers. Five minutes is ridiculously doable.

B.^* When you spend time actively thinking about your work in progress every day -- even just five minutes -- the story stays with you. You think about it both consciously and subconsciously throughout the day, week, month. You work out problems without even trying ("Hey! Chapter two would work better at the end of the book. Duh!"). And, when you do sit down to write for those five minutes, the story is fresh. You know it. You know where you are. You don't have to reacquaint yourself with the world, the plot, the characters.

and 3.^* When you're struggling to find something to write, when you can't figure out what needs to happen next, when you're body curls up arthritically to cringe away from "writer's block," knowing you need only write for five minutes can be freeing. If you're writing for just five minutes, you can let the story go in an unexpected direction. You can let your characters behave uncharacteristically. You can play and experiment. What's the worst that happens? You later choose not to keep those few sentences or paragraphs. But maybe the experiment pays off. Maybe you get past whatever your hang-up was. Maybe you discover something amazing about your story. Five minutes sets you free.

^*My numbering brainmeats had a Paul Reiser moment.

We all have things we pretend we don't have time to do. What can you tackle for just five minutes every day?