Cool Writing Exercise Tool

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A friend introduced me to a new piece of exercise equipment for writers. It’s simple and basic, and therein lies the beauty. It’s call authorcise, and can be found at nevernotcurious.com.

When you click on it, a prompt appears, along with a countdown clock. You have 150 seconds to write, following the prompt or ignoring it, as you choose. At the end of 150 seconds, you have three options — stop and let your work disappear; download what you’ve written to your computer; or keep writing for another 150 seconds.

It doesn’t sound like any time at all, but once I start, I’m surprised at how much I can produce in two and a half minutes. I’ve found it useful just to get me going and in the writing frame of mind, like doing warmups before physical exercise, or finger exercises before playing the piano. But I think it could also be valuable for works in progress, to help you muscle through when you’re bogged down.