🎨 Hobbies
A Short Exercise for Opening the First Sentence When Writing Feels Stuck
What being stuck really is: the desire to write well
Materials and barrier to entry
- Paper and pen, or a blank memo app (free)
- A timer (the default smartphone app)
- 10 uninterrupted minutes
The cost is 0 won, and the difficulty is very low. The only rule is: “Do not stop your hand for 10 minutes.”
| Section | Key summary |
|---|---|
| Materials and barrier to entry | The cost is 0 won, and the difficulty is very low |
| Opening sentence templates that break through the block | Short key point |
| 10-minute warm-up routine | Set a timer for 10 minutes |
| Quantity creates quality | That moment is where writing starts to become enjoyable |
Opening sentence templates that break through the block
When the first sentence does not come to mind, all you need to do is fill in the blanks of a fixed template. Choose one of the templates below and start writing it as is; strangely enough, the second sentence will follow.
- “Lately I keep thinking about ___.”
- “Today, while looking at ___, I suddenly stopped.”
- “Actually, for a long time I have felt that ___ is ___.”
- “No one talks about ___, but I ___.”
10-minute warm-up routine
- Set a timer for 10 minutes.
- Choose one of the templates above, fill in the blank, and write the first sentence.
- Keep writing whatever comes to mind without stopping. Ignore spelling, logic, and sentence flow.
- If your hand stops, write “Hmm, so,” and continue again.
- When 10 minutes are over, stop and underline only one sentence you like from what you wrote.
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Note: Try using that one underlined sentence as the first sentence of the next day’s writing. The best first sentence is not squeezed out of a blank page; it is found inside what you wrote yesterday.
Quantity creates quality
Most good writing does not come out perfectly in one try; it is the result of revising a poor first draft. If you write terrible text for 10 minutes every day, one day you will realize that one paragraph among them is actually quite good. That moment is where writing starts to become enjoyable.
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