Everyone knows the suffering that is your word processor crashing before you’ve had a chance to save your work. But the Most Dangerous Writing App takes this experience and dials it up to 11. The page looks innocent enough at first glance and each session is 5 minutes by default (adjustable from 3 to 60 minutes). There’s no prompt, so what you want to write about is entirely up to you… but the moment you type the first letter, you better be able to keep going, otherwise you get the iconic red screen of failure.
We briefly covered this app back in 2019 and although the challenge hasn’t changed much since (apart from a new heinous “hardcore” setting that also blurs everything you’ve written), our capacity to write whilst under pressure (hopefully) has. If you’re tired of the Most Dangerous Writing App bullying your progress, then this article is for you!
Wait, we can prep?
Yes, you read that right. Although most people would jump into the challenge without any further thought, the chance of failure by doing so is significantly greater.
Picking a topic is easy, but what comes next is not – the moment you put a single letter on the page, the doom timer starts. You need to be able to continue writing for the entirety of the challenge without pausing for more than 5 seconds. Not only do you have limited time to gather your thoughts between sentences, the screen gets progressively blurrier and redder as the 5 seconds ticks down… which causes most people to panic and trip over their thoughts even more. Of course, you can “cheat” by entering random keystrokes to trick the system into thinking you are writing, but that’s not a very fulfilling way to beat the challenge.
Here’s what we think you should do instead:
Plan.
There are no rules stipulating that you must enter the challenge with an empty mind. Whether you choose to do the standard 5-minute challenge or the 60-minute gauntlet of suffering is your choice, but the challenge becomes less intimidating when you go in with a plan.
1. Choosing your topic
With there being an endless number of potential topics to write about, you’d think choosing a subject would be easy… but that’s not the case for this challenge.
If you are picking a topic on the fly, not only do you need to be somewhat acquainted with it, you also need to be able to write about it continuously for the next 5 minutes (or longer) – you won’t have enough time to hop on Google for references and information, so everything you write will be coming straight from your brain. Of course, the app won’t be able to identify whether something is true or not, but intentionally writing dubious statements is rather unethical and we can’t condone that as copywriters.
2. Identify three relevant supporting points
After picking a subject that you are familiar with, you need to come up with some reasons on why you’ve chosen this subject. It could be something positive (eg. why this thing is awesome and you should get it) or negative (eg. why this thing sucks and you should avoid it), but do make sure that your reasons have some thought involved. Just because you don’t need to put in sources does not mean subpar reasoning is sufficient
No: “I just like Honda Civics.”
Yes: “My grandfather drove a Honda Civic and we spent a lot of time together in his old ’98 model. Civics make me think of him and all the great moments we’ve shared.”
3. Skip the editing, but don’t skimp on structuring
Some people are unable to resist the urge to edit their work as they write – a major mistake when doing writing challenges. Editing takes time for your brain to process, and that process is significantly harder when the screen takes on a screaming red hue. Keep writing until time is up, then you can edit.
Treat this writing challenge like an elevator pitch to someone who has little to no experience on the matter – all your supporting points will be anecdotal, but your personal experiences will give your argument more substance. Furthermore, like with an essay or journalism story, you want to lead with your strongest and most impactful point. For example, gas mileage and engineering feats for your favourite car probably are better selling points than the selection of colours and seat fabric types!
Like with many of the challenges in life, blind attempts often have the odds stacked against you. However, you can set yourself up for success with careful planning – or at least in the case of the Most Dangerous Writing App, you’ll know precisely what you are up against and how to navigate this gauntlet. Give the challenge a try (and if you’d like a more difficult challenge that steers away from your usual topic comfort picks, try out Squibler’s version for a random prompt)!