For anyone who does any kind of creative writing, the spectre of writer’s block is always there. Finding ways to overcome this logjam of ideas can become a full time job in itself.
An online service from writing platform Squibler called The Most Dangerous Writing App (TMDWA) presents an intriguing method to get those creative juices flowing – and it’s accessible through your iPhone or iPad. Despite its name, however, there isn’t actually an iOS app to download at present.
So, here’s how writers can utilize TMDWA on iOS.
What is Squibler?
First things first, let’s established what exactly TMDWA is, and what it promises to do for you.
TMDWA aims to shock your latent writing muscles into motion through two key tools. One is a random prompt generator, which spits out a single line of text intended to kickstart your prose.
That’s just an optional starter, however. The main course here is a clean writing field and a strict timer that erases everything you’ve written unless you keep on typing. You heard that right. Stop typing for more than a few seconds and the site deletes your work. Again, it’s intended as a means of shocking your lazy brain into activity, keeping your fingers in a kind of fight-or-flight mode that carves through indecision.
Sure, you’ll probably have some editing to do when the timer’s up – but as a way of getting a rough draft down at lightning speed, it’s hard to beat.
How do I access TMDWA?
As mentioned in the intro, there’s no iOS app for TMDWA as yet. It’s a purely web-based tool. Thankfully, however, it’s a web-based tool that works rather well on mobile.
Simply head to this website on your iOS web browser of choice and choose to either Generate a Prompt or Start Writing w/o Prompt. You’ll then be presented with a simple text box, at which point the onus is on you to get writing.
Fail to write anything for five seconds, and your whole writing session will be wiped, and you’ll be forced to start again. There’s no save option here. Just. Keep. Writing.
More writing options
While the free tier of TMDWA is a simple proposition, it can be a deceptively fully featured writing tool. For one thing you can adjust the length of your writing session from the drop down menu on the main page.
Sign up for a Squibler account and you can choose from a variety of templates based on your chosen medium: novels, screenplays, journals and more. You’ll also be given sub-categories depending on, for example, the novel genre you wish to write in.
These additional options will require you to sign up for a $10/£10 per month subscription, but there’s a 14-day free trial.
How to turn TMDWA into an app (kind of)
While there is no TMDWA app, remember that it is possible to turn any web page into the functional equivalent of one.
Simply follow the above link to open the TMDWA web page, then hit the Share button at the bottom of the browser. Scroll down and select Add to Home Screen, followed by Add.
You’ll now find a link to the TMDWA web page on your home screen, complete with its own app icon.