#100 Things in 20 Minutes

Inspired by Judey Kalchik (her story is linked below). Thank you for the inspiration.

Before we get started...

After I read Judey's piece, the first thing I thought of was an exercise one of my high school English teaches had us do before completing a writing assignment. He would have us write down any and everything that was on our minds, no matter how out there it was. The purpose? I am not entirely certain, but I think it was either to empty our minds of distractions or to give us ideas if we were feeling stuck.

Although, he could have honestly just been trying to shut us up for ten minutes. (We were a, uh, very social group.)

But anyways, let's give it a shot.

1. I don't think I will be able to get this done in 20 minutes.
2. Wow, that was kind of pessimistic.
3. Positive attitude, Alexandria. Maybe you'll surprise yourself.
4. And suddenly my mind is blank. The same mind that is usually going a hundred miles per hour.
5. I have ADHD. Just if you couldn't tell.
6. I am thinking about a micro-fiction series based on Red. I'll link it at the end.
7. Speaking of Red, I entered it into the Vocal Writing Awards.
8. It has been two minutes, and my fingers are already starting to hurt a little.
9. Why is my mind going blank!?!?!?!?
10. Did I do that right? The !?!?!?
11. This is the worst time for writer's block.
12. I was talking to my mom this morning about my writing and how proud I am with myself.
13. I keep telling myself not to edit until later, but I hate the seeing the red squiggly lines. They are so, well, distracting.
14. I am not even half way through and I am already yelling at myself in my head.
15. Work, brain, work!
16. I am so tired and it is not even lunch time.
17. I'm hungry. I really should have eaten breakfast.
18. Eat breakfast kids. It is the most important meal of the day.
19. Yes, I know how hypocritical that is.
20. 1/5 done!
21. I wonder how many people are going to do this challenge.
22. I think Judey has sparked something.
23. Random thought: how many people have succulents on their office desk?
24. How many people have an office desk?
25. I am surprised my succulents are still alive. I do not have a green thumb.
26. Ahh! I have ten minutes!
27. Just write girl. Just write.
28. I am not enjoying the heat.
29. It is making it hard to enjoy being outside for ten minutes.
30. Thankfully, I have air conditioning.
31. Judey, I think you did so much better then I did.
32. Don't worry, I am still going to write 100 things. I don't care if time has run out.
33. I am so glad Vocal + has a numbers thing so I don't have to worry about keeping track.
34. Eight minutes left.
35. Has anyone here watched Grey's Anatomy?
36. I told my sister the other day I only watch it now to see if it will end one day.
37. My favorite characters are Dr. Sloan and Dr. Yang.
38. They did Sloan dirty, killing him like they did.
39. Maybe I should put a spoilers warning later.
40. I also really like Denny.
41. They should have kept him around longer.
42. Oops. Another spoiler.
43. I think I need to find another subject.
44. Fudge! I just bonked my knee against the desk and it hurts!
45. Ow, ow, ow, ow!
46. Rubbing against my knee is screwing with my typing rhythm.
47. I have five minutes left and I am not even halfway through.
48. I thought I would have been further along.
49. You know the saying that hurting something else might distract you from another pain?
50. Yeah, that's a lie.
51. My head still hurts even though I just bonked my knee.
52. What is your guys favorite color?
53. I would apologize for the randomness, but that is kind of the point of the challenge.
54. My spelling errors are mocking me.
55. Three minutes left.
56. Yeah, definitely not going to finish in time.
57. Not unless I go into Flash-time.
58. That's a Flash joke by the way.
59. Yes, I am a bit of a geek. And a nerd. I have no shame.
60. I am actually pretty proud of my geeky/nerdy self.
61. My favorite superhero move is Captain America: Winter Solider.
62. I realize I just said move instead of movie.
63. One minute left.
64. Yes I am doing a countdown.
65. I will write it down somewhere when I run out time.
66. Judey, I ran out of time. Did it have to be at 66?
67. I can't believe I just typed that.
68. Thankfully, there is a strikethrough feature.
69. My stomach just grumbled.
70. I will be editing while I am eating today.
71. Goodness, my fingers are not happy with me.
72. How do best selling authors do it?
73. I would have to take breaks all the time.
74. Like I did just now.
75. No wonder I ran out of time.
76. Two minutes over.
77. I might try to do a work out later.
78. On the treadmill.
79. I like it better than being outside right now.
80. Although it is a little cooler today.
81. I am struggling with spelling simple words.
82. I am struggling with thinking too.
83. Goodness, how in the world am I running out of stuff to say?
84. Who is going to enter the Vocal Writing Awards?
85. Why do I suddenly feel like I wrote about that earlier?
86. Maybe cause I did.
87. Oh I realize I only mentioned I entered a piece in the VWA's.
88. I love the fact my desk has a stand up feature.
89. Sitting for this long while typing is hard.
90. Five minutes over and I am finally near the end.
91. I am about to be really bad and just do a countdown for the last few.
92. No, I'm not.
93. I just shook my hands because they are cramping up.
94. You've got this. You are almost there.
95. My finger tips are a little bit sweaty. Does anyone else have that problem after typing for a while?
96. Four more to go.
97. I am going to be surprised if my brain will be able to work after this.
98. My lunch is taunting me right now.
99. I should have waited until after lunch to do this.
100. And I am done! (28 minutes total)

Now I have to go back and edit.

Update: I am done editing.

Update (again): I really love the quick edit function.

My Thoughts:

Even though I didn't finished in the 20 minutes (which I am not entirely surprised by), I enjoyed this challenge. I underestimated how difficult it would be to allow myself to write the first things that came to mind. You would think someone with a diagnosed ADHD induced overactive brain would have that it in the bag. Apparently, my brain doesn't like working under pressure.

Also, I was not as random as I thought I was going to be. Which is hilariously ironic, considering my brain-to-mouth filter is faulty in social setting about 85% of the time.

All in all, this is one unsanctioned challenge you should definitely try. Who knows what may come of it.

Remember at #6, I said I was going to link a certain story at the end?

So what do you think? Should I do a micro-fiction series centered around this story? I was thinking of using the acronym ROY G BIV as a basis and having it based on Gabriel's journey with processing his grief over Andrea's (his baby sister's) death. Leave a comment below to let me know or maybe offer a few suggestions.