Method comparison
55x5 vs 33x3: which writing method is easier?
33x3 is easier by every measure: 33 lines a day for 3 days, 99 in total. 55x5 is 55 lines a day for 5 days, 275 in total, nearly three times the writing. Both are short. Only one of them will make your hand hurt.
The two, side by side
| What it asks of you | 55x5 method | 33x3 method |
|---|---|---|
| Lines you write a day | 55 lines | 33 lines |
| How long it runs | 5 days | 3 days |
| When you do it | Once a day | Once a day |
| What you need | Pen and paper | Pen and paper |
Do the 55x5 method if
55x5 is the heavier of the two short methods and it knows it. Fifty five lines is a real sitting, roughly twenty minutes of hand writing, five days running.
- You want the effort to feel like something you paid.
- Five days is still short enough that you can see the end.
- You have done 33x3 and it felt too easy to count.
- You like a method with a fixed number attached to it.
Do the 33x3 method if
33x3 is the shortest writing method on this site. Thirty three lines a day, three days, 99 lines and it is finished.
- You want the lowest possible barrier to starting.
- Twenty minutes of writing a day is not happening this week.
- You want to finish, and finishing is the habit you are actually building.
- You want to try a line out before giving it five days or a month.
Can you do both?
Yes, and back to back is the natural order: 33x3 first as the short one, 55x5 second when you want to push. Together that is eight days and 374 lines, which is still less than two weeks of 369. What does not work is running them on the same days, because 88 lines a day is a chore rather than a practice, and a chore gets dropped.
Common questions
275 lines against 99, so nearly three times as much, spread over five days instead of three. Per day it is 55 against 33. The 55x5 guide walks through a full sitting.