Write Incredibly Fast With This Tested Template

The 5–7 System to write stories in 20 minutes.

Are you struggling to structure your articles?

Copy my article template to write without the hassle of figuring out the format of your stories every single time.

I call it the 5–7 System.

Simple At It’s Core

The idea is pretty straightforward.

7 segments with 5 lines of text each.

7 titled sections containing 5 lines of text each.

Your #1 goal is to keep every segment around the same length.

You are aiming for small bites of information, easy to digest, to catch the reader’s attention.

A New Segment, A New Title (Capitalized)

You get the idea. Every new segment starts with a headline and contains about the same amount of text as the rest.

The 5–7 System is carefully curated to accommodate the short attention span of our readers.

Keep segments short while making the story longer to earn more from each single read.

7 segments usually make up for about 4 minutes of read time.

5 lines should be digestible by the reader.

Don’t Take “Lines” Literally.

Let me explain.

A “line” means one or more sentences separated by Enter/Return.

It can be more than a single line of text. “Lines” refers to chunks of text like this one. It can be much longer than a single sentence — but be careful not to exceed 51 words or more than 3 sentences, unless necessary.

Vary the length of each line and apply some symmetry to every segment.

Make it look pretty.

Many Ways to Apply Symmetry

Every previous segment has a different type of symmetry. Segment #1 starts small and grows bigger, while Segment #2 does the opposite. In Segment #3, I create symmetry around the third sentence.

My favorite way of creating symmetry is this:

A short center line.

Do you see how white space is created in the center?

This symmetry draws the attention of the reader to the small sentence in the center.

More Tips Included

Photos divide the text further and give the reader a break. Disclaimer: Some publications do not allow multiple pictures within the text, so tread carefully.

Remember to use Captions

As well as bold and italic words, but use them sparingly.

Embrace the Unexpected

Play with the expectations of the reader.

Once they think they have figured out the format of your story (usually takes 2–3 repetitions to recognize a pattern), change it up.

• Make the next segment shorter, or longer.
• Use bullet points to make practical tips stand out.
• Change the tone of your article by providing real-life examples, or scientific data that back up your writing.

The 5–7 System is primarily made for you, to write faster. Once you have your first draft, move parts around and create a story captivating to the human eye.

Trust your instinct on this.

Rules Are Meant to Be broken

Did you notice the introduction of this story?

I keep introductions short, to drive the reader into reading the story as soon as possible.

Beyond that crucial detail, you should change this system however you want.

Make it your own.

It has helped me write stories in as short as 20 minutes.

Let me know if it can do the same for you!

PS: Thank you for reading!

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My deepest appreciation,

Orestis.