5in5 and bacon time!!

Welcome back to this year’s 5in5 endurance  songwriting challenge!

Let’s be honest, there’s a reason we only do this once a year. This is the challenge built for those of you who do not sleep and basically enjoy baring your soul to the internet. You know who I’m talking about – those of you that never sit still because you are constantly working on your latest creative masterpiece. You’re the same ones who probably don’t own a TV and are too busy to stop and smell the roses. Or in this day and age that might equate to not having the time to stop and eat the bacon. Truly the life of a tortured artist.

Then there is the other group. You’re waking up fully rested from your 8-10 hours of sleep each night, and sure, you may not have written a single song all year, but at least you still know how to enjoy the sweet cracklin’ goodness of bacon (sorry, I was hungry as I was writing this).

But there might be a happy middle ground. One where you schedule time to develop your art, but where you also stop to take in what has been created. 5in5 is for both groups of people and it’s all about starting your writing while also taking a few moments to enjoy what you are producing.

Here’s a quick rundown for anyone interested in this year’s 5in5:

• write 5 new songs in 5 days
  the goal is simply to start and finish a whole song to stretch both your creativity and your discipline as a writer. also, it’s basically the title of this challenge.

• each song should be new
  a new song each day is what you’re going to write. no songs you’ve previously started cause you’re starting fresh – you’ve got this!

• co-writing is encouraged
  this one has helped me write better songs the past few years of 5in5 and is highly encouraged for you to try at least once during the week. plus, with 2 (or more) of you working on the song you can take it to the next level. You know that level – where someone is writing and the other person is cooking up… BACON PANCAKES!

• post the song in some public forum
  most songwriters post their songs on a blog, youtube, facebook, soundcloud, etc. part of the beauty of 5in5 is forcing yourself to be vulnerable with your writing by putting it out there and when you post it brings a real sense of community.

• post the link to your song at dnlwht.com each day
  we want to hear what you’ve written and each day there will be a daily post where you can add your song link to let others find you more easily. after you post, don’t forget to go listen to what others are writing & give them encouragement.

I’m sure many of you will want to share this challenge with other songwriters and you are very welcome to do so, but even before you share this, there is one last personal step for you to take. We find that you’re more likely to complete this challenge if you tell someone. So take a quick second, and let others around you know that you’re going to participate in 5in5 with this simple phrase:

We know this challenge is tough but it could be the jumpstart your artistry needs this year. This might be the beginning of finding a great workflow for your art (your song, play, photography, poetry, etc.) while still finding time to savor the bacon! You owe it to yourself to jump in – you can sleep the other 51 weeks of the year.

5in5 begins on Monday, June 6th at 9am CST!

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