_{Day 120/100 Dayum, the last 20 days have gone fast.}

Hey—It's Tim. 

I’m the guy who preaches “ship that ugly first draft before lunch.”
But here’s the confession I usually mumble into my coffee:

Getting the clay on the wheel is hard.
Yet most pieces lose readers in the last 5 cm - that wobbly bit between “good enough” and “worth sharing.”

Today we tighten that gap.

The 20-Minute SPARK Pass

(One kitchen timer. Four minutes a letter. Done.)

S — Sharpen the Shape (0-4 min)

Skim the headings only.
If the story feels jagged, drag one block where it belongs.
Pro move: write a six-word summary for each section; the skeleton should read like a mini-story.

P — Prune the Fluff (4-8 min)

Ctrl / Cmd + F these offenders: “just”, “really”, “that”, “very”.
Delete five of them.
Pick your longest sentence, split it in two.
Instant oxygen.

A — Add One Wink (8-12 min)

Drop a single line that sounds like you, not ChatGPT.
A quip, a parenthetical, a tiny confession.
One sentence is plenty… this is seasoning, not syrup.

R — Reader Check (12-16 min)

Type: “After reading this, you can ______.”
Fill in the blank.
If the draft doesn’t clearly deliver that promise, add a clarifying bullet or tweak a heading.
No new research allowed.

K — Key Takeaway (16-20 min)

Bold one line near the end that someone could quote on Slack.
✨Then add a friction-free next step: link, question, or quick challenge.
Hit publish before the timer beeps twice.

Result: Draft jumps from okay to obvious keeper—without falling into the perfection pit.

✨- This is the one most people forget. Give the reason the next thing to read.

Why 80-85 % is the sweet spot

Good content isn’t born perfect.
It’s born serviceable, then nudged from “fine” to “fizz” … and shipped before the self-doubt committee reconvenes.

Think of SPARK as a 20-minute victory lap — not a perfection marathon.

1. Set a kitchen timer for 4 minutes per letter.
   When it dings, move on. No extensions.

2. Stay inside the doc. No new research rabbit holes. You’re polishing, not rebuilding.

3. Hit 85 %, publish, walk away.
   The internet rewards momentum more than microscopic improvements no one notices.

Get it shiny, not flawless. Ship it, learn, repeat.

✌️ Tim "Final_Final_THIS_ONE v1.1" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai

Same brain, different platforms: X, Threads, LinkedIn.

P.S. Got a lightning-fast polish trick of your own? Hit reply with your secret step (one sentence max). I’ll round up the best riffs on SPARK and share them next Wednesday—credit included, bragging rights mandatory.

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