avatarJF Danskin

Summary

The website content discusses the concept of writing sprints as a method for authors to increase their daily word count efficiently, suggesting the use of focused time blocks and a tool called Sprinto for tracking progress.

Abstract

The article titled "Author Skills | Writing Prompts" with the subheading "#4 — Successful Writing Sprints" delves into the technique of writing sprints to enhance writing productivity. It emphasizes the importance of focused writing sessions, typically lasting from 25 minutes to an hour, to significantly boost word count. The author shares personal experience, noting that some individuals can write up to 3,000 words in an hour. The piece outlines a seven-step process for effective writing sprints, including preparation, setting a timer, avoiding distractions, and using dedicated writing software like Scrivener. Additionally, it introduces Sprinto, a Discord bot that helps writers track their word count and participate in sprints with a community. The article also addresses the challenge of finding topics to write about by providing links to resources on overcoming writer's block and offers a collection of writing prompts to inspire creativity.

Opinions

  • The author believes that writing sprints are a practical approach to achieving high word counts in a short period.
  • Writing quickly is presented as a skill that can be developed over time, with the potential to increase productivity.
  • The use of social media to announce writing sprints is encouraged as a way to create accountability and community.
  • The author endorses the Sprinto bot as a useful tool for writers to engage in timed writing sessions and track their progress.
  • There is an emphasis on the importance of having a topic ready to write about before starting a sprint to avoid wasting time.
  • The author suggests that writer's block can be overcome and provides additional reading material on the subject.
  • The article promotes the author's other works and encourages readers to subscribe for more content on creativity, writing, and author skills.

Author Skills | Writing Prompts

#4 — Successful Writing Sprints

Knocking out those words like a pro

Photo by Alexander Redl on Unsplash

The other day, I came across a Twitter discussion questioning whether it is feasible for an author to write 3000 words per day.

I know plenty of people that have written that in an hour before.

Imagine that — one hour of work, and the rest of the day off 😎

Sounds good, right?

The best way to rack up those sorts of word counts is via a writing sprint: a short but highly-focused period of writing in a defined period of time.

No distractions. No chat. No scrolling.

Steps to a successful writing sprint

Doing a writing sprint needn’t be hard. Here are the seven steps that you need to follow:

  1. Make sure you have something to write about. You are better to continue an ongoing article or chapter, rather than planning during the time (or worse, staring at a blank screen!).
  2. Set yourself a time limit, and perhaps specify a start time, too. I suggest 45 minutes to 1 hour. A ‘pomodoro’ of 25 minutes could also work.
  3. Set yourself a timer, and leave it somewhere fairly visible.
  4. If you like, go social — shoutout your sprint to others on social media, so that they join in too.
  5. The idea is to just write… so at this point, it’s best to switch off Twitter, Medium and other sites. Close your browsers entirely. I like to use writing software called Scrivener, opening it up full screen in ‘composition mode’.
  6. Don’t stop, and don’t look back! In a sprint, if I am struggling with a passage or even a sentence, I forget it and keep going. Editing time can come later, so there may well be plenty of unfinished sentences or ‘notes to self’ to go back and check things.
  7. When time is up, check your word count. If you like, work out your rate of words per minute, as a way to gauge how productive you were. Writing quickly is a skill, and you will be able to get faster with time (on average, anyway).

A useful tool

Now let me introduce you to a great little tool: Sprinto. It’s a bot that you can add to any Discord server.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Add the bot to your server via this link. It’s really simple, and once done, anyone can use it (you could even make your own private server, and use it that way).
  2. Announce a sprint of (up to) 60 mins via this command: /sprint 60
  3. You can add further options after the duration, such as in 5 (starts in 5 mins) or at :30 (starts at half past).
  4. Type /join to join.

[Added — the way to type the command has changed slightly. Now you just type /sprint, and an option box pops up. There, you can add details such as 60 (for 60 mins) or at :30 (to start at half past)].

Screenshot by the author

The example above, I had already typed the same command repeated at the bottom, just to show how I got the result. If I was to join this sprint, I would state my existing word count — for example, typing /join 100 to join with a current total of 100 words.

(Find more commands here).

Then, finally, when the sprint comes to an end, you type in your new word count as follows…

/words 200

…and the bot will automatically tell you how much you wrote, what your rate per minute was, and provide a ‘leaderboard’ with all the participants (even if it was only you 😆).

About point 1 again…

Did you read point 1 in my earlier list — “Make sure you have something to write about…” — and think, ‘wait, that’s the main problem!”

If so, don’t worry… I’ve written a lot about where we can get our writing ideas from, and tackle writer’s block. Check out the following articles:

I’ve also shared over a hundred writing prompts! Check them out:

So, get your brainstorming underway, pick a few prompts, and then it’s time to get those words written with a writing sprint or two!

Photo by Sewupari Studio on Unsplash

Psst… before you go, you can find my fiction and poetry here, as well as my articles about creativity writing and author skills right here. Or simplify things by getting my posts direct to your inbox. Do that here! 🧠 Thank you! 🌟

Writing
Productivity
Writing Sprint
Ideas
Fiction
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