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Thursday, January 16, 2014

Writing Sprints

I love writing sprints! LOVE THEM!!

They push me, they make me work, they challenge me, and I love them. I love fighting the time, seeing if I can get a few more words this sprint. In fact, that is why I joined twitter. I don't understand twitter, and I basically never look at it or post on it, but I do go there to sprint.

Every Friday night @writeclub does Friday night sprints all evening. Then everyone reports their words and they give the grand total of words written that night for all to see. It is nothing huge or elaborate, and they don't offer you prizes or rewards for coming. They just have sprints and invite everyone to follow. I have been doing it since last spring and I love it. I feel like my Friday isn't complete if I don't participate in at least one sprint!

So why sprint?

Here are my thoughts. When you are sprinting, you know you have a time frame. You type consecutively for how ever long you have set for yourself, and you don't allow for interruptions. This is fantastic for people like me. There are so many things on my to-do list that if I allow it to, it will take over my day and I can't get any writing in at all. But if I have sprint time then I know I will write for 30 minutes (or whatever time you choose) and then I can do something on my list. Then I return to sprint. This way I write and I get my to-do list done as well. It has worked quite well for me.

In fact, I am sprinting right now :) I have chosen to write this blog for one of my sprints today. So even if you don't have a lot of time in the day, or feel like writing is never going to fit into your time frame for that afternoon, give yourself a sprint time. Sit and write for that time, and then go back to everything else that needs to get done. I always feel better when I do that, like I practiced for the day and I am not letting my talent sit to the side. If I can get more than one sprint in each day then I'm doing really great!

Try it. Set a time, sprint between chores, let your child watch a half hour Christmas Special like Frosty or the Grinch, and sprint while he/she is occupied getting into the Christmas spirit. There are ways to find time if you want to. And if you want to get better at writing, then you have to write, write, write, and write someone. So find the time, sprint alone or with a group (I always find that I'm more motivated in a group). There are chat rooms and twitters set up just for that purpose. Find them, sprint with them, and discover the joy of challenging yourself to get those words down.


2 comments:

  1. I should force myself to sprint more--not because I dedicate a time slot, but because the editor in my head keeps wanting to take over. It's good for me to let that right brain side run wild. Thanks for the post. I'm going to spotlight you in my blog Jan. 20. www.renaeswritespot DOT blogspot DOT com.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Renae! I had a lot of trouble with my inner editor too, and that's part of why I started sprinting so much! I'll check out your blog tomorrow and spread the world! I appreciate it

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