Writers are subject to all kinds of advice.
We like to give it, and others like to give it to us.
One of the most famous pieces of advice is attributed to William Faulkner:
“I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.”
How’s that for quotable?
Like all pieces of writing advice, this one is (I believe) subject to a caveat. Faulkner’s point is that if you want to be a writer, you can’t sit around and wait for inspiration to strike. You have to make a habit of doing the work. Yet attempting to follow the advice verbatim has proven problematic for lots of writers.
You can’t sit around and wait for inspiration to strike. You have to make a habit of doing the work. #writerslife #writingcommunity Share on XMany have found themselves either blocked or burned out trying to write every day. Unless you’re one of the rare birds who earn an income writing full-time, you have to acknowledge the reality of the rest of your life, including paid work and other responsibilities.
So how can we best apply this advice?
I’ve written before on word count as a tool. Today, we’re looking at its close cousin, the writing sprint.
SMART goals: Make writing measurable
You may be familiar with the concept of SMART goals: goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time based.
I’m publishing this post in January, so you might find yourself trying on or at war with a New Year’s resolution. Why don’t we stick to our goals? One common reason is that we make general statements, rather than specific commitments: “I want to exercise more” rather than “I’m going to run for twenty minutes twice a week.”
“I’m going to write more” rather than specifying what “more” means.
What does “more” mean in the context of writing? How can we make it measurable?
One easy way—especially now that all word processing programs come with features that do this automatically—is counting words. Another, often overlooked, is time.
Using time as a writing measurement has two immediate benefits:
- it’s measurable!
- time is closely linked to habit formation
“Habits are built through learning and repetition,” which is great, because that’s exactly what you’re trying to cultivate: a writing habit.
As an added benefit, time takes the pressure off having to write a certain amount, the most common stumbling block of word count.
Create positive pressure
As many a self-help book has (correctly) pointed out, we don’t get anywhere we want to go by staying firmly in our comfort zone. We need to challenge ourselves, appropriately.
Simply deciding to “write” for an hour a day could become, shall we say…leisurely, in short order. You’ll probably find yourself staring into the middle distance for some of the time, or wondering what you’ll have for dinner.
How to best use your time, and keep your focus and edge?
The answer is: writing sprints.
Choose a specific (there’s one of those adjectives again) writing goal, set a timer, and: Go!
Writing sprints are great because they're so simple, and make virtually anything doable. They create positive pressure on your writing. #writingtip Share on XI love this strategy because it’s so simple, and makes virtually anything doable. I can do basically any annoying writing task for a short stretch of time. Because I use a timer, I don’t have to pay attention to the clock, or anything other than what I’m focused on for that stretch. Once the timer goes off, I’ve accomplished something measurable.
That might be it. More commonly, I give myself a short (timed) break, and repeat.
You can do this as often as you need to. Have only a short amount of time today? Fine—do one short sprint.
Have more time you want to make feel less like drudgery? Break what you want to do into several smaller sessions, separated by short breaks.
With the timer, you’re creating positive pressure on your writing.
How to sprint
If you’ve ever been sports-adjacent, you’ve heard the terms “warm up” and “cool down.” I like the principle for writing, as well.
Step 1: Get in the zone
Take a few minutes (you can time this, too) to think about your project, and maybe make a few notes. If you’ve previously given yourself structure, check that for ideas.
Allow yourself to get into the headspace by creating a certain routine. Your special mug of tea? Your favorite notepad? Noise cancelling earphones/writing playlist?
Step 2: Sprint
Set the timer, and go.
Remember to keep the time window short enough that it creates positive pressure, but not so short you’re basically gasping for air. I favor pomodoros, a method developed and named by then-university student Francesco Cirillo, who used a tomato-shaped timer (pomodoro is tomato in Italian). Pomodoros are 25 minutes on-task, 5 minutes of break.
Step 3: Repeat
Get up from your desk (or wherever) on your break. Walk around, do a little dance or a little stretch, refill your water bottle…then go again.
Repeat a few times, checking for positive pressure. Once you hit a point of mental tiredness, you begin to lose the benefits, so at that point, call it a day.
Step 4: Cool down
Save your work, make a note for whatever came up that you might want to look into, continue, or develop for your next writing session, then get up and have a nice stretch.
Step away from your computer or notepad, and do something unrelated. I recommend going outside for a minute or two, and letting your eyes rise to the horizon line (this’ll save you from writing-induced downward-looking myopia).
Easy enough, right?
Bottom Line
You want to make writing a habit—an achievable, enjoyable, measurable habit. Writing sprints are a great way to get there.
Sprints are endlessly customizable. You could do writing exercises, work on a prompt, work on a scene, vary the length of time you sprint, you name it. Test a few options, and see what works best for you.
See you on the other side of the timer!
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Want help setting appropriate goals? A book structure intensive could be just the ticket.
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