Writing Sprints

Writing sprints are very useful things to do as a writer but when you don't know what they are you can get quite confused on how to do them so I am here to help.

First, let's talk about what a writing sprint is.

A writing sprint or a word sprint is when you have to sit down for a length of time and write as much as you can in that time without stopping. you then take a five-minute break and do it again. the sprints can be for any length of time but most writers pick somewhere between five minutes and half an hour.

The benefit of writing sprints varies from increasing how many words you can write, getting your story done faster and more.

you can do word sprints on anything. there are websites like mywriteclub where you can do your sprints with friends or by yourself that will time you or you can set up a timer on your phone. during NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo you can do writing sprints on twitter. 

if you search up @NaNoWordSprints they hold word sprints every April, July and November. AuthorTubers also randomly hold live streams where word sprints are done so just do some research and you'll find the best way for you after some experimenting.

Four Things That I Wish I Knew About Writing

There is a lot I wish I knew before I started writing so I have compiled some of them to help you.

One of the major things I wish I knew is that your first draft will never be perfect and just because it sucks doesn't mean it can't be great. this was something that took me forever to understand because for the longest time I would think my writing was amazing and then I would come back and read it and it is garbage so I would throw it out instead of editing and trying to make it better.

Talking about it is so much easier. I have spent hours and hours talking to my family and even friends about the amazing book I am writing or thought of and even discuss every little detail but the minute I went to write I couldn't find the right words, how to write it the way I pictured it in my head. which brings me onto the new thing I wish I knew

Perfection isn't key, now obviously if your book doesn't have spelling mistakes it would be so much easier in the long run to edit but the first draft is just you telling yourself the story, you can edit it the way you want the book to be once you have written the book so it is better to write half pie ideas and plots then not writing at all because you want it to be perfect from the start.

Not everyone will like your work and that's okay. when you are a writer rejection is a big part of it from agents, publishing houses, friends, family and readers alike. your book won't be for everyone and there will always be at least one hater who will try and destroy your confidence but no matter what you do there will be haters and as long as you love your book don't worry what others think.

What is something that you wish you knew?

15,000 words in a week challenge

on June 1st, 2019 i asked my Instagram story a question. they had to decide if i did a 12-hour writing sprint or if i had to write 15k words in a seven day period. they, of course, decided i had to write 15,000 words in a week so i did. i set out to work out how many words i had to write in a day to pass the challenge the number, of course, was unrealistic at 2142.857143 so i had to round up to 2143 words a day. i had three projects the words could go towards. project transfer. my wattpad book The Heartless Alpha or this very blog.

Day One

day one was very easy, i was able to write a grand total of 2212 putting me over my word count for the day by 69 words. 1320 of my word count was on my wattpad book. i decided not to write for my blog at this stage so the remaining 892 words were on my novel. i found it quite easy to do this because i had all the inspiration in the world that i needed at this point.

Day Two

day two was very similar to the day before. i had managed to write 2208 words all of which were on my novel. giving me an extra 65 words on top of the 69 from the day before. i was very happy with the turnout and knew if i kept up the way i was going i would be done in no time.

Day Three

day three was when everything went downhill i had only managed to write 274 words on my novel making the few words i had made up for look really bad in comparison. even with the 134 words i had leftover it only put me up to 408 words which meant i was still 1735 words behind. i put the lag of work down to the fact i had to go in for an appointment and i wasn't very motivated when i finally did get home.

Day Four

day four kept me on the very big standstill. i was able to write 713 words. i don't know what was really stopping me other than a mental block. this put me behind by 3165 words. not sure how i was meant to fix this small block i decided to put it off and hope that the last three days would go well

Day Five

day five was a very good day in one aspect while i was able to write 4380 words, 1491 words on my blog with my post, Author interview with myself and the 2889 words leftover were on my wattpad book. while that was very good. keeping in mind i was over by 2237 words it still left me under what i should be by 276 words.

Day Six

day six was a very long day. we had to drive an hour away for multiple appointments and shopping i had only managed to write 960 words which added to what i was already behind wasn't promising what so ever i was now behind by 1459 words putting my total so far at 10747 words. knowing i had to write 4253 words the next day i was sure i would be failing unless i had another good day like day five

Day Seven

waking up day six i was a nervous wreck. i had the worst sleep of my life and a huge goal in front of me that i wasn't sure how to fix. i joined my writing sprint group for a 25-minute word sprint which gave with 939 words in a very short amount of time. very happy with the results i went and started writing this blog post which put me up by 763 words. i took it away and was left with 2565 words left to write. determined to pass this challenge and not fail i went back to my novel and did a draft plan of what i needed to write and then started writing again landing up with an extra 1751 words unhappy with the outcome since i was 800 words behind i took to wattpad and wrote 849 words I decided to tally it all up and was amazed that i had written 1751 words putting me at a grand total of 4305 words for the day. i had finally passed my goal of 15k words in a week and i was even over by 49 words. i know for a fact i will definitely try this again.