The Best Place to Find Motivation this NaNoWriMo

Is your motivation waning and word count panic nipping at your heels? Don't give up. There's a solution that can fire up your enthusiasm, strengthen your will to write, and nip that nipping panic in the bud. It's time to level up your motivation with the word sprint.

Imagine for a moment that your fingers freeze above the keys midway through a scene as you ponder how to describe the handsome devil that is your male lead. With your thesaurus in hand, you find a host of synonyms for 'comely' and come across the word 'pulchritudinous'. Well, who can look at that word and not find their curiosity piqued? So you use your dictionary prowess to locate a definition, find out that, of all things, it means physically beautiful, and because you want to know how such a clunky word came to mean something good-looking, you hop over to Google to research its etymology. Thirty minutes later, you finally return to your WIP, re-read your last sentence, and describe your male lead as handsome because no one uses the word pulchritudinous anyway. Half an hour of writing time wasted.

Enter the word sprint.

If you find yourself easily distracted, plagued by doubt, or lured in continually by the call of the Internet, then this is the writing exercise for you. At its core, a word sprint is a writing race against time. Set yourself a time limit and write (and nothing else) during that time. The duration of the sprint can be anything from a super speedy five minutes to a marathon-like hour... or more. Just pick a time, set an alarm, and write.

So how can you use this technique to boost your motivation?


Incentive Level 1:

The Write-Against-Time Sprint

You have a spare ten minutes on your lunch break? Whip out a notebook, set a timer on your phone, and write without stopping until the alarm goes off. Don't stop to edit, don't hesitate over word choice, don't think too hard about what you're writing—just write.

This is about getting as much as you can down as fast as you can. Making it sound pretty comes later. For now, concentrate on what your muse, that inner storyteller who whispers all the good ideas from the back of your mind, is saying. Word sprinting is one of the best ways to pick up on muse-speak; because you're writing quickly, without censoring yourself, you're letting your innate creativity flow out onto the page without being stemmed by your inner editor.

Knowing that the clock is ticking, your time is running out, and you need to write as many words as possible before it does is a great incentive to write, and write lots. What if that isn't enough, though? Then maybe you need to intensify things. Let's sprint at...


Incentive Level 2:

The Write-or-Die Sprint

The clock is ticking, but all you can do is stare at the blinking cursor on a blank screen. That infernal inner editor has your muse bound and gagged and stuffed in a sack for good measure. What's a writer to do but take drastic action?

That drastic action comes in the form of Write or Die. Whereas before, only the steady tick-tock of the clock urged you on to write, this programme is a little more... wicked.

Remember the mishap with the pulchritudinous male lead? While nothing but your willpower is there to stop you wasting thirty minutes of your writing time during a normal word sprint, Write or Die is rather more strict than that. If you stop writing to flex your thesaurus muscles during a Write or Die sprint, expect to hear the blare of car horns, the wail of babies, a disembodied scream, or the music of Rick Astley. Word sprints are for writing, and if you don't write, there are Consequences.

The original Write or Die, which is my go-to during NaNoWriMo, uses negative reinforcement to keep you writing. Should you stop typing for longer than your 'grace period' during the sprint session, a progressively red screen and a host of unpleasant noises will get you writing again. This is the best way by far I've found to make sure you pump out as many words as possible during a word sprint.

Write or Die 2 uses both positive and negative reinforcement to keep those fingers moving, which some of you may find more appealing. You can find the free web app (with only negative reinforcement) here or purchase the latest desktop version (with both positive and negative reinforcement) here.

Still struggling to stay motivated, even with Write or Die pushing you onwards? Then maybe you need some comrades...


Incentive Level 3:

The Write-for-Victory Sprint

For me, the ultimate incentive to write a mammoth amount is competing with others. The benefits are numerous: you get to interact with other writers, cheer them on and be cheered on in turn, and you get to put your competitive nature to good use. Racing against the clock alone is one thing; racing against the clock and competing with others for the biggest word count is another entirely.

There are places all over the Internet where you can find other sprinters and wage word war against them. Find writing buddies and compete for the highest word counts on the NaNoWriMo forums and (my favourite) on Twitter.

Twitter is overflowing with word sprints during NaNoWriMo, making it the best place to start. Join me and my fellow Sprint Shack co-bloggers at @TheSprintShack, where we host sprints all year round, take part in the monthly Friday night writing marathons at @FriNightWrites, or sprint it out during NaNoThons. And if you're still struggling to stick with your story this month, stop by 6 Ways to Become Immensely Inspired this NaNoWriMo and soak up some inspiration.

I hope that the power of the word sprint gives you the boost you need to keep writing and level up your motivation this NaNoWriMo. Just keep writing. Just keep sprinting. Good luck.