Sometimes I just need to close out everything, put my headphones on, and bang out the words. Some days this is so hard to do.
So I sprint. I use the timer above, sometimes I am alone, sometimes other author friends sprint along side me. Basically I just keep typing. If I have some detail I need to check (eye colour, surname etc) then I ignore it in this half hour and simply put a row of XXXXX where I need to fill in specifics and fact check later.
On a good day I can get 5000 words down in three hours (6 sprints) on an average day I can still manage 3000. The best sprints are when I am writing with others, but I can still use this method when I am writing solo. The feeling of success when the alarm sounds and I realised I have written 500 words, or 200 or even 1100, is like a personal pat on the back.
I also reward myself with a cuppa after every couple of sprints.
Also this is good for my shoulder as I time myself for regular breaks to stretch.
Do you sprint?
Liam Livings
I sprint in 1 hr blocks aiming for 2000 words. I can usually do 3-4 of these in a day w tea breaks & twitter treats between sprints. Works well 4 1st drafts down on paper.
RJ Scott
1 hour blocks wreck my shoulder… half an hour is enough so I tend not to aggravate it… you write a good word count if you do 2000 in an hour… I guess I average 800 or so every half hour… the highest I managed in half an hour was 1024 or so… and that HURT… ROFL
Violet Lemon
I haven't tried this, but it seems like it could be something that could really work for me. I need to keep to some type of schedule for writing, but I've yet to come across one that works for me.