Finding Your NaNo Sprint Sweet Spot

One week ago tomorrow, I had never joined a write-in or participated in a word sprint. I had no idea how magical great sprints could be for my writing, nor how much anxiety a poor one could cause. From this past Friday night until Tuesday at 11 pm EST, a long list of awesome Twitch streamers are collaborating to host 100 Hours of Writing, and I’ve been tuning in for several hours each day to join them.

What I’ve learned: Many of us writers have DRASTICALLY different writing speeds, methods, preferences for background music/sounds (or silence, which I prefer), and sprint lengths that work best for us.

In case you’re new to sprinting as a term which applies to writing, I’ll give you a quick rundown of a typical sprint.

The host(s) turn on a timer of some kind, which is usually visible on the screen to all participants. Then they (often) issue a goal or prompt of some kind, such as “write at least 400 words in 15 minutes” or “include a tornado in your next scene.” They may switch on music or ocean sounds, and then tell everyone to begin. When time’s up, everyone shares their word count and takes a break.

Personal benefits I’ve gained from good sprints are: 1. Reminding myself that I’m not alone in all this, and that none of us are perfect. There are always NaNoWriMo participants doing better than me, but plenty who suffer from writer’s block or feel exhausted or uninspired. Some are discouraged because they don’t like where their story’s going. 2. All of the sprints I’ve joined thus far have been incredibly supportive of all participants, and even offer ideas for someone who can’t decide what to write next or how to get through a scene in their story. 3. I always get at least a few words written, which gets me closer to meeting my daily goals.

On the other hand, I spend some sprints so stressed that I barely write anything, feel ready to tear out my hair and throw it at my screen, and just want to run away screaming. After a few such sessions, I stopped writing long enough to evaluate what made me feel this way.

I discovered the following.

1. I don’t like short sprints. Anything ten minutes or less is too little time for me to start feeling the flow and immerse myself into my story deeply enough to be productive. My ideal sprint length is 20–30 minutes. How I deal with it: When the timer sounds at the end of a short sprint, I end up typing in my word count and continuing to write, rather than take a break. After all, the whole point is to make the sprint work for me and my story, not to feel lesser because I can’t write as fast as others.
2. Loud or off-key music distracts me too much to write well. I could just mute the sound, but then I wouldn’t hear the timer go off or the host tell us when it’s over. How I deal with it: Either I set the timer on the Nano site to the same time as the sprint and turn the sound down to low, or I mute anyway and keep my eye on the window with the sprint screen. The second option is not ideal, however, because again, it’s distracting. So most of the time I opt for the first, which I also like because the Nano site pops up a word count update window when the timer gets done. I still have to keep the sound on low, but the music is not loud enough to distract me.
3. Comparisons always happen. The point of a sprint is not to compete or compare my progress with others’, but when someone gets triple my word count in the same amount of time, I feel my competitive nature raising its hackles and hissing. My anxiety level rises, especially when it happens during sprint after sprint. I’m happy for my fellow writers’ success, don’t misunderstand, but I have trouble stamping down the sense of personal failure that pervades beneath that joy. How I deal with it: Set personal goals and reward myself for meeting them. I’m not only referencing the ideal daily target of 1,667 words. I also mean smaller, more attainable goals for a 5-to-30-minute sprint. Sometimes, the goals I choose aren’t numbers at all. They could include finishing a difficult scene, giving a character an “aha” moment, or even taking a quick break to write (and finish) something else, just to get my creative juices squeezed out and onto the page. Guess what — more juices always swell to fill their place. Rewards might include anything from an edible treat or an extra cup of coffee to a bubble bath while listening to an audio book.

If you’ve never tried a writing sprint and need any kind of boost to your writing at all, I encourage you to give one a shot. You can always leave — especially easy on the Twitch stream because until you type something in chat, you’re just a number. No one will be offended. If you’ve tried them before and experienced any or all of the problems I outlined above, I hope you’ll find these tips helpful for trying again and pushing through. Your word count, and your novel, will thank you. In the end, you’ll thank your past self for being so thoughtful when you’re pressing that “upload” button on or before the 30th of November.

Best of luck, and Happy Writing!