Written by Jaclynn Marie at JaclynnMarie.
Hello readers and writers alike! I’m honored to be here today and so thankful to Madi for allowing me to share this post with you all! 🙂
Something I believe all of us writers can relate to is a terrible feeling we get – the feeling that makes you want to procrastinate writing your next chapter or put off completing the scene you started a day (or maybe even a week) ago.
It’s when you simply don’t feel like writing. When doing a chore that you absolutely hate sounds so much better than sitting down and working on your book.
Or maybe you do want to work on your book, but you don’t feel like your brain can focus on writing and you just aren’t sure where to start.
So what do we do when we feel this way?
Shrug it off and try again tomorrow, of course!
….actually, no.
I’m begging to be pinned. Hover over me if you so desire!
If we are really serious about our writing and want to make it our career, we have to push through and become dedicated writers. We have to become the writers that write whether we feel like it or not.
But how do we do that? I mean, we try, don’t we? We sit at our computer with our document open and just stare at it, telling ourselves – I don’t know how to do this right now, but I need to.
So do we actually start writing after saying that? In most cases I’m sure it’s safe to say that we don’t. We end up going online, texting a friend, getting a snack, and eventually after half an hour has passed, we close the document and say – I’ll try again tomorrow.
Unfortunately for our lazy unmotivated selves, this isn’t what a dedicated, professional writer looks like.
However, I have found a trick that really helps me to get some words written even on my most unmotivated and uninspired days.
Do word sprints.
For those of you who don’t know what that is, let me explain:
A word sprint is where you ask someone to write with you for a short amount of time – usually 10-15 minutes (though you can definitely go longer) and you race against the clock to get as many words written as possible. Once the time is up, you each report to each other how many words you wrote and maybe share the last line you typed.
Guys, I can not stress enough how much this has impacted my writing. Whenever I feel like I can’t write, I ask someone for a sprint. In an hour’s time (of which has been spent doing several sprints) I have added 1,000 words to my book and gotten so into my writing that I end up not needing to sprint anymore. 1,000 words written in an hour, where if I hadn’t done this, I wouldn’t have written anything. I would have given up and gone to watch a movie, but instead I persevered and managed to add a lot to my book.
It helps so much having someone to sprint with. It keeps you accountable and really forces you to write no matter what. Thanks to word sprints, I have been able to write a lot more and make tons of progress in my book!
Now you may be thinking – “Well, that’s great, Jaclynn, but what if I don’t have anyone to sprint with?”
In that case, I recommend sprinting with yourself. Set a timer for 10 minutes and see how many words you can get written in that time. You’ll be surprised by the progress you make. Even if you write 100 words and find you still aren’t feeling it, at least you have written. At least you have added a few more words to your story that weren’t there before.
I’m begging to be pinned. Hover over me if you so desire!
The key to becoming a professional, dedicated writer is writing when you don’t feel like it and writing consistently. So if you’re writing a few words a day, I say that’s great! Because with consistency breeds passion and you will continue to add more and more words each day.
When you do this, you are on your way to becoming a professional. With each word you write, each day you push through, you are coming closer to making your dream come true. 🙂
~Jaclynn~
Wasn’t that amazing? Jaclynn’s posts are always so inspiring. I’m so glad she let me share this with you.
Speaking of Jaclynn’s amazingness (you might know Jaclynn from Little House of American Girl or Little Miss Fluffet), she is launching her new author blog today!
Click that image above to check out Jaclynn’s beautiful new blog and subscribe to it to never miss one of her amazing posts.
[…] make sure to check out the post I wrote for Madi’s blog on how I push through writing even on the hardest […]
Amazing post! I do write and I write ALL THE TIME. Hehe. If I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing, reading about writing, or singing about writing. (Maybe the last one isn’t exactly correct…). I subscribed to Jaclynn’s blog! Looks so good.
Great post! ?
Awww, you are so awesome, Madi!! Thank you so much for sharing and for being a part of my blog launch! The images you made look AMAZING, too!! <3
Thank you so much too!! <3
jashrfkuagavclkagsdnxajwencakwgdncjk be right back I gotta go follow her noooooow
(She was one of the first bloggers I found and inspired me a lot.?)
Most crazily, ~Olive
This was super helpful! I’m just about to start working on my novel, but don’t have a ton of motivation to get going.
And yes, I’m totally going to check out her blog.
This was super helpful! I’m totally following her blog!
I’m currently just about to start writing my novel, but haven’t had the motivation to really start it. (Does that sound odd?) But this kinda gave me some motivation to get those first words down on the page.
Thank you, Madi and Jaclynn! This was an amazing post, and very inspiring… I will definitely be trying out word sprints!
Word sprints sound really fun! I want to do them with somebody, but I don’t really have an IRL writing buddy. 🙁
Hehe, I used to say that I need to write at least a little each day. Then I started writing a novel and took a break from all writing apparently. I need to start back writing, but idk. I’m still working on my blog and stuff so I guess I’m working on that. Oh, and apparently I’m going to be working on three collab stories(not including three that we gave up on.?) I think I need to finish what I start. But I am glad for the collabs bc it splits up the work and I get super excited to write them. One is apparently with my youth group(quite honestly I’m not sure it will turn out well), one with my close friend(I already wrote my part, now I just get to wait on her!), and another that me and another friend might base of Star Wars(I’m so glad to finally have a friend who has seen it!)
Anyway, I still should work on my novel and short stories.
This post was really inspiring Jaclyn!
(Madi, I hope you are far enough away from that crazy weather in FL today)
Wasn’t the post awesome? And thanks Diamond, I am safe!! 😀
JACLYNN HAS A NEW SITE?!?! *goes to subscribe*
I loved this, this is definitely what I need to do. I can either be totally inspired and write a ton in a day or then be like, “I’m so not knowing what to write today..” lol. 😛 I really need to try this. 🙂
This was great! There are some awesome tips here … and it’s so true! If one really wants to be a writer – if it’s really something that matters to you – you need to just do it!
Thanks so much Jaclynn and Madi! I subscribed to your site Jaclynn (I’m Zella, btw, if you get the names of your subscribers) and I have my document open RIGHT NOW and am about to do. that. sprint! Wish me luck! I am setting the timer for 10 minutes and will see how much I can jot down!
WOOHOO you go Zella!! Good luck!
Great post, Madi!
[…] Ahem. I wrote all about word sprints here. […]