As I’ve discussed ad nauseum, and will continue to do, finishing the starter draft of your entire novel is crucial to your success. One technique that will help you achieve this, is outlined in the article about the value of dictation.
Now it’s time to talk about writing in sprints, another valuable tool in your novelist toolbox.
Sprint writing first became popular with the advent of NANOWRIMO, or National Novel Writing Month, which launched in 1999. Now their technique has become a staple of novelist everywhere.
The concept is simple. Set a timer, usually from 10 to 20 minutes. Write as many words as you can before it goes off.
The emotional complexities are not as simple, but still manageable. Your goal is not great writing, good writing, or clear writing. Your only goal is to know what new scene you want to write, and then get as many words down as you can in the time allotted.
You probably already see the similarity between dictation and sprint writing. Both offline the inner critic/editor, both get a lot of words down. Both are improved later during passes.
And best of all, both move you forward toward writing the entire starter draft of your novel.
Here are some more resources for you to explore about sprint writing:
How to Write in Sprints and Why
5 Types of Writing Sprints — And Why You Need This Tool
And as an bonus, one of my all-time favorite resources on writing, Chris Fox Writes, who is mentioned in the blog above.
See you on the bestsellers list!
Rockstar Novelist 