What are Writing Sprints and How to Do Them

Being a writer comes with many challenges, one of which is the dreaded writer’s block. There are some lucky writers out there who never experience writer’s block, but for most of us, they’re simply part of the experience. 

If you’re struggling with writer’s block, or just want to get some writing done (but can’t seem to find time), a writing sprint may be the perfect solution.

What is a Writing Sprint? 

A writing sprint is a form of timed writing. You set a timer for however long you want to write and go. Some common time limits for a writing sprint are 20 minutes, 40 minutes, or an hour. You can do more or less depending on what you want to get accomplished and how long you’ll stay focused. 

If you’re doing a longer sprint, it can be helpful to break it up into smaller portions with a short break in between. The Pomodoro Technique can be incredibly helpful for writing, too.

Once you choose the length of time and set your timer,  all you have to do is write. The most important thing to remember for sprints is that anything goes. Don’t worry about making sense, correcting or using great grammar, or whether what you’ve written is “good.” The main goal is to get words onto the page. Sometimes you’ll find you’ve written a masterpiece in this time. Other times, you want to delete the whole block when you’re done. What matters is that you wrote. 

Why Use Writing Sprints?

Writing sprints can help you to make progress on your writing project and defeat writer’s block. Whether you’re writing a novel, short story, or an article, sometimes we need help to get back into the swing of writing. 

Writing sprints help you get into writing faster. It forces you to think fast and dump your thoughts onto the page without a filter. This is a great way to test out new ideas and storylines. If you don’t like what you wrote in the end, you’ve spent less than an hour instead of days. 

By breaking writing into smaller chunks of timed writing, it makes the whole task less overwhelming. Writing anything can be a daunting task, which is how writer’s block can set in. The feeling of not knowing where or how to start is something writers have been navigating for hundreds of years. 

With writing sprints, you don’t have to worry about it. You’re just putting words on the page during the time on your timer. You don’t have to try to write the next American epic. All you have to do is put some thoughts onto paper (digital or otherwise). If it’s not a good fit for your work in progress, you can always edit it later.

When you’re writing with a timer, it gives you less time to dwell on the minute details. Knowing you’re on a time frame pushes you to keep writing rather than look back over what you wrote. You can lose so much writing time by worrying about what you’ve already written. When you get obsessive with editing as you write (it’s happened to us all), you won’t get very much done. 

There’s less pressure to be perfect when you do writing sprints. If you make a mistake, you have it in the back of your mind that you can or will have to fix it later. If you realize what you wrote is a tangent and has nothing to do with the overall story, you can take it out later. You never know when you may write a few great sentences that will take your story to the next level. You might also write garbage you’d never share with anyone. Anything can happen.

Even if you realize you need to delete the whole block you just wrote, at least you know that’s not the direction you want to go and you can try something else. There’s always a benefit when you’re writing - whether it’s progress in your project, or experience to learn from. 

5 Easy Steps to Do Effective Writing Sprints

1. Choose an amount of time - we recommend starting with 20 minutes first to see how that goes. If it works well, then try more.

2. Set a timer - You can use an app that makes it more fun, like the Forest app (which grows trees while you stay off your phone!), or a regular timer.

3. Do the sprint - Write words and have fun!

4. Take a break - If you’re doing a longer sprint, try to take a break mid-way through. If you want to keep writing, go for it, but breaks can help rejuvenate your brain and body and increase creativity.

5. Do another sprint if you feel like it - Sometimes we reach the end of our sprint and want to keep writing. If this happens to you, that’s awesome and you should definitely keep going. If it’s not, that’s okay, too. Schedule your next sprint session and congratulate yourself for making some progress. 

BONUS: Find an accountability partner & sprint with them. This can be a friend, someone you met on social media, or just someone else who likes to write. If you can’t find a partner, you can also text someone you trust and let them know you need an accountability friend. Let them know when you are sprinting and when you’re done. Make sure to choose someone supportive and who will cheer you on. 

Happy sprinting!