7 step training plan for running a personal writing sprint

Writing sprints provide boundaries, which give you clarity. Without boundaries, you get ambiguity — as any good parent or pet owner will tell you, you need lines that shouldn’t be crossed to avoid red-faced temper tantrums or Fido sleeping on your bed. When you’re a writer, ambiguity results in procrastination and/or perfectionism. So, as New Year looms into view, here is our 7-step training plan for running a personal writing sprint you can use to turbocharge your writing in 2019.

The idea behind a writing sprint is to move your project forwards quickly over a short burst of time. A sprint’s not so very different from a writing splurge or binge, but it’s more focussed and less stress-inducing. It follows a direction and has some simple, tried and tested rules which means you start off in the right direction.

So, stop splurging and start sprinting. Here’s your personal training plan to achieve your writing goals.

Your 7-step training plan for running a personal writing sprint

Step 1. Know where the finishing line is

Have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve and what ‘finishing’ will look like.

The biggest difference between a writing splurge and a writing sprint is that a sprint has a very clear end point. This means your sprint goal needs to be as specific as you can make it (ie. not ‘write a novel’) and that it’s realistically achievable over the short time you have (ie. not ‘write a novel’). For example:

• Complete the first draft of my introduction.
• Write for 40 minutes a day.
• Edit pages 10–30 and re-write the introduction.

>> Related reads: How to harness your writing brain’s hedonic hotspots: lessons from neuroscience

Step 2. Identify your potholes

Understand what might trip you up and where your blocks and obstacles are likely to be.

When you’re running a race, you’re told to look out for the things that might hold you back. Unless you’re writing on a desert island, you will get distracted and pulled off track by unexpected family/work commitments — but knowing what these blockers might be and when they might happen makes them easier to cope with.

Step 3. Think sprint not marathon (for now)

Make sure your sprint is pacey — the idea is to move forward quickly.

The point of a writing sprint is to cover a lot of ground fast and move your project forward in a short burst of time. We decided on 7 days being about the optimum time for a sprint — but you can push it to 10. Any longer than this and you start to flag when you’re moving quickly.

Step 4. Write daily

Move your project forwards every day.

Expect your writing sprint to be intense. When you write daily you build up momentum and normalise the practice of writing. They’re also about giving you short bursts of energy which leave you no space to start procrastinating or dabbling in perfectionism.

>> Related reads: The Planning Fallacy: Why you miss your deadlines and how you can stop

Step 5. Know your half-way point

Know what milestones you want to reach and when.

When you’re running a race you know roughly how long the first 100 yards will take you. When you’re in a writing sprint you need to understand what you want to achieve when you’re mid-way through your sprint. Also, think about giving yourself an appropriate reward for reaching your mid-way point. Go on, give yourself a treat you — deserve it!

Step 6. Inspect, adapt and don’t obsess

Check in with yourself every day.

The principle of sprinting over a short period of time is about constant adaptation, improvement and learning. Not wasting time making the same mistakes again and again. So, after every writing session, ask yourself a few simple questions:

• What went well today and what didn’t go so well?
• Am I on target to meet my goal?
• What am I going to do differently tomorrow?

But remember: don’t make daily check-ins an opportunity to pick over your mistakes and obsess about your progress. Learn, move on, keep going — that’s the key.

Step 7. Wrap-up and regroup

Once you’re done — evaluate how your writing sprint went.

Again, there’s no need to pick over things too much at the wrap up stage. This isn’t an opportunity for recrimination and self flagellation. Whether you won or lost, think about what went well and what didn’t go so well and make some changes for next time. For example:

• If you took on too much, set more realistic goals next time.
• If you got distracted or interrupted, where did those come from?
• How might you cope with/avoid blockers in the future?
• What worked well that you can keep doing?

Ready to sprint?

When you set boundaries on your writing (or your dog’s behaviour) you don’t limit your ambition or creativity — you give it focus, clarity and purpose. And that means you meet your goals quicker, with less stress and fewer temper tantrums.

If you have a project you want to get nailed in the New Year, join our new 7-Day Writing Sprint today. It’s completely free and comes with a free coaching course which expands on the advice in this blog.

Stop procrastinating, get writing — start sprinting today!

About the author: Co-founder and writer in residence at Prolifiko | failed academic and ex-philosophy lecturer | maker of unpopular short comedy films.

Originally published at prolifiko.com on December 18, 2018.