One of the most grueling aspects of NaNoWriMo is the daily writing – for most writers, anyway. The idea that every single day of the month, we will be sitting in front of our computer typing toward our goal for the day can be hard for moral.
Don’t we even get one day of mercy? Only if we manage to write twice as much at some point during the month.
The weekend comes about and while everyone parties what do WriMos do? We sit in front of the computer and write, like any other day.
Or do we?
Personally, I like to do something special for the weekend. To feel like I’m actually jazzing it up, that it isn’t like any other week day.
So I rent a movie (or just pick one from my collection) and wrap myself in a comforter on my couch.
But there’s a catch.
I have to pay for my right to watch 15 minutes of the movie by writing 500 words. And there is no breaking of that rule. Ever.
For an average 2 hours movie, I’ll have 4k written.
What?
Yes. I’ll take 8 breaks of 500 words each.
Since my usual fifteen minutes word war totals over 500 words, watching a whole 2 hours movie with the writing breaks takes about 4 hours.
4,000 words. In half a day’s work.
Sure, my word count average on a good day is 1k an hour so I could make it without playing tricks on my brain. But this way, I watched a movie too! 😉
It works well for me for two reasons: I don’t mind the constant switch in subject matter and I want to watch my movie.
Trust me when I say that writing 500 words doesn’t take 15 minutes when I’m watching a suspense. In fact, sometimes the opposite also happens; 500 words brings me to the heart of an awesome scene so I can’t wait for my 15 minutes of movie to be over.
Okay, that’s partially a lie.
When that happens, I can’t help but keep writing and to hell with the movie. I’ll either treat myself with a full half hour when the scene is done or (if it didn’t bring me over 1k for that break) consider it a little extra for the day.
Come on, give it a try! It takes some practice at first to get your brain used to switching back and forth. Don’t be afraid to change the rules for something that better suits your own writing speed and objectives. Maybe yours is more a 30/500 ratio or 15/250.
There you have it! My very secret weapon to pleasant weekends with insane word counts.
Do you have one of your own? Come on! Share your super technique with us! Please!
The Writeaholic's Blog 
November 17th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
That’s a very good trick! I used to do that with book reading — 200 to 500 words for 1 chapter, depending on which kind of book I was reading (and the lenght of the chapters).
I’m also really fond of the “as many words I can fit in X minutes and if I can do above Y words, I get to treat myself with Z” rush. Some of the best ideas I got unfolded themselves with that kind of bribe, as when you write in a rush, you can’t tame your brain into trying to fit your ideas into tight-minded boxes. (I hope that made sense. XD)
Looking forward to read what other people do too! 😀
November 17th, 2011 at 2:40 pm
I try and paint in between word count goals, doesn’t always work, Robin