Sprints.
What is a sprint?
A sprint is a technique for focused writing, whether drafting, editing, or plotting. It consists of shared timers and alerts that writers write against. During the sprint, you do not allow any external interruptions, chatter is kept to a minimum, and you can concentrate on your writing.
Sprints are typically 20-30 minutes in length.
Sprints are fun!
Sprints are a great way to focus writing time alongside other writers, but they're there to help you. There is no pressure to hit a word count. Perhaps you are editing, and your word count goes down!
The Edinburgh SFF sprint bot
Our sprint bot can be accessed with various commands. If you make a mistake, most commands can be repeated.
/sprint 30 in 5
Sprints for 30 minutes after a 5-minute countdown. You can adjust this to fit your needs. Only one sprint can be active in a channel at once.
/join 5000
Join the sprint (even if you started it) with an initial 5000 words. When the sprint is complete, you will be asked to provide a new word count, and the bot will list a leaderboard of all writers who took part in the sprint.
/same
If you have completed at least one sprint, you can join any subsequent sprint with this shorthand. It will automatically use your last word count.
/words 5400
At the end of a sprint, the bot will tag your name and ask you to provide a word count. After a few minutes, these will be calculated to generate a leaderboard.
Tips
-
When using 'slash commands' in Discord, you must pause for a second for it to be ready for input. For example:
/sprint <pause for a second, and then when prompted> 30 in 5 -
Only one sprint can be active in a channel at once.
Other sprint tools
Sprinting follows a Pomodoro approach to working: short (ish) bursts of work with a shorter gap, repeated until the work is done. There are various desktop and mobile apps that offer similar functionality. Search your favourite app store for pomodoro.
What is a sprint?
A sprint is a technique for focused writing, whether drafting, editing, or plotting. It consists of shared timers and alerts that writers write against. During the sprint, you do not allow any external interruptions, chatter is kept to a minimum, and you can concentrate on your writing.
Sprints are typically 20-30 minutes in length.
Sprints are fun!
Sprints are a great way to focus writing time alongside other writers, but they're there to help you. There is no pressure to hit a word count. Perhaps you are editing, and your word count goes down!
The Edinburgh SFF sprint bot
Our sprint bot can be accessed with various commands. If you make a mistake, most commands can be repeated.
/sprint 30 in 5
Sprints for 30 minutes after a 5-minute countdown. You can adjust this to fit your needs. Only one sprint can be active in a channel at once.
/join 5000
Join the sprint (even if you started it) with an initial 5000 words. When the sprint is complete, you will be asked to provide a new word count, and the bot will list a leaderboard of all writers who took part in the sprint.
/same
If you have completed at least one sprint, you can join any subsequent sprint with this shorthand. It will automatically use your last word count.
/words 5400
At the end of a sprint, the bot will tag your name and ask you to provide a word count. After a few minutes, these will be calculated to generate a leaderboard.
Tips
-
When using 'slash commands' in Discord, you must pause for a second for it to be ready for input. For example:
/sprint <pause for a second, and then when prompted> 30 in 5 -
Only one sprint can be active in a channel at once.
Other sprint tools
Sprinting follows a Pomodoro approach to working: short (ish) bursts of work with a shorter gap, repeated until the work is done. There are various desktop and mobile apps that offer similar functionality. Search your favourite app store for pomodoro.