Writer's Toolbox #1: Writing Sprints · 5:45am Jul 4th, 2017

There are many different techniques people employ to get themselves to shut up and write. Today's showcase is:

20 Minute "write-as-much-as-you-can" Sprints

Now, I'm sure you can all do this on your own just fine. (Just set a timer and have at it)

But writing is somehow easier to do when you know there's other people writing at the same time as you. That is where Starscribe's Discord Bot comes into play. And that was a ton of weird nouns used all in a row, so let's break that down.

"Starscribe" is an author on FiMfiction who writes cool stuff and has lots of friends. "Discord" is a chat app that has ~~taken over the internet~~ become wildly popular (Even Fimfiction has put their chat system on Discord). A "Bot" is an extra bit of software that Discord allows people to add to their chatrooms.

How a Sprint works

Step 1) Someone enters these magic words into the #writing channel:
!sprint start 28

Okay, the "28" here is arbitrary. That's how long in minutes it is until the sprint starts. You gotta say the magic words just right or else it won't work. (That includes that exclamation point at the beginning)
AppleBot will then notify everyone (@here) in the writing channel that there's a sprint happening in 28 minutes.

Step 2) Other people join the sprint by saying:
!sprint join

At least three people have to join a sprint for it to start. Otherwise AppleBot throws a disheartening "But nobody came" error.

Step 3) When the timer runs out AND at least three people joined, the 20 minute sprint will start.

Everyone joined has exactly 20 minutes to write as much as they possibly can. The goal here is to get that wordcount high.
Naturally this doesn't work for every kind of author. Planners—those that have their entire story outlined—have an advantage here, as they can just write. Personally, I just use writing sprints as a way to get me to write something. Twenty minutes is a reasonable chunk of time to at least get me started and possibly springboard me into more writing. And even if not, I got some writing done. And something is always better than nothing.

Step 4) Once the timer ends, submit a score and a sentence

The magic words here are a bit tricky:
!sprint score 245 "The magic words here are a bit tricky"

Score submitted:

So it's: "!sprint score WORDCOUNT SENTENCE."

To get the wordcount, gather up all the stuff you've written in the last 20 minutes. Highlight it and check the wordcount. If you're writing in Microsoft Word, highlight your selection and the wordcount will show up at the bottom of the page. Otherwise, copy/paste (Ctrl+C,Ctrl+V) what you've written and shove it into a wordcounter like WrittenKitten.

After you have your wordcount, select a sentence (the last sentence you wrote is encouraged) and you can copy/paste that at the end. It's kind of a fun way to see what people are working on. (Though personally I get too embarrassed and usually put something random in there. Or just leave it blank)

You have about a 4 minute window to get all that info in before it give you a score of 0. And IF you don't say the magic words just right, you cannot merely edit your post. The robot doesn't recognize edited posts, so just redo the "!sprint score WORDCOUNT SENTENCE."

Step 5) After the sprint is over all the results are tabulated and there's a "winner."

Honestly the readers are the real winners here. They actually get content.

AppleBot keeps data on all these sprints so you can always check your stats on how you're doing later.

The User Experience of doing all this is incredibly cumbersome, I know. But aside from coding a writing sprint social network website from scratch, this is the best way to do this for now.

How to join a sprint for the first time

Step 1) Get a Discord Account
Head over to: discordapp.com/register and create an account.

Step 2) Optional: Download the Discord Windows/Mac Client
Discord works just fine in a web browser. But if you like the speed of a native app, they work pretty well.

Step 3) Join Starscribe's Discord channel: The Starpub
Here's the invite to click on.
Once you are in, the only channel that will show up on the left sidebar is #mane.

Step 4) Write something in the #mane channel
In order to access the other channels in the Starpub, you have to make at least one post in the mane channel. Feel free to say hello and introduce yourself. On second thought, that's terrifying. Just write "Test post, please ignore" and hopefully no one will say anything.

Step 5) You now have access to the #writing channel!
Feel free to start or join sprints now.

Step 6) Mute every single other channel (Theoretically optional)
If you hate random notifications, be sure to mute every other channel in the Starpub besides "writing."

https://i.gyazo.com/fb1b9cda03bf4a557a49612ce1fbe574.mp4

Setting up a Daily WordCount Goal Solo Sprint

Let's say you like the idea of 20 minute sprints, but would prefer something a bit more leisurely while still keeping the social aspect of it. That's where solo sprints come in.

Step 1) Say the magic words:

!sprint solo reg 250

The "250" is the wordcount you would like to achieve every single day. This can be as low as 100 words a day. But watch out, if you don't make your wordcount goal you are kicked out of the solo sprint.

Step 2) Report to AppleBot frequently

You can direct message AppleBot so you don't have to report on the #writing channel itself. From there, say the magic words:
!sprint solo score 850
The "850" is the number of words you wrote that day.

Step 3) The counter resets at 9PM Pacific Time (UTC -7)

At the end of the day (9PM Pacific Time (UTC -7)), AppleBot reports on how everyone's solo sprints are doing.

Let's say you started a sprint and you have a goal of 200 words a day. If you write 450 words the first day, you'll have a buffer of 2 days. The day you started eats up the first 200 hundred. Then the next day you're safe. But on the third day, you must supply AppleBot with at least 150 words, or else you are kicked out of the Solo Sprint, lose your streak, and have to join in again.

(Honestly this is WAY too harsh in my opinion. I prefer to set loftier goals (500 words a day), and fail every so often. But the way Solo Sprints work are ruthless. Personally, I set myself up with a 100 wordcount a day solo sprint, which really isn't much of a goal at all. Honestly, this particular feature of AppleBot doesn't mesh well with me personally. Regardless, I wanted to make you aware, just in case it's something that does mesh with how you write.)

Other thoughts

All in all, AppleBot's various features are a pretty nice toolset to have available. Seeing a notification in Discord pop up that someone is starting a writing sprint is incredibly encouraging for me to stop what I'm doing and write something.

I recommend joining Starscribe's Discord channel and giving it a shot if you're interested.

Report Chinchillax · 851 views · #writers toolbox #Discord #Starscribe #Starpub

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