Group Writing Sprints: A fantastic productivity hack—by Susan J Bruce

There are so many great insights available about writing nowadays. Head over to Amazon and you’ll find thousands of books on the writing life and productivity hacks. These books are detailed and thought provoking and if you’re like me, you’ll devour them and…

 

It makes no difference.

 

None. Nada. Zilch.

 

You want to write. You’re compelled to create art through words. You love having written. But resistance to writing leads to feelings of futility. You know you’ve got a lot more words and stories in you than that. 

 

This problem led me to write my earlier blog post: Resistance is Futile.

 

But…

 

This year I found a way that worked for me.

 

I discovered group writing sprints

 

I’d been praying for the ability to be more productive for a while, and I had the chance to attend a mini conference run by Craig Martell of 20 Books to 50K fame. 

 

As with most short conferences, the real power is in the networking. After the conference, one writer I met asked me if I’d like to do writing sprints with her a day a week.

 

Nothing fancy—just meet on Messenger on Wednesday mornings and write together. Three lots of thirty-minute sprints with some chatting in between.

 

For me, sprinting is a misnomer. It’s more like a writing 'plod'. A bit like when you are out for a walk and you overtake the person 'jogging' because they are moving slower than you are.

But, miracle of miracles, I began to get words down and make progress in my stalled story. 

 

These sprints were so helpful that I started another sprint group on Friday morning and invited people from The Christian Writers' Downunder (CWD) Facebook group to join. Then some of that gang joined in on the Wednesday sprints.

 

Writing. Began. Happening.

 

And it was fun!  

I’m still slow by many authors' standards. I know people who can write in one day what I can in a week, but it’s working.

 

I finished my second draft of my new cosy mystery novel (more on that soon). I’ve written most of my new lead magnet and I’ve started plotting the second in the series.

 

Is this me? I’d pinch myself, but I bruise easily and don’t like pain 😎.

 

It’s sooooo good.

The Pomodoro Technique  

This whole idea is based on tomatoes. They’re great in a salad, but who knew they were so good for writers?

 

I’m talking about a tomato-shaped timer 🍅. 

 

Pomodoro Timer

The classic Pomodoro Technique (pomodoro is Italian for tomato) involves productivity sprints of 25 minutes followed by a 5-minute break—all timed with a tomato-shaped timer. You do this 4 times, then take a longer 15-to-30-minute break. You can find more detail via this YouTube Video. But you don’t have to do all that in-depth analysis to benefit. 

 

And I use my phone timer. No tomatoes come near my desk. It’s a rule.

Why group writing sprints work for me 

After a hard morning of 'sprinting'

We're all different, and if the idea of writing online with others is anathema to you, ignore all of this. But here’s why it works for me:

• I’m a people person—a mild extrovert—and I get energy from being with others. I work from home as a content writer, so I need P.E.O.P.L.E. around me or I go stir-crazy. Group sprints are the next best thing.

• I overcome resistance better when I do tasks with other people. 

• I have a strong sense of responsibility toward others and I’m better at keeping appointments with other people than I am with myself.

• I like getting to know other writers—encouraging them and praying for them. And, hey, I also like being encouraged/ prayed for. Group writing sprints create an environment where this can happen.

• It gives me a point of focus. Even if I only do two hours of work on my manuscript twice a week, I do those two hours.

• Once I’m in a manuscript, I can keep going. There have been days where I’ve written a thousand words in the 2 hours of sprint time, but then I’ve tripled that in the afternoon because I’m into the story. And then I’ve written again on the following weekend.

If this sounds like you—If you’ve been having trouble focusing, or you’re plagued with resistance to starting writing, then I’d strongly encourage you to get together with another writer or a group of writers and try group sprints. 

 

Start for two hours, once a week, then take it from there. It could make a huge difference to your writing life.

 

If you’re already doing sprints (or focused ‘plods’), I’d love to hear about your experiences, so let me know in the comments below. Similarly, if you’ve questions about writing sprints, I’ll be happy to try to answer them.

 

 Happy writing!

 

Susan J Bruce is an author, artist and animal addict who writes mystery and suspense stories—with heart. Susan is a former veterinarian and animals often run, jump, fly or crawl through her tales. Her writing group once challenged her to write a story without mentioning any animals—she failed! Susan has a MA in Creative Writing and her first novel (YA), Running Scared, was awarded the 2018 Caleb Prize for an unpublished manuscript. 

Get Running Scared at your favourite online retailer.

Visit Susan at www.susanjbruce.com