Value of a Writing Word Sprint

by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam

Alone or in a group, there is great value in a writing word sprint. There are many variations on how you can do a sprint. I’ve participated in word sprints with a group in person as well as online. Online you can meet-up on Zoom, Facebook group, Discord, and more. The most important part of a word sprint is you are not allowed to stop and edit. You must write without worrying about your spelling or incorrect sentences. As soon as the leader says go—you start typing. 

I’ll be honest, the first time I did this and I heard we could not backspace or correct spelling, it made this perfectionist sweat a bit. But then when I saw how my mind started flowing, it became a fun challenge to achieve that word count. 

An in-person word sprint I participated in was a blast! Once we all arrived and set our little writing spot up, we each had to use the paper the leader passed out to write down the amount of words we’d like to achieve in the first 30-minute sprint. At the end of the 30-minute sprint, the leader made us raise our hands, look at our word count, then write that number beside the number on our paper. Each person who hit or surpassed their goal had to stand up. Each of those folks received a full-size candy bar. Those that didn’t, received a mini candy bar for their effort. This group had other kinds of prizes at the end of each 30-minute sprint. Once we finished up for the day, we all received a writing sticker if we hit our goal at least four out of the six word sprint sessions. 

The other fun part of the Word Sprint Write-In was at the end of each of those 30-minutes sprints we were given a chance to read out loud a sentence we wrote that we loved. 

When you decide to gather writers and do a word sprint, you can design it any way you’d like. Whether you have incentives or you just set the timer and go, make sure each writer understands what they are to do. And explain this is not a competition with each other, but rather a challenge to get your juices flowing.

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Value of a #Writing Word Sprint from @TickledPinkTam on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Tammy Karasek uses humor and wit to bring joy and hope to every aspect in life. Her past, filled with bullying and criticism from family, drives her passion to encourage and inspire others and give them The Reason to smile. She’s gone from down and defeated to living a “Tickled Pink” life as she believes there’s always a giggle wanting to come out! A writer of Romance—with a splash of sass. She’s also The Launch Team Geek helping authors launch their books and also a Virtual Assistant for several best-selling authors. Don't miss her recent book, LAUNCH THAT BOOK, just released in November. 

Her work was also published in a Divine Moments Compilation Book—Cool-inary Moments. She’s also the Social Media Manager for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Founding President and current Vice-President of ACFW Upstate SC, and Founding President of Word Weavers Upstate SC. She’s a writing team member for The Write Conversation Blog, Novel Academy, MBT Monday Devotions, The Write Editing and more. Connect with Tammy at HTTPS://WWW.TAMMYKARASEK.COM.