What are writing sprints? I’ve been whining all summer about my difficulties in moving myself forward on my current novel. But for the past ten days I’ve been amazingly faithful to daily thirty-minute sessions. My book is actually progressing.

Pomodoro Method

If the idea of writing sprints sounds familiar, it harkens to the time-honored pomodoro method. “Pomodoro” refers to a common, tomato-shaped kitchen timer from the 1980s, and the method boils down to setting a timer for twenty-five minutes and working, hard, until the timer goes off. Then you get a break. Rinse and repeat until the job is done. 

What actually got me to try writing sprints, however, was reading an interview with journalist and novelist Jake Tapper, who apparently writes books in fifteen-minute increments. That’s crazy, I thought. I couldn’t even locate all my notes and cue up my playlist in fifteen minutes. Then I realized if I worked on the story every day, like Jake, I would know right where those notes are. I might not be so precious about music, a cup of tea, or the speed of the ceiling fan. I would sit down to the computer and know what happens next because I continued to think about my story after each work session. Those daily minutes would stack up and at the end of the week, I’d have a scene. Possibly two. 

Should I Baby Myself With Writing Sprints? Or Suffer For My Art?

One thing I had to get over was a big “should” that I didn’t even realize hung like a wet blanket over my work. The old “I-should-put-a-significant-amount-of-time-into-writing” trap. A lot of creatives experience this particular form of thought distortion. We have several different ways to say it, but any self-talk with the word “should” in it bears examination.

My Writing Sprint Method

I’ve drafted two scenes in a week and started another using my writing sprint method, which goes something like this:

• Sit down at the computer (or with pen and paper).
• Note the time.
• Work on the scene. This might be planning the scene or letting the characters tell me what happens next. Ideas for additional scenes or facts that need to be introduced earlier may come up. Research questions arise. I make a note for later, but mostly stay in the action.
• After thirty minutes, I stop. Even if I still have some juice. That makes the next day’s sprint all the more anticipated and easier. Right now, I have a mile-long daily to-do list. If things ever settle down, I could do another sprint after a break or later in the day.

Method Methodology

I don’t check my email or social media messages when I first opened the computer. That’s critical, I think. And with the writing sprint only being thirty minutes, the delayed gratification isn’t too difficult, certainly easier than saying, “I won’t look at my email until this afternoon.” 

My current stage in the novel process is draft zero, aiming to get down the story’s bones. Refining the piece will likely require more extended periods of concentration. But that’s the fun part, and I usually don’t have an issue with revision.

Thirty minutes seems a sweet spot for me; I can do anything for thirty minutes. For other writers, it might be more or less. 

If you enjoyed this journal entry, you might like to read about my Writing Group.

I started this blog thread on the gritty details of the writing process over on my Facebook Author page, @kbkathylbrown, but think I might be better served putting it over here. If you’re interest in following my writing process in an informal way, you’ll find a few posts on Facebook that might interest you. You can subscribe to the blog from the website landing page (scroll down).