Writing Resources: Let’s Talk About Word Wars

Staying motivated as writers can be hard, but I'm here to give you a little secret: aka, the NUMBER ONE RESOURCE TO KEEP ME WRITING THAT I'VE EVER DISCOVERED.

What is it?

Word wars.

♪ Do you want to have a word war? Come on, let's go and write... ♪

What exactly is a word war? (And how do you do one?)

A word war is where you and another friend (or two, or twenty) set a specific time to write for. It could be 15 minutes, it could be one hour, but the most important thing is that you're writing. Once you're done, you come back to your friends and compare word counts. (Word wars can also referred to as a word sprint, and probably other names I'm not aware of. On Twitter, there's a thing called #1k1hour, which is exactly what it sounds like. But I digress.)

I honestly don't remember when I was introduced to word wars, or how, but I do know that they changed my life forever. You may be wondering, why are word wars so great?

1. They keep me motivated
2. It's fun to write with other writers.
3. A little competition never hurt anyone.

Where can I find one?

Honestly, everywhere. You can also find lots of people on Twitter dedicated to having word wars/sprints. One of my favorites is Friday Night Writes, who dedicate the entirety of Friday nights to racking up those word counts. And honestly, I'm always down for a word war at my personal Twitter account, too.

You can also type "Word Wars" into Facebook and probably find Facebook groups dedicated solely to it. You and another writing friend can have one spontaneously if you'd like. You can also word war with yourself at Write or Die. Simply put, it's all about what gets you writing. 

Was this helpful? Have you ever done a word war?

(Be sure to check out my new writing resources page for every awesome writing thing I've ever discovered, and stay tuned for more posts like this in the future!)