why writing sprints really do work

How many blogs or articles have you read that tell you writing sprints are the key to EVERYTHING? Let’s just say: a great many.

They’re not wrong. I, myself, have written a blog or two of the importance of sprinting. Whether it be a ten minute sprint just to get my creative juices flowing or a two hour sprint when I’m on a deadline and need to get the words on the page. Sprints are the number one way to break yourself out of a writer’s block and get you to that finish line.
 
Why is this?
 
Why is something so simple so effective?

My theory is that it forces your brain to focus when the last thing on the planet it wants to do is FOCUS.
Procrastination is the hardest thing to overcome as a writer or quite frankly in life. I don’t know about you, but I can come up with a list of things I need to do every day before I allow myself to sit down and write. Even though writing is more important that every single item on that list.
 
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m actually a fairly prolific writer. Not Brandon Sanderson or Stephen King kind of prolific (they seriously must write 8,000 words a day!), but I usually write about three books a year. So, prolific, but not as much as I know I could be writing.
 
Sprints make that happen for me. I can absolutely have writing days without them, but it’s the timed focus that helps me create my best work. If I know I only have ten minutes to write, then all my attention is focused on those ten minutes and it stops my mind from wandering, or eating things I shouldn't...

...or worse: Internet surfing! (Duhn, duhn…. Duuhhhhnnnnn)

I tend to do one hour sprints, since those work best for me and I can usually crank out a thousand words or so, but sometimes you just need that five or ten minute sprint to get your head back in the game.
 
So, yes, I am one of the many that have fully boarded the sprint bandwagon, but trust me, they work. If you don’t believe me, just try a ten minute sprint and you can witness the glory yourself lol!