NaNoWriMo - Day Thirteen: Write or Die

2,094 words written. 18,280 total. 36% done.

'Nuff said.

Oh, come on, I'm a writer. I could never make a 9 word blog post! So instead of leaving well enough alone, I'll tell you about Write or Die, instead.

Write or Die is an online tool for NaNo writers. It was created by Dr. Wicked, and it was designed to give writers some real, short term consequences for failing to meet the goal for their writing session. Now I know that we writer types are grown-ups (the ones of us who are over 18, anyway) and we should be perfectly capable of disciplining ourselves to meet long-term goals without having to go to crazy lengths to make sure we do our writing for the day. Should being the key word here - reality works a little differently, and it seems that many writers benefit from some extra motivation.  Hence, Write or Die.

The idea with Write or Die is that you have to start writing and keep writing until you have met your goal, or face the consequences.

You can pick a word amount and/or time limit, and you can choose from a range of consequence levels:

• Gentle
• Normal
• Kamikaze
• Electric Shock(!)

Gentle mode just displays a pop-up reminder to get back to work.  Isn't that sweet?  In terms of useful consequences, it's not nearly enough for the hard-core procrastinator, though.

Normal mode is much more effective, in my book.   It starts playing annoying sounds if you pause too long.  The only way to stop the sounds is to keep writing.  Everyone in my family hates annoying sounds, so keeping them happy would be an extra incentive for me to keep the fingers clicking.

Kamikaze mode is just evil, I think.  In Kamikaze mode, if you stop writing for too long, it starts erasing what you already wrote!  Horrific!  (But very effective.)

And finally, Electric Shock mode . . . doesn't actually work.  It's a joke, people.  This isn't literally Write or Die - that's just an expression.

I think the idea of Write or Die is fascinating.  I've never used it, though, because I just can't commit.  What if the doorbell rings?  Or the kids need me?  Or the kitchen catches on fire?  You never know when something is going to come up, and then where would you be?

So, for now, I'm having to power through with the only motivators to which I've been able to commit - my husband (who, it turns out, can be quite the nag) and my friends (less naggy, but also very motivational).  So far so good, but it's nice to know I've got options if I need to move up to more dire consequences.  Maybe in week 4!