Experiments Are Good...

...but sometimes, they prove you were doing things the optimum way for you already.

Two weeks ago, I talked about trying writing sprints. Some authors use them to great success, getting in a few thousand words per day. They write for twenty-five to fifty minutes, take a short five to ten minute break where they hit the head or do jumping jacks, before setting a timer and write for another twenty-five to fifty minutes.

So, I tried sprints for a few days in the mornings, and SQUIRREL!

Yeah, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't do the five minute break. I was constantly distracted by SQUIRREL!

For the last twelve days, my daily word count was SQUIRREL!

So I'm better off sitting for a solid two hours in a comfortable position for neck, legs and back, getting into the flow of the novel to the point that I exist only in that time and space. In between the longer sessions, I can take a nice long walk, do the chores that are bugging me, refill my beverages, and then start writing again.

I don't know if any of you readers keep track of your daily word count. I do in order to try to beat last year's goal. (It's one of those weird personal things. And I was a thousand words short in 2017 of 2016's total words.)

But looking at my daily from December 29 through January 8? They're sad. Like only mid-three figures sad. Going back to my old way, I did my usual 1500 words, plus watched two episodes of Airplane Repo on the Discovery Channel (thanks for getting me hooked, DH!), and had a date night to see Jumanji (not to speak ill of the dead, but this was way better than the Robin Williams version). The full review will be up on Monday.

So, all-in-all, the morning sprint experiment was a nice try, but it didn't work for me. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try it.

Of course, it may have more to do with me just not being a morning person, too.