Write or . . . Die?

 Numbers, numbers numbers.  We all want a bigger word count.  So what stops us?

For me?  I would go back up and read what I wrote.  I worried over it, rewrote it, erased it.  You name it, I did it.  Just like what I have written now . . . my "it" alarm is going off, and I want to go back and rewrite all of the above to get rid of that nasty "it" that's appearing way too much.  Echo, echo, echo.

If you read the blogs on this pesky problem, many of the posts discourage the behavior I just described.  My response was always, "Um hum. How am I gonna do that?"

Write or Die baby.

This inexpensive little program (I purchased it for $10) will force you to write.  You tell Write or Die how many words you want to write in a given amount of time. You can even set how aggressive your punishments will be if you stop 'to think' a bit too long. Example? It will begin to eat your written words. 

Forget it.  Too aggressive for me.  I set mine to where the scene would start to turn red if I tarried beyond so many seconds.  Then, if I did this too many times, it would begin to blare a really loud song.  I promise you . . . your fingers will start writing when that happens.  I've only had to experience it once. 

I set mine for 500 words in 30 minutes.  Soon I was getting making that goal so I upped the anti to 500 words in 20 minutes.  I felt a little frantic at that speed, but I got the words on paper.  What was surprising was they weren't that bad. They needed to be tweaked, but in about three hours of doing this with a few breaks I had ~ 2500 words.  

So the next time your looking at that blank white page, and it begins to turn red . . . I promise you, you'll write.


Write or Die

I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. 

James Madison