Gamifying My Writing
I have found a new toy.
And my writing output has raced further ahead than it has in years.
Could this be the path to a better writing habit for me?
Counting the Words
I used to set myself word count goals to encourage a heathly writing habit.
I had weekly, monthly and yearly targets to strive for.
I used to track stats around these counts and analyse them to death, wringing every last insight from them that I could.
The aim was to find the most productive times of day, of the week and of the month. I would then modify my writing times to fit the more productive chunks.
Or at least attempt to.
Looking back now, this system was a bit problematic.
I never took what I was writing into account -- a new story, for instance, as opposed to a re-write, always generates more words.
I struggled to move other things in my life around so I could squeeze writing into what I had supposed were going to be more productive blocks.
A Big Stick
The biggest problem with word counts, I found (for me at least), was the angst at failing to reach them.
I had set what I thought were modest word counts.
But when I didn't hit them for more than a day or so, I would berate myself for not reaching what should have been an easy target.
This would escalate the longer it went on.
I'd see my long term averages decrease over time. Total write times blew out, especially when comparing current stories with older ones.
In the end, my word counts goals became a bludgeon with which to beat myself up for not being a successful writer.
So, a year or so back, I stopped tracking them.
But then I found my new toy: 4thewords.
The Aim of the Game
4thewords is gamifying my writing habit.
It's an online service which uses a fairly basic fantasy game to encourage developing a writing habit.
I fight monsters and win loot and go on quests and progress my character's story, all in the name my current opus.
The game gently encourages me to write a certain number of words -- in blocks of small easy writes all the way up to races against the clock.
With my tracking this time around, there are no expectations, no targets.
No failures.
Sure, a lot of the words I'm producing are probably not going to make the final edit, because I am frequently focussed on getting over the line.
But I am engaging with my story more frequently through the week.
And, most importantly, the story is progressing in my head.
I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up (although I've managed well over a year with my Duolingo).
At some point, I assume my productivity will plateau or even slip backwards.
But I am riding the high for the moment.
And it's a good feeling.
All images from pixabay.com.
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