How I Tricked Myself Into Writing More

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Prophsee JournalsUnsplash

I'm a procrastinator. I know this about myself. This is not a good thing for a writer when you've got deadlines. For some reason I have no trouble writing everyday during NaNoWriMo. There's something motivating about the community, the word tracker, and a deadline. Since NaNoWriMo only happens in November I had to find a way to stay consistent.

Gaming My Writing Has Increased My Daily Word Count

I was sharing how frustrated I was with my writers group. How I wish every month was NaNoWriMo for the motivation and that's when they told me about 4theWords.com.

4theWords is an online writing game designed to help you increase your word count and consistency. There are monsters to battle and challenges to complete using the number of words you write as your weapon before the timer runs out. There is one monster you battle for five minutes with gauge you have to keep in the green in order to win. As long as your words flow consistently you're in the green. If you pause for too long between words, the gauge turns red and you’re defeated. There’s loot and items for awards and new monsters to unlock.

One day I got a chest and had to defeat five monsters to win the key. I’m still new at the game but the battles make the time and my word count fly. I have access to monsters with 100-1000 word challenges.

Why I Love Gaming My Writing

Chris J. DavisUnsplash

I know why I love it - it’s the dopamine rush. There are many studies that show playing video games releases the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine. It's the reason I play video games after work. It feels good to overcome a challenge. It feels good to win. And it definitely feels good to accomplish my daily word count as the deadline on my manuscript approaches.

I’m on the 30 day free trial. It’s $4 a month when the trial runs out and you don’t have to enter your payment to try it for 30 days.

I haven’t even checked out the community aspect yet. There seems to be lots of engagement and a place where you can share your writing.

Here’s a screenshot of my 4 day writing streak:

I’m hoping to keep the streak alive throughout my 30 day trial. It can take up to 66 days for a new behavior to become a habit. Hopefully, after my trial I’ll still be going strong.

I’d love to hear what you do to stay consistent with your work or goals. And send me some tips if you use 4 the Words as well.