The Stair Step Writing Challenge ✍ (my favorite one-day writing experiment yet!)

[@themusespeakstome4467]

Gamifying writing is a wonderful idea, Kate. When I got my first Marvel Super Hero Role Playing Game (with dice and map) I had nobody to play the game with, so I wrote down what the Judge and Player characters would say. Now I apply the same principle with Muse talking to Writer on the page. This way narrative is embedded in a gamified world building approach to narrative. It keeps me going when pure narrative is difficult to write. For prose productivity though, I think the approach you used is the best because it gets you to generate pure narrative, not journal-embedded narrative as I often end up doing. Write on, Kate. You are inspiring!

[@amandagrubbs3855]

This is wonderful, and I've been stuck in such a writing rut lately that this challenge may be exactly what I need to kickstart my draft again!!! Thanks so much! I feel like a solid writing session for me, in this rut, is when I can just get words to the page, even if it's just braindumping or outlining. I notice my zero draft is usually more spewing to revelations than it is anything that is cohesive or makes sense to anyone who isn't me. 😂

[@KateCavanaugh]

Awww, I'm sorry to hear about your rut. :( I do love how different a "solid" session can be depending on where we're at personally. Like during my "wintering" months, solid might look a lot different than spring, when I'm full of energy! I hadn't thought about that before. Sending you all the good vibes! And I hope this experiment goes well for you!! :)

[@sarahrodecker]

Vin just hanging there was priceless😂😂 I tend to define a solid writing session by feel, as the quantitative progress can vary so much for me. Some scenes are harder to write and some days I'm not as alert as others. Those things can impact my overall number progress. Instead, I prefer to define success by if I feel like it was good progress considering what I'm currently dealing with.

[@katrinamarieauthor]

So my friend and I have been trying this the past week, and it's totally rocking our word count goals! Last night I wrote 1992 word sin 55 minutes. That NEVER happens. So, seriously, thank you for this video!

[@meanncat3050]

This challenge reminds me of the "10 minute, 5 minute, 10 second Drawing Challenge" that was popular in the art community a few years back. Draw a thing then try to replicate it with less and less time....only uhhh, different since this is writing. The decreasing time mainly. lol Writing challenges are always so much harder to come up with than art challenges since ya'll are using them to work on your stories instead of for just funsies.

[@LadyOfAlchemy]

The part where you say you work better when you set a goal for yourself resonates with me so much. Usually, I set up a small goal, such as "connect fact X to backstory Y" and if I go beyond that, that's a successful session; if I change focus in the meantime, I revise the goal, but still keep it small. I no longer sit down "just" to write for the sake or writing or counting words, because I need that feeling of accomplishment that only the story progression can bring! Those small, specific goals fuel my motivation to keep coming back to the text.

[@AnnaRobbinsWrites]

I love the idea of this challenge! I'm definitely bringing this back in the NaNo-times. ✨ 3k in 100 minutes is BONKERS good!!!

[@SarahCahillWrites]

Love the challenge of this writing experiment, and don’t worry, you explained it great!

[@KateCavanaugh]

Ahhh okay, I'm so glad! I tried to explain it during the stream and it was a bit of a fail bahahah. I had so much fun with it though, I'll totally do it again! :)

[@sydney2802]

Ooooh, I really like this idea! Definitely going to be using it the next time I draft (revising usually looks so different for me that it wouldn't be productive to count words). I've never seen someone do this! And I love 'gamifying' my writing, it keeps it fresh. And a solid writing session for me would probably look something like 'I focused on one project' because my brain tends to want to bounce between but I can't write seriously on more than one project, I feel like the voices start to bleed.

[@annamiller2057]

Vin was the cutest in this video! Glad you enjoyed the experiment :)

[@author.s.j.palmer4137]

When you started the five minute timer, all I could think of was someone saying “fingers of fury” in a Po from Kung Fu Panda voice. (Super cool you included the whole 5 minutes uninterrupted.)

[@TheNerdyBookNerd]

This sort of sounds like the reverse of something that I'm planning to try. Sort of 😅 I'm planning to do a double the time, double the words experiment. For example, if I get 200 words in 10 minutes, the next goal is to get 400 words in 20 minutes, etc. So not quite the reverse after all, now that I look at it 😣 This was a really fun experiment to watch, good job!

[@KateCavanaugh]

Bahahah! Not a reverse, but it's own little stair step too. Or, maybe an escalator or elevator? Lolol. I always love your experiments so I can't wait to hear/see how it goes! :)

[@TheNerdyBookNerd]

@@KateCavanaugh Hahaha, yesss!! An elevator! 😂

[@bethcox3226]

I think you hit on a writing challenge that really works for you! And isn't that what all writers hope to find? So, keep coming back to this practice! It allows you to get other things done, got you focused on your writing and was enjoyable. Win, win, win.

[@fankaoliviilivki]

Loved it! It looked very healthy and fun, which is usually hard to achieve. 24-hour whiteatons looked fun but they were not especially healthy lol

[@KateCavanaugh]

YES!! I think that's why I enjoyed it so much! It felt a lot healthier than most of my other experiments bahaha. (Which are always fun, but maybe less so during the aftermath/recovery bahaha.)

[@lunickiwrites7256]

I LOVE the idea of this challenge. Gamified writing is what I need to get the words out.

[@danielaalves968]

I'm definetly going to do this for my writing session today and maybe repeat for the rest of the week

[@KateCavanaugh]

Yessssss, let me know how it works for you!!

[@AshleyMarieEgan]

This was a really cool challenge! I've honestly never tried ANY writing experiments before, but have enjoyed watching all the ones you have done. It really inspires me to want to push myself and try something new.

[@KFoxtheGreat]

Totally off topic, but seeing you put your coffee grounds in your garden made my heart so happy

[@starrynightfall00]

I really liked how you shared the 5 minutes writing sprint in the video

[@nathanieleggleston832]

It sounds like a writing version of the beeper sprints that soccer players do

[@KateCavanaugh]

Oooh yes! It definitely reminded me of some drills we did in high school tennis too.

[@TelinArtho]

I've only recently come across your content (mostly via your twitch channel to podcast to here) and wanted to let you know I enjoyed this challenge. Your catalog of content here is extensive - so I doubt I'll get through it all - but good luck in your writing endeavors.

[@makeuploverjess5170]

Yay first like 💜💜 side note, you're always an inspiration

[@KateCavanaugh]

🥇 And thank youuu! :)

[@starrynightfall00]

Fantastic video! 😊😊 I want to try this challenge out now! Thank you for the writing motivation and inspiration

[@authormarywockenfuss]

4:40 - love Vin's position!

[@NarueUzumaki12]

This was a super cool and fun experiment. I'd be interested in a video going over how many words you'd be able to write in the past over an hour compared to now. I'm not sure if you'd have that saved somewhere, but I think it would be super cool to see your progression, word count-wise, over time. Maybe you could even compare other elements from years ago to now. I'm not sure...but anyway, I love your videos, they are always super motivating.

[@moonpetrie]

This looks like a ton of fun, and right when I needed a little jumpstart to my drafting. Now I’m making coffee and hoping for a miracle…

[@katieharkcom6115]

I am definitely going to try this during my next writing session, it seems like such a fun way to get some words in!

[@spicypumpkins2640]

This was a fun video and man you can crank out a lot in a short amount of time!

[@emielou]

This is a great way of challenging yourself. I am going to try this method too, thank you for sharing with us :)

[@katrinamarieauthor]

I'm totally going to try this. Thanks for the challenge!

[@Heothbremel]

I'm more often with fox & Falconbridge in my thoughts of solid sessions.... this is a super cool challenge mode, definitely going to try it :)

[@JenLovesCraft]

This looks like such a fun game! Might try this when I'm done rereading and editing. It's almost scary how much gamefying helps me in writing ahahaha

[@KateCavanaugh]

Bahaha! I'm glad I'm not the only one! And good luck with your rereads. :)

[@leathehatless]

This sounds fun. I will try it when I start the next editing round

[@RKStumblingbear]

I've never tried this experiment, but I have learned by doing Nano, that I do like 15 to 20 minute sprints. That is my sweet spot for a good amount of words and brain focus.

[@kristinarose111]

Have you ever considered adding pomodoro/long pomodoro videos of you typing like this and this angle? It’s a great body doubling vibe!

[@bodine219]

This seems awesome. I’m probably going to try it out with a writing server I’m in on discord 💛

[@eleanorhowlett7296]

Okay I need to try this. I loved the video (and I’m so happy to see clips of the pets in between sprints)!

[@ESWrites]

Been trying this method today (Though i think i got confused and messed up the stepping up and stepping down) but I'm really enjoying it. Thanks for sharing!

[@authormarywockenfuss]

This was so fun to watch. And inspirational. I may try this myself in the future.

[@makt7448]

Hey Kate! This experiment is such a good idea-- the game aspect of it. I'll give this a try😊

[@heatherkirchhoffwritesya]

Love this video!

[@sarakarmer2627]

So cool to see how many words you got. It does sound like one I've used by I.M. Baroque called "mountain climber" way of writing when I beta read a book through their literary agent and asked how they writedefinitely

[@jlfalconbridge]

Thanks love, I’m glad my comment got some thoughts brewing! And 100% agree with what you said. I became more intentional with what I wanted out of each writing session after too many bad or unsatisfying ones because I think I just had something unattainable in mind without really realizing it? It just sucked a lot of joy out of a process I really do love, so taking a moment every time to sort it out really helps me. Loved this experiment! It’s not something I’ve tried before but I think I’m going to give it a go and see how things turn out 😊

[@c-hwilliams156]

This is so cool!! I need to do more self-timed sprints :)

[@elizabethlandis6050]

I just thought of a cool variation of this where you do it for a week to a month, or even two or three months if you are feeling up to it and you start with an hour and see how many words you get in there in that amount of time. Then you go to 55 minutes and see if you can beat that number of words. If you do, you move to 50. If not, you go back to an hour. This sounds like a fun variation since it helps you to get a ton of words in. If one starts at an hour, I wonder how long it would take someone to reach five minutes and beat it. It could very well take a month or two. This challenge could be done if one is needing to get a bunch of words written in a draft and to help break the habit of self editing too much while in the drafting phase.

[@hmms5256]

My writing group and regional nano will often have 10-15 minutes of sprints or word wars where we have a random word that we need to add into the story somehow. Not everyone gets the word in but each one of us is able to write at least 250 words. Our pen to paper writers sometimes get a few pages done as well.

[@aliteraryhug]

Awesome challenge! Gonne try it, for sure. Loved this video.

[@KateCavanaugh]

Yessss, good luck! Let me know how it goes. :)

[@michellemp1626]

Love your keyboard Kate!! Did you create a video where you review it?

[@AngelaDrakeA]

hey I have one of those big black office assistants! Only good for company but that’s okay. Lol This sounds like a great challenge. Once I get in a glow the words do come faster do I can see this working g. Happy Writing

[@mariavalente6304]

I wanna do this! I am trying to write 10k today (procrastinating right now) and this sounds fun to try and get back to work.

[@ashleyforshaw8449]

I have been wanting to find a way to gamify my writing life foreeever, and this seems like such a good idea! Definitely going to try it out (:

[@KerriB]

I highly recommend 4thewords if you like writing and sprints!

[@ashleyforshaw8449]

@@KerriB Oooh thank you! :D

[@elizalagonia1049]

Sara Cannon did a word challenge about a year ago on her facebook group. For 5 days she did daily writing sprints at different times of the day and at different lengths of time. The goal was to find your "perfect" sprint time or what she now calls "task blocks" and how many words you expect to write in that period of time. She's better at explaining it and it goes with her wider time tracking experiement.

[@SennaCrow]

I think my usual words per hour count is about 1500 to 3000. Broken into 20 minute sprints it'd be about 375 to 750 words, but sometimes I'll only write 100 words in that time but then double up in the next quarter. It really depends in what I am working on. It also goes way faster if you have already plotted or fast drafted. Especially cuz you won't have to rewrite stuff you had to throw away as much.

[@KaiInMotion]

I would be interested to see you try Rachel Aaron's 2k to 10k writing method for a video! Great content as always. 🔥✨

[@sukiwilliams7071]

I'm having such a hard time writing. But this seems like an amazing challenge for my ADHD self. I can make it a game and strive to beat myself. It's a nice mix up of the pomodoro method

[@Romeygirl20]

Oh I really want to try this! It looks so fun!

[@KateCavanaugh]

YESSSS DO IT! It really is a blast.

[@Elslein]

That was an interesting video, thank you! I write longhand, so all word-count oriented goals make me nervous 😅 A solid writing session for me is one when I feel satisfied with what I wrote, either because I feel that it’s not going to need substantial rewriting afterwards, or because I learned something new about the story, saw new possibilities in the plot, made the story’s world feel wider and more lively etc. - or ideally both.

[@MagnetMagicGirl]

Maybe you could switch it to pages written instead of words?

[@tblackthorne]

I need to ask you about your clickety clack keyboard. Where did you get it? It’s purdy and sounds 🥰

[@leahhearne3950]

This is a great idea for a challenge! I’m curious though- do you find it easier to write the beginning of the chapter or the end? (Personally I prefer the end)

[@KateCavanaugh]

Oooh that's a good question! I think it really depends for me, but now I'm going to be on the lookout to see if I notice a trend bahah.

[@taz2906]

I like how youve managed to gamify sprints haha.

[@KateCavanaugh]

Bahaha RIGHT. It added another layer of fun over the whole day.

[@erebus7242]

I will be using this method for writing essays for class. The only way for me to get through academic writing is to gamify it.

[@NatalieLocke]

I love games. I do this with cleaning. Whew. It’s like finding your ceiling of writing competency (right before you reach the level of incompetency). Now, for a possible renaming…. Options below. Beat the Clock Words vs. Time Raise the Words, drop the time Just a quick brainstorm. 🤷‍♀️ Closest I got to something like this was the 5,000 words an hour. Spoiler alert, I didn’t get that many.

[@fankaoliviilivki]

OMG tell me how do you gamify cleaning? I hate doing it lol

[@NatalieLocke]

@@fankaoliviilivki ha ha ha. Make a mini bet with myself I can pick up/fold/vacuum/sweep/etc. in the sprint time/commercial break/length of a song/etc.

[@KateCavanaugh]

Bahahah you're about to revolutionize cleaning for me too! Definitely gonna have to try this.

[@makeuploverjess5170]

I finally tried it

[@jasminv8653]

In all fairness I write in Finnish so the wordcounts are quite different - it's a more agglutinative language so I assume in English the count would be at least half the amount more. But for me a best possible 50 minutes of writing makes 800 words, so on a good 25 minutes it gives me roughly 400 words. BUT most importantly it has made me write for 25 minutes. :) Time-based writing is much more motivating to me than words.

[@kt8724]

I was just wondering what keyboard do you use?

[@StarSquishie]

I haven't watched you in a little while so I'm sorry if you've mentioned this, but WHAT is that keyboard?? It's so big and colorful and the sound is lovely but it's not in the description. ;--;

[@Amy_Mi6]

Why did I full on think this was going to be you trying to write while simultaneously exercising 🤪 ...

[@Caroline_Creative]

Me too lol

[@Chronicle_MV]

Where did you get the hundred sided die?

[@KateCavanaugh]

My friend Becca got it for me off Etsy! Not sure which store, sorry. :(

[@sainte3443]

...and then you got carpal tunnel? I have an app that encourages these sprints but it deletes what you wrote when the timer counts down to zero. I don't like to delete anything, I'll put the content in a scrap file. I've been able to utilise stuff from the scrap file later.

[@shanshangalan8074]

Are you doing camp NaNoWirMo

[@ihaveaplan5368]

Instead of 5 minute intervals, why not try one minute intervals?

[@KateCavanaugh]

That would definitely be another fun variation!! I feel like the five-minute interval makes it more challenging when you jump down, but one-minute might work best if you already know that you prefer specific sprint times!

[@Neil-writer-author]

My computer crashed yesterday so I’m doing a factory reset.

[@KateCavanaugh]

Oh no!! Hopefully all your work is safe!

[@Neil-writer-author]

I backed my work on a flash drive but I will lose scrivener

[@iluvSchleeping]

@@Neil-writer-author not if you remember the email you signed up with!

[@Neil-writer-author]

Ok I’ll try that

[@Neil-writer-author]

@@iluvSchleeping it did not work. I bought scrivener 3 but did not lose my work

[@harveythepooka]

That keyboard was designed by satan.

[@shanshangalan8074]

That looks uncomfortable

[@g0pokeball]

I cannot focus on anything that you're saying, only on that intense glasses reflection each time you talk to the camera....

[@beckthter]

I think I would try to beat my words per minute each session, rather than the total in a certain time, if that makes sense. But I also think changing up the session times might keep things more interesting rather than the usual 25 minutes every time