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Welcome to Day 10 of the Write the Story! writing challenge! I'm glad you're here today.

Have you ever found yourself sitting and staring at the screen in front of you, mind searching for the next words?

If so, let me introduce you to one of my favorite writing tools---the writing sprint.

When I participated with NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) each year, one of the exercises I always appreciated was the writing sprints. They were anywhere between 10 minutes to 30 or even 60 minutes. Sometimes, a scheduled sprint included a potential prompt for writers who were not sure what their scene needed or where their story was heading.

For me, I tended mostly to use the actual sprint approach more than the suggested prompt. What is the sprint approach? It is an exercise in which you jump into your writing and commit to neither pausing to overthink nor backspacing or deleting mistakes.

It is all forward motion.

This can be a great way to get some words on the page, get to know your character(s) better, or move the story forward. Some of my best word counts came from jumping in on NaNoWriMo sprinting sessions.

And, if you're not sure this is a good fit for you (or anyone else), allow me to share today's encouragement that comes from John Steinbeck, Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel laureate. These words from a letter Steinbeck wrote to actor and writer Robert Wallsten in 1962 and included in the book, Steinbeck: A Life in Letters are part of 6 tips for writing and this particular tip focuses on writing as quickly as possible:

“Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.”

For me, writing sprints propel me in this direction. And they also help keep that pesky inner critic at bay while you're writing.

If you need a bit of a jumpstart, consider giving this a try. And, if you do, let me know because I'd love to hear how it goes!

Let's get some words on the page today, friends!

Remember: drop your daily word count in the comments so we can track your daily word count and provide you a final total when we hit November 30.