Staying motivated is hard. Having friends makes it easier. Why? Because misery loves company, of course.
I’m kidding, I’m kidding!
That’s not why. It’s because your writing friends will hold you accountable for what you say you are going to do. If your goal is to write a thousand words, a good writing buddy is going to enter your inbox and ask you about it. Why? Because it’s a super fun way to procrastinate.
No, I’m kidding again!
But seriously, folks, it’s widely accepted that having friends who check in with you is more likely to result in you pushing yourself to accomplish those writing goals you have. To help you, I have six ways to sprint with your writing buddies—whether you have some already or not—that aren’t Zoom.
If You Have Writing Friends Already
OhWrite.co Sprinting Rooms
This website is new to me, but I am excited to incorporate it into my writing life! This site allows you to open up multiple virtual rooms and sprint (and, optionally, chat) alongside your friends. You’ll be able to see each other’s word counts in real time as well as track your own progress for as long as you’ve been writing your project on the website.
What’s great about OhWrite.co is the same thing that’s great about most online word processors: you can write without downloading any special software, but your actual words are saved onto your computer and totally private.
Sound interesting to you, too? Click here to start your own room!
Share Google Docs (or Other) Links
If you and your writing buddies happen to use Google Docs to sprint, you have a built-in way to keep each other accountable! Simply click on the big blue Share button in the upper right corner and add your friend’s Gmail address as view-only (or, if you would like input, allow them to comment), and have your friend do the same. Then, at your agreed-upon time, open up both documents in side-by-side tabs in a fresh window and go to town writing. Every once in a while, you can pop into each other’s documents to see how much they’ve written. You could even write notes to each other via the comments feature and ask for help or suggestions.
If only one or neither of you use Google Docs, there are plenty of other ways to replicate the effects. Since many writing apps like Scrivener and Word can sync to cloud storage (think Dropbox, Evernote, OneDrive, and Google Drive), you can share those links with your friends instead. Y’all can set alarms on your phones to check each other’s links every day or at the end of every week to evaluate progress and discuss (if you can’t make it to your scheduled sessions).
LifeAt.io Productivity Spaces
I’m convinced that these are the coolest productivity spaces online. Like OhWrite, this site allows you to open up a virtual space to chat with friends while you get things done—but you’re not limited to such a clean and neutral aesthetic. When you open up a room, you can choose different themes, sounds, music, and even more features when you upgrade to premium.
This site doesn’t limit you to writing with people you know. You can use the spaces solo, have an AI companion in the room with you, or join a public writing room.
Click here to start your own room!
If You’re Searching for Writing Friends
Twitter Sprints
Many a writing friendship has been forged on Twitter. It’s time you found yours!
Though it’s often seen as the less popular social media giant, Twitter still has a very active community of writers who love to chat about their progress, and new writers post about wanting accountability partners every day—and the more shy among them scroll through the #writingcommunity hashtag, among others, looking for someone who fits their genre and vibes.
Don’t know what to say when asking for writing sprint partners? Don’t worry, we wrote up a little draft for you to customize and send out in the world asking who’d like to sprint with you below. Make sure to add your genres to the hashtags!
The Write Gym
If you are a member of The Write Gym, you’ll know that our fearless leader, writing coach Racquel Henry, already has two writing sprint sessions every week where she will also answer any questions you may have about the writing world.
In addition, The Write Gym also has accountability check-ins at the beginning and end of every week, as well as a plethora of other perks and benefits.
The Writer’s Atelier Online Community
Have you heard? Our free online community has moved off of Facebook and into our own Mighty Network! Not only can you stay up to date on all things WA, but you should also feel free to post or ask in the chat about finding accountability buddies! We love nothing more than when writers come together!
And, of course, if you’re familiar with how WA does NaNoWriMo, you’ll know that some members of Team WA and I volunteer to host weekly virtual write-ins where we sprinted. Last year, we had one practically every day!
