Your challenge is to time yourself for 17 minutes (Tim's favorite word war time) writing a sprint--and post your results (and a line or two if you want) in this forum.
You can do this every day if you find it helps.
Oh, and note what time you wrote your sprint--since it might be fun to see who writes early, who writes late at night, and who manages 17 minutes at lunch time. (You don't have to post it right after writing, just let us know when you wrote for 17 minutes and how much you wrote. And how many sprints you did in a day. Seems like this could make the basis for awards at the TGIO.)
Katherine
----------
50,023 / 50,000
Nov 26, 2010 - 14 48
2:24-2:42pm
Words: 548
first time doing it, i think that went well.
Excerp:
I loved Joyce’s apartment. It was wide and open with lots of scarves making the rooms and thick fragrances hanging in the air. It made me feel like I was in a tent in the desert, or an arab’s harem and trying to escape. I always wanted to put my hair up and dress in thin floating silks that Joyce always seemed to have on, these beautiful tunics and wide legged pants wioth embroidery that had to have done my hand and must have taken days or months to do.
“How are you girls?” Joyce said, opening the door for us. Today she wore a paint splattered tee-shirt from a Beatles conceret I was sure she had actually attended, her wild gray hair piled on her head and charcoal on her fingers.
I smiled. She was painting again. good. I was worried for a while there, when she’s pushed her canvases aside and declared them ‘too cerebral’. Whatevet that meant.
“We are wonderful Joyce.” Collins said, hugging her and slipping off her shoes, before bowing to the idol for Joyce’s husband, long past, before walking inside on the tatami mats.
“How are you? Are you painting again?” I asked, hugging her next, and pulling out a can of her husbands favorite soup and putting in front of the shrine as an offering. Joyce tousled my hair affectiaonately. She did not look or act like she was seventy something, except for when I saw her down her pills every once in a while. They weren’t prescribed, just something she thought would be good for her, and it showed. I was pretty sure that she would be around my the time my children were born( no Angel was probably not going to be the father. I may be deluded, but I am not that deluded).
“Oh, I had this amazingly provocative drema last night and I just had to get it out intot he world.” She said, tousling Georges cropped hair (now purple for some reason) and shutting the door. “It was more an aura that anything, but it seemed to be two that mixed together, which of course is impossible.” She clasped her hands together and sighed. “But it was so beautiful, I just had to.”
“can I see?” Collins said, spotting the canvas in the corner.
----------Ink and paper are sometimes passionate lovers, oftentimes brother and sister, and occasionally mortal enemies. ~Terri Guillemets
161,514 / 50,000
Nov 25, 2010 - 09 29
856 words around 9:30 on Thanksgiving Day-- I do like children that sleep late :)
Near the end of the class, Riva made sure she was near Suzy as they did the floor work. There wasn't any opportunity to talk during the class, and she wanted to be sure to reach Suzy before Buddy made a move. Judging from the way he keep stealing glances at Suzy, he was planning something.
Riva was so busy worrying about how she was going to keep Buddy away from Suzy that she forgot to listen to the music. It took her several seconds to realize that the last song had ended and the class was sitting up. She quickly turned to Suzy. “I'd like to get a cup of tea. Would you join me? Just the two of us?”
[\quote]
121,372 / 50,000
Nov 24, 2010 - 15 45
Another sprint...
Word Sprint: 3:15 to 3:32
Word Count: 718
Short excerpt:
----------He walked to the window, rubbing his face, wondering if all the sleepless nights had really aged him this much. He wondered what it might feel like to smile again.
The phone buzzed, and he hoped for a second that it might be her. She might be wondering about him, she might want to talk about it, she might believe him this time.
But no, it was Charles.
“Are you ready to go? I’ve got the site reserved, and you might have noticed I’ve got the spin cycle going. See those pictures up in the Intelligencer?”
Aiden grimaced at the memory. “I did, dad. Why’d you have to pick the one with mom? That wasn’t necessary.”
“I thought the personal touch was a bit fun. A kind of midwestern angle, something people can relate to. The newshounds ate it up. A bit of hometown flavor.”
English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education -- sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street. ~E.B. White
121,372 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2010 - 14 16
Word sprint: 1:48 pm to 2:05 pm
Word count: 745 words :)
Short excerpt:
----------“I’m quite impressed with the fact that you can fly these things. What ever made you decide to take this up?” Charles asked conversationally.
Aiden shrugged, “Just something to do I guess. A way to get far from my problems. When I’m up there, nothing seems as important as I thought it was. And I have to think about things that are happening, I’m in tune with the weather the wind and the clouds. Don’t know…”
“Sounds interesting, you’ll have to take me up there some time.”
It was too late for that, couldn’t Charles see that? After all that had happened, after all this time it was too late to take his father anywhere. This was about finding a way to get out of trouble, hopefully not getting into worse trouble in the process.
“Sure dad. We’ll do that sometime,” Aiden lied.
English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education -- sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street. ~E.B. White
76,543 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2010 - 14 06
Time: 1:44p-2:01p
Words: 394
Excerpt:
"We're number 17!"
NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k | NaNo 2010- WON! 76k
121,372 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2010 - 16 14
Word sprint: from 3:49 pm to 4:06 pm 686 words. Not bad, I guess.
Short excerpt:
----------Noelle seemed to understand this in her own way. She was at once fascinated and perturbed, afraid but astounded at the same time. She had long since abandoned any kind of blind faith in Aiden’s knowledge of what he had created. Clearly he had not expected this result either. Hoping for some kind of magical cure for the ills of the world in which we live in he had not expected to find another one entirely.
“Take me back to Kansas, Toto…” she marvelled when she saw the latest towering abode that the stranger pointed out and raised her eyes to realize that she couldn’t possibly even hope to see the top of it. “Did you ever expect to find this?”
Aiden shook his head, doggedly following the stranger’s footsteps, all the while examining the construction of those mighty wings.
English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education -- sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street. ~E.B. White
161,514 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2010 - 08 53
657 words - 8:11 a.m.
He responded immediately.
Terry: Can do. Any particular task?
Riva: Surprise me.
Terry: A new one showed up this morning. I'll email you the details of the user story as well as the sticky note contents so you don't have to save this exchange.
Riva: Thanks. How are things going?
Unfortunately, it was a short IM exchange--although I could have milked it for another hundred words I suppose.
102,056 / 50,000
Nov 21, 2010 - 06 43
Did three this morning...
648 @ 5:12
----------717 @ 5:56
713 @ 6:31
My blog: http://confessionsofananowrimowriter.blogspot.com/
161,514 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2010 - 17 33
driving to Milwaukee, meal with extended family, religious services
658 word sprint
religious services, meal with extended family, driving back from Milwaukee
Yep. In the middle of all that, I did a 17 minute word sprint.
What's your excuse?
76,543 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2010 - 15 16
Time: 2:55p-3:12p
Words: 744
Excerpt:
Kent smiled a sad smile and crouched in front of Thom. “Hey, brother.”
The soft spoken words were too much. Formerly a term of endearment, Thom could no longer stomach the title, and he turned his face away, unable to keep up the play of strength any longer. “Don’t,” he said softly. “Haven’t you seen me humiliated enough today?”
"We're number 17!"
NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k | NaNo 2010- WON! 76k
121,372 / 50,000
Nov 20, 2010 - 13 51
Word Sprint Time from 1:21 to 1:38 in the afternoon. My word count was 752 words. Yay!!!
Short Excerpt:
At first there was nothing, nightingale sat as if ruminating about whether she should respond to such a new development. Aiden and Noelle looked at each other, and back at nightingale. “Well, I guess…” Aiden was just reaching for the chip to remove it, when the smoke started.
----------From all of the seams it poured forth, seeping like a whisper in the darkness. They couldn’t pretend, and it started to fill the room around them, not dissipating, finding all the cracks and filling them with grey, no corner was left untouched, it felt its way around the room, finding all its secrets and telling it to the rest of the smoke behind it. Noelle pulled closer to Aiden and felt him tense. He was worried and she could say nothing to stop his fears.
English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment, and education -- sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street. ~E.B. White
76,543 / 50,000
Nov 19, 2010 - 15 29
Time: 1:50p-2:07p
Words: 533
Excerpt:
He had no idea where he was. The ceiling above him didn’t look like his own, because his room was dark and dingy and this room was too bright and clean. The sheets he was laying on felt too soft to be his own scratchy warm ones. And the voices were all wrong, too. Low voices that, no matter how hard he strained his ears, he couldn’t hear. Voices that he didn’t recognize and that didn’t sound all too friendly.
Time: 2:12p-2:29p
Words: 398
Excerpt:
No one could ever accuse him of going without a fight.
Time: 2:58p-3:15p
Words: 641
Excerpt:
Both men twisted to see Meredith standing in the doorway arms wrapped around herself.
“That’s what Holden used to say. No acceptable losses. People are going to die, but it’s never acceptable. It’s something to mourn, something to regret, but sometimes we can’t stop it. Sometimes we don’t have much of a choice. We’re products of our environment, and it’s not always nice, the person you have to be when things go to hell like this, but if it gets the job done and it saves more lives than it loses, sometimes we just have to admit that that’s the way things have to be.”
"We're number 17!"
NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k | NaNo 2010- WON! 76k
76,543 / 50,000
Nov 18, 2010 - 12 54
Time: 12:35p-12:52
Words: 576
Excerpt:
With another sigh, he trudged to the couch and curled up against the arm, pulling the blanket down off the back cushions and wrapping it around himself. He stared into the dwindling fire and sent up a silent prayer that his people would locate Holden and return in one piece. In the morning, they’d go to retrieve the man in question.
Morning couldn’t come fast enough, but thankfully, sleep did.
"We're number 17!"
NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k | NaNo 2010- WON! 76k
50,044 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2010 - 18 04
ending around 6 pm: 944 words
----------NaNo 2007: A New Kind of Power (around 30000)
NaNo 2008: Hell's the Pits (25000)
NaNo 2009: Cadence (WON!)
NaNo 2010:
161,514 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2010 - 16 36
One around 3:00 - 637 words
One around 4:00 - 683 words
“There's always changes,” Karen said. “It's part of life, and people need to get used to that. I was talking with someone in tool support and he said it was his job to minimize change. He wanted me to guarantee that the company would never want to go back to a fiscal year that is different from the calendar year.” She took a deep breath. “Sorry, I guess I'm just frustrated. I had a simple question and he went on and on about the fiscal year changing.”
“Why would we do that?” Carrie asked.
“We used to have a fiscal year that ended on September thirtieth. I think it made end of year payroll easier.”
109,919 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2010 - 01 13
12:50 AM - 1:07 AM
I felt like I was writing slower than molasses drips, but apparently I managed 1384 WC.
“I’m doing that now,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist. “I’ll do that as long as you want me to.”
I felt his muscles relax slightly. He leaned back against the wall, groaning at the pain. I kept myself perched on top of him, practically laying on him to transfer my heat. I wished that there was some way to do this better. They had stripped him of his warm hoodie and replaced his clothes with a thin shirt and pants, similar to what they had given me. My own clothes looked disgusting, but they had dried in my run.
I slid off my jacket and offered it to him. “Put this on. It’ll help conserve heat.”
He looked at it and managed a tiny smile. “Do you want me to look more like a zombie? I rather liked the hospital clothes.”
“Quiet,” I said. “I fell in a trap hole, and it was raining and muddy.”
VENOMOID
a venomoid is a poisonous snake that has had its fangs and venom glands removed to make it safe for human handling. what if vampires were required to undergo this operation? [[Wrote THE END! 9 AM on 11/19/2010]]
27,466 / 50,000
Nov 16, 2010 - 20 49
I did three today:
----------One at 8 am, did 914 words.
One at 8 pm, did 810
One at 8:30, did 816 words. I will spare you having to read even a one of them.
76,543 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2010 - 22 57
Time: 10:10pm-10:27pm
Words: 567
Excerpt:
Anson sighed heavily and shook his head. “You know what we do to disobedient animals, boy?” He grinned when Charlie tensed, and at Anson’s nod, one of the delegates behind him freed his gun from his holster at a speed that would have put a quick-draw shooter to shame, and shot him in the chest. Anson smirked at the way the crowd froze in stunned despair as Charlie crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath.
“We put them down.”
Time: 10:37pm-10:24pm
Words: 586
Excerpt:
“I’m sorry.”
His green eyes slid open, and his bloodied lips curved in a genuine smile. “Don’t be,” he rasped. “You’ve given us hope. You’ve given us a chance to fight. Don’t be sorry for that.”
She slid his hand into his and squeezed. “Does it hurt badly?”
He shook his head slowly. “I can’t feel a thing.”
She managed a tiny smile and squeezed his hand again. “What do you think of an ambush?”
He managed a weak nod. “Wait until nightfall—” He gasped in a shallow breath. “—When they make camp. Cut—” Another labored breath. “—Cut the horses loose. Make them scatter. Sitting ducks. Take them out.”
Meredith bit down hard on her bottom lip as he turned his head weakly to cough up blood, more stark red against the otherwise pristine snow.
“We’ll get them,” she promised vehemently. “We’ll get them, Charlie. Don’t you worry. We’ll get them, and we won’t let them hurt anyone else ever again.”
"We're number 17!"
NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k | NaNo 2010- WON! 76k
27,466 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2010 - 20 36
I did mine at 8:20 this evening. 884 words, not a one of them that I would want to post here. I have become a Write or Die convert. That's the best program EVER.
----------109,919 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2010 - 13 31
11:45 AM - 12:02 PM
WC: 1419
Excerpt:
A cold anger rushed through me. “So you’re doing the research for money?”
“Isn’t that what most research is done for?”
1:10 PM - 1:27 PM
WC: 1,323
Excerpt
“I might need to see some ID,” he said cautiously.
I hissed. He must have been new. “Don’t waste my time. Open the door!” I saw his hand sneaking toward the security alert button. “I don’t know how you didn’t hear about me, but open the door and call the board later. I need to go in there now.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he said, hand pausing.
Rage consumed me. I wanted to grab him and throw him out of the way. This stupid scientist, probably one of the ones who had been torturing Lex by experimenting on him, was keeping me away from the one I loved. If he didn’t get out of my way in the next half second, I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t tear out his throat.
Silas’s warning echoed in my ears, though, the only thing that saved me from flying into a rage I knew I’d regret. If only for Lex’s sake, I had to keep up this front and make them think I was safe. Still, as long as I didn’t inflict any violence on the scientist, who cared, right? I pushed past him; he tried to stop me with a loud yell of indignation, but his actions didn’t stop me. I saw him push the security alert; that didn’t bother me either. The security would have been told I had full run of the building, as I always did. I slammed my fist on the open button for the containment room, then practically flew inside it to Lex’s side.
VENOMOID
a venomoid is a poisonous snake that has had its fangs and venom glands removed to make it safe for human handling. what if vampires were required to undergo this operation? [[Wrote THE END! 9 AM on 11/19/2010]]
76,543 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2010 - 11 37
Time: 11:15am-11:32am at the Caribou write-in
Word count: 705
Snippit:
“They passed through here in their cars about an hour ago, heading for Lakeside. Why?”
She hissed a curse and fisted a hand in her hair. “If they come back, don’t open your doors. Don’t let them in. They’re going to offer you a cure, but don’t take it. It’s not the real cure. They’re trying to kill us. Tell the others. Send out your emissaries. Cochran is already gone. They killed them all and burned it to the ground. Don’t let that happen to you.” She hurried down the steps, leaving the horrified man in her wake. “We’re on to Lakeside. Spread the word. The cure’s coming, but not at the hands of the delegates.”
"We're number 17!"
NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k | NaNo 2010- WON! 76k
161,514 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2010 - 11 35
People at Caribou on Monday morning:
705
653
652
553
358
Go us!!!!
161,514 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2010 - 09 02
Yesterday, I did 422 words, today I did 696 words, in 17 minute sprints, both in the morning.
It's less challenging that I expected. I thought being the Scrum Master would mean that I was at the center of things, but it hasn't worked out that way. People go to Riva for answers about all the technical aspects of the project, and they don't seem to care about the other issues.
(during the same time period, and slightly more interesting, I also wrote:)
Just as things were getting interesting, she placed her hand on his chest. “I thought we were going out to dinner.”
“We could eat later.” Chuck's voice was low and husky as he moved his fingers to her neck, kneading gently.
109,919 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2010 - 22 12
9:50 - 10:07 PM
989 words.
Excerpt:
I had no chance of spotting the second arrow. The weather masked it, making it like an invisible bullet. It struck me through the shoulder, sending another burst of pain through my stunned brain. I didn’t understand what had happened. I’d thought I’d had it—I’d thought I’d win this. Now I could hardly move.
Nicodemus jumped down from the tree, tossing the bow and quiver off to the side. “That should keep you from running away from me. It’s sad that a small group of my hunters had to suffer for your capture, but… you’re rather a difficult vampire to catch. You’re like the finest prey, the smartest prey.” His eyes glowed in the darkness, a violent yellow that lit up the rest of his face. “I’ve enjoyed hunting you more than any human or animal. The joy of the hunt will be diminished after I kill you, and that’s such a shame. Fortunately I’ll have all of our wonderful memories together.”
----------VENOMOID
a venomoid is a poisonous snake that has had its fangs and venom glands removed to make it safe for human handling. what if vampires were required to undergo this operation? [[Wrote THE END! 9 AM on 11/19/2010]]
50,044 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2010 - 21 30
Word sprint time: 9:10-9:17
784 words!
Short Excerpt:
“My dear nephew!” Aunt Tiffany’s voice was shrill and Trent had to hold the phone away from his ear, “It is horrid. Simply horrid!”
----------Trent sat up so quickly he almost fell off his bed, “My daughter? Is she alright?”
“She is ok. But her mother,--your ex wife-- got caught up in some form of mafia! Russian mafia! She apparently had an affair with a Russian mobster! And has been having one for years! Even when she was married to you! My dear nephew!” Aunt Tiffany sounded scandalized and like she was completely loving every moment of it.
NaNo 2007: A New Kind of Power (around 30000)
NaNo 2008: Hell's the Pits (25000)
NaNo 2009: Cadence (WON!)
NaNo 2010:
76,543 / 50,000
Nov 14, 2010 - 15 07
Time: 2:20pm-2:37pm
----------Words: 445 (not my best)
A snippet: (and my favorite line so far in the whole thing) "They smelled the fire before they saw it: the stench of burning wood and an underlying, acrid scent of something else, something that neither of them wanted to admit that they recognized as the smell of cremation."
"We're number 17!"
NaNo 2004- WON! 56k | NaNo 2005- WON! 54k | NaNo 2006- WON! 93k | NaNo 2007- WON! 51k | NaNo 2008- WON! 50k | NaNo 2010- WON! 76k