Write or Die

Yes, you read that correctly. Yesterday, via a Facebook post, I found this wonderfully inventive and – dare I say it – helpful application that does what no other gimmick, program, or self-imposed consequence has been able to do. That is, get me to *just* write.

I am a ruminator. I like to think, to pick at my words, to poke through the rubble and find perfection. That takes a loooong time. It also, often, causes me to “freeze up” as I’m writing. Yes, there are times when I’m literally unable to type a single word. However, Write or Die has given me a kick in the pants as book three’s deadline approaches, apparently feeding my need for outside pressure.  (I have always performed best in the 11th hour, so to speak.  I won’t mention how I used to start my 40+ page lab reports at midnight the day they were due, skip all my other classes, and work on pure adrenaline for 16 hours straight, printing the report out minutes before it was due and dashing into my class at the last moment.)

From Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die site:

The idea is to instill in the would-be writer with a fear of not writing. We do this by employing principles taught in Introduction to Psychology. Anyone remember Operant Conditioning and Negative Reinforcement?

Negative Reinforcement “strengthens a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior.”

Consequences:

• Gentle Mode: A certain amount of time after you stop writing, a box will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing.
• Normal Mode: If you persistently avoid writing, you will be played a most unpleasant sound. The sound will stop if and only if you continue to write.
• Kamikaze Mode: Keep Writing or Your Work Will Unwrite Itself

These consequences will persist until your preset conditions have been met (that is, your time is up or you’ve written you word count goal or both).

I set it for Kamikaze mode with an “evil” grace period.  Imagine my horror when, the first time I used the application, it started EATING my words because I stopped typing for a few seconds.

Write or Die claims to put the “Prod in Productivity.”  Why it works for me, I don’t know.  But I plan to keep using it.