Today, I would love to give you an update on these writing sprints I’ve been doing. This morning, I was doing a writing sprint and, man, I did not want to. For those who don’t know, my name is Seth. I’m a full-time fantasy author who runs sprints on my YouTube Channel. I stream them Monday through Friday, usually from 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time until 1 p.m. This usually allows me to complete about six different sprints, which is great because it means I can get 10,000 words in during that period of time, or with a couple of additional sprints in the afternoon.
If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, a sprint is a concentrated period of time, typically half an hour for us, during which you write. You don’t do anything else. You just write. You put all of your worries and concerns aside and you just write.
But something curious happened to me today. I woke up and I did not want to write. Steven Pressfield has a great book called The War of Art in which he talks about resistance, this mysterious force that’s the antithesis of the muse. If the muse is this wonderful force that brings you creativity, then resistance is a devil that blocks it. Some days, you just don’t want to write or be creative in any way, shape, or form. That was definitely the case today. It sucked.
However, because of these sprints, I got on, started streaming, and began my first sprint. Despite all of the resistance I felt, I had one of the best sprints that I’ve ever done. I ended up getting almost 1,800 words during that sprint. For me, 1,800 words in half an hour is fantastic. Normally, I’m in the 1,300 to 1,500 range. Then, I continued to sprint. With each successive sprint, I was able to maintain my pace.
Isn’t it crazy how even though I didn’t want to write and I was feeling so much resistance, when I actually sat down, put my butt in the chair, and started, the work that I produced was good. And it wasn’t just good. I read back over the stuff that I had written, and it’s really good. It’s exactly what I needed to be for those scenes. It’s almost as if this mysterious force knew that I had all of the right words today. But in an effort to keep them from getting down on the page, it tried to convince me that I simply shouldn’t do it.
Resistance is hard to overcome. It’s really hard to overcome. But these writing sprints have absolutely been helping me. They’ve been helping me stay more consistent. They’ve been helping me get my work done every day, show up, and actually do the work. And the result has been pretty fantastic.
Actually, since the beginning of January, I have written four books. And I’m almost done with my fifth. Considering it’s March, that is crazy. I’ve never written at this pace before, ever. And I can only really attribute it to one single thing, and that is just showing up every day to do the work.
I often talk about things like diligence, and how important it is to have a writing habit, but this is like actual proof that I’m living out. If I wrote when I felt like it, I would have maybe one book done. Maybe two. I could probably have gotten two done. But I haven’t gotten two done. Well, I mean, I have. But I’ve also gotten two more done. I’ve more than doubled the number of words that I would have otherwise written.
When I checked back through last year to see how much I had written by this point, I had written one book. The difference is just astronomical, and it keeps compounding. I don’t actually understand how it works. It’s seriously weird. But when you just show up every day and do your work, not only do things get done, but you start being able to do things quicker, faster, better.
That’s the other thing that I’ve noticed. The books that I’m writing aren’t just throwaway. They’re not just me vomiting words onto the page and saying, “That’s fine, it’s done.” No, these are some of the best books that I’ve ever written.
Now, I will say that it has taken me time to get to this place. It’s taken me years of trying to be consistent. But ever since I just locked in and said, “I’m going to show up and do these sprints, absolutely, no matter what,” it’s like I found a new gear. I’ve been able to complete my work at a rate that just boggles my mind.
So what does this have to do with you? Well, I want this video to be an encouragement that you can also do the same thing. You can show up. If there’s something in your life that is hard that you want to accomplish, the only way you’re going to get there is if you actually show up every day. If you only have a few minutes to do it, that’s fine. Show up for those few minutes. If you have a relationship that you want to flourish, you need to show up for it, even if it’s just a text.
Consistency is a superpower, and it’s one that we all either have or can have. So I’m going to keep sprinting, even though I don’t want to, even though it’s frustrating and I can feel the resistance trying to drag me away. I’m going to show up and I’m going to keep doing it. And I have no doubt in my mind that the result is going to be crazy.
I don’t think I’m going to write 24 books this year, but I’m certainly on track. And we’ll see. Who knows? At the end of the day, it’s so important that we show up to do our work, because otherwise the world isn’t going to have it. You have something important to share with the world through your stories. So for our sake, keep showing up. Keep writing.
YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/WSl8HStzY4U
Thanks for reading and watching.
Want in on all the secrets of writing compelling books? Have burning questions for Seth about the business side of being an author? Join the email list for up to date info on the latest videos!
"*" indicates required fields