Write a novel

Writing Tours

What is a writing tour?

A writing tour is a string of tasks that you complete while writing.
For example, a sprint of 250 words (by "sprint" is meant the number of words you have to write in as short a time as possible) or a WordWar of 15 minutes (by "WordWar" is meant the number of minutes in which you have to write as much as possible).
You tell a story in the process.

Where can I find writing tours?

In the NaNoWriMo forum, you'll find lots of them, including ones for Harry Potter fans and ones for nature and animal lovers, ones for mythology nuts and frequent writers... There's something for everyone.
They are very popular especially during NaNos and that's why you can find a lot of them in the forums.
Of course, you can also make up your own.

How long do writing tours last?

It varies. Most of them last between one and three hours, depending on your writing speed. But of course there are also some that take days to complete and some that, if you're lucky, can be done in three quarters of an hour.

What are the benefits of writing tours?

They increase the word count in an entertaining way. They are fun and you can compete against each other if you want.

Enough explanation. I think an example will make it all clearer. Feel free to try the following writing tour!


Writing tour - a leisurely Saturday

1. You wake up and stretch. Do a WordWar of 5 minutes to wake up.

2. Spontaneously, you feel like: a) a cup of cocoa. Roll a 6-sided die and multiply the result by 2 to get the number of minutes you have to write. b) a tea or a coffee. Make a sprint to 200 words.

3. You're going to the zoo. You have to write the last three numbers of your current wordcount in the document again to get there faster (so, for example, if you have 31,721 words in the document right now, write 721 more words now). If you'd rather go slow, do a 20-minute WordWar.

4. Would you rather go to the elephants, the zebras, or the penguins (you may choose more than one)? If you want to go to the elephants, do a 400 word sprint, if you want to go to the zebras, do a 15 minute WordWar, and if you want to go to the penguins, jump on one leg while typing the next 100 words.

5. You'll read while you ride the bus home. Type about(!) as many words as your favorite book has pages. If it's over 1000 pages long, write 900 words, if it's under 250 pages long, multiply the page number by two. You don't have to look it up if you don't know exactly (although in the age of the Internet this can be done quite quickly), it's enough if you round it (so, for example, instead of 478 words write 500 and instead of 921 words write 900). If you have the problem that you don't know which book is your favorite, write 600 words.

6. You can have lunch now. Would you rather do it yourself (roll a 6-sided die and multiply the result by 3 to get the number of minutes) or order it (roll a 6-sided die and multiply the result by 80 to get the word count for your sprint).

7. You can eat lunch in peace. Don't hurry and write quietly for 10 minutes on your current novel project.

8. You can read again. Include at least one prompt in your novel while writing 350 words.

9. The day is coming to an end and you're going to sleep. Either write quietly for 10 minutes on your project or write at least 150 words.

Congratulations for completing the "a leisurely Saturday" writing tour! Comment with your word count and time for each stage and I'll send you 100 Gift Points.


Now you:
a) do this or another writing tour
b) invent your own writing tour
c) write!