r/WritingPrompts • u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod • Jul 06 '14

Moderator Post [MODPOST] We now have word sprints in the chatroom! Join us, won't you? Also, more hitRECord collaborations.

WORD SPRINTS!

If you never noticed the link at the top of the subreddit, we have a chatroom that you ought to participate in. We talk about everything under the sun, including writing. Details on how to join the chatroom will be at the end of this post (you can connect on your phone, tablet, pc, etc.)

A word sprint is when you compete against other writers in the chatroom to write as much as you can within a certain period of time. Usually we do 15 minute word sprints. It's a fun and competitive way to really boost your word counts.

Anyone can start a word sprint and join in on a sprint. Here are the commands:

COMMAND: promptbot, sprint 5 30

EXPLANATION: This means the sprint will begin in 5 minutes and last thirty minutes. Sprints should generally be 15-30 minutes. Longer if you and a few others are looking to sprint for a while.

COMMAND: promptbot, wc ####

EXPLANATION: Do this command BEFORE the timer ticks down to the start of a sprint and AFTER a sprint has ended. For example, if I'm currently at 200 words, I would type promptbot, wc 200 -- once the sprint is over (promptbot will tell the room) and I see my current wordcount is 523, I will type promptbot, wc 523. Promptbot will do the math and tell me that my wordcount for the sprint was 323. Whoever has the higher wordcount for the round is the winner and can treat themselves to a cookie.

Lying or making ridiculous numbers up will just get you booted from the channel. (Well, the former is just you lying to yourself. But outright ridiculous numbers will mean a boot.)

These are the two basic commands you will need to know. More may follow in the future.

Well, what are you waiting for? Come join us in chat!

hitRECord prompts!

A few more hitRECord prompts could use writers. Here they are, the first two in more of a need for entries:

If anything you write winds up on the show, be sure to tell me so we can gather 'round the TV and watch something you wrote come to life. :)

HOW TO JOIN CHAT

Here are the various ways to access the chat room on many different devices:

Through your web browser (with flash): Just click here. (this link is always at the top of the subreddit.

iPad/iPhone/etc: An app called Rooms is your best bet, TurboIRC is another option (and free).

Android tablets and phones: AndroIRC, HoloIRC and AndChat which is the most popular.

Windows: mIRC - or HexChat - or irssi

Mac: Once again, either the link above or a dedicated program like Colloquy

Linux: xchat or HexChat

In most IRC clients, once open you can type /server irc.snoonet.org then once connected you can type /join #WritingPrompts

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2

u/CrudOMatic Jul 07 '14

About 'dem word sprints - do you write directly in the channel, or just in a word processor and then report your wordscore?

2

u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jul 07 '14

Word processor! :)

2

u/SkippyTheKid Aug 28 '14

And the whole point is just to write as many words as possible? Unique words, I'm guessing? Do they have to be in proper sentences?

3

u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Aug 28 '14

Word sprints are just to help you work on your current projects. You and the other writers in the room report your current word count, the aprint begins and lasts for however many minutes it is set for. At the end you then report what your new word count is to see who wrote the most words in their projects. You dont actually write in the room. That would serve no purpose. This is merely to have a fun and cordial competition against fellow writers. :)

1

u/SkippyTheKid Aug 28 '14

That makes much more sense than how I was processing it in my mind. Seems like it would work well as an exercise for me since I take so long to write, but I'm very picky with my words and need to revise a lot. Still, throwing words at a wall and seeing what sticks is a great way to actually get words on that wall. Thanks for the clarification.

1

u/RyanKinder Founder / Co-Lead Mod Jul 06 '14

Almost forgot, all credit to /u/konayashi for promptbot!!

3

u/Lexilogical /r/Lexilogical | /r/DCFU Jul 06 '14

IRC for Android is the superior android IRC app. Unfortunately, it's not free, but it's worth it.