Application Nation – Time to Write or Die
Write or die is a web based application from the labs of Dr. Wicked.
As someone who writes an awful lot, I can relate to writers out there who find themselves sitting in front of their computer staring at a blank screen, with an equally blank expression on their face while they try and come up with something compelling.
I’m not a professional writer, either. I’ve spent a lot of time writing, I’ve even developed a personal style that I’m fairly happy with. But, at the best of times, it’s still tough for me to come up with something other people would be interested in, and it’s even tougher to motivate myself to take the time to write instead of doing something with more tangible results…
That’s why I like Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die tool (you can try it out at http://lab.drwicked.com/writeordie.html). It’s essentially a nag tool for the writer who doesn’t write, the poet who procrastinates and puts off penning prose. Jeff’s theory (that’s the guy who built it) is that while we respond well to positive reinforcement, nothing motivates us to take action now better than negative reinforcement – and Write or Die offers that in spades. The quote from the Write or Die page that resonates the most with me…
A tangible consequence is more effective than an intangible reward.
There are a few different settings for the Write or Die tool, each with escalating scales of annoyance and distraction. You can avoid the annoyances if you keep on writing, but as soon as you stop – well, here comes the pain.
On Gentle, Normal and Kamikaze mode – when you stop typing, the screen starts to change color. First to pink, then to darkening shades of red.
The added consequence on gentle mode is a box that will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing. On Normal mode, the screen changes color – and if you persist in not typing anything, you’ll be treated to the pleasant sounds of Hansen singing the chorus for um-bop and if you’re really lucky, maybe get rick rolled in the process.
Kamikaze mode is only for those who want to get really, REALLY motivated. Maybe you have a fierce deadline in the next hour, maybe you’ve just been putting off that journal or blog entry for way, waaaaaaaay too long. In Kamikaze mode, if you stop typing for too ling – Write or Die actually starts deleting the words you entered. Here’s a demo video for those of you interested in trying it.
These days, I can actually tear it a new one pretty fast when I need to (not much of a Rick Astkey fan either, which helps). I set the application to nag me to write 500 words in 20 minutes. With my “hunt and peck” style of typing, it works pretty good. Plus, now I know how long it takes me to write 500 words of copy.
I wouldn’t recommend this tool to everyone. If you don’t want to see your words deleted before your eyes, if you don’t want to be serenaded with the soothing sounds of Hansen, then you probably don’t need to use this tool.
I like it because it lends itself to the principle of doing something. I often say that great is the enemy of good enough. What I mean by that, is that rather than waiting for the perfect moment of inspiration to come to me, I’m happy to get something down on screen that I can work on later, and if I get 3 – 500 word articles a week out of it, I’d say it’s well worth any annoyance.
Oh, and for what it’s worth – I did 534 words in 16 minutes and 15 seconds. In fact, I wrote the entire structure of this post (less spelling and grammar fixes) using Write or Die. If you’re having trouble finding inspiration, or just want to get into practice, give it a try – who knows, you could be the next Margaret Atwood. Goodness knows I won’t be…
Sean Enns is the Director of Marketing and Communications for Hosting Nation Data Inc. Hosting Nation provides hosting packages and hosted applications to everyone.