Speed Writing - Large goals with short deadlines

Let's talk about writing deadlines that are short but involve a large amount of writing.

The most known form of this is probably that of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). In that month, November, writers attempt to write 50,000 words. This equates to a short novel. While the seasoned writer might see the daily word count goal as an easy task, for many of us it isn't so easy to write over 1,500 words every single day in one month.

Another type of this is Book in a Week. This is where there isn't a set goal that everyone must follow. Instead, the participants can choose their own goals. They can range from 5,000 words, 10 pages, to even novella length works and all are written in the time frame of one week.

The even shorter version of this is the sprint. During nanowrimo in the forums people hold sprints, which involve 10 min, 15, 30 or even hour long time frames. The goal in those is to write as many words on the current work in progress.

Starting tonight after the clock strikes midnight on is a Mad Dash. This is a take on the 'book in a week' concept. The event is found on writing.com and each person has set their goals for how many words they want to write on their WIP. My goal for this week is to write 25,000 words. I decided to go big because to me the idea was to write close to novella length and to really challenge myself in my writing.

Sure it is a lot of words. Yes, there will be errors. But at the end of the week my novel will be 1/3 the way finished, if not more. It's one way to get those words down. Afterall, one main rule for writing is: Just Write!