WorldEmber 2020: Plan for Success

TASK 1: CREATE A WRITING SPACE

My workspace

I hope to have a small home office set up next year, but for now I write on a table in my living room. Since I live alone I have no one disturbing me while writing, so the living room does work well for me. There is not much space on the table for clutter, and since the kitchen is just a few steps away any empty cups or glasses find their way to the sink really fast. Here's a view of my workspace:

Vital Ingredients

• Silence: I do not like to listen to music while writing because it distracts me. On occasion I might listen to some calm instrumental music when I'm in the mood. But this rarely happens.
• Herbal tea: lemon & ginger, camomille & honey & vanilla, mint, ... . I often make these in a thermos flask so that they stay warm and I can enjoy my tea longer.
• Special treats: on occassion I like to reward myself with a homemade chai tea latte or hot chocolate. Usually I make these as a reward for pushing through difficult writing sessions.
• Create headers: one thing that really helps me to write an article is to create the headers first. Their names can change later, but if I know what aspects of a subject I want to write about I'm already halfway there. Well ... okay ... quarter of a way there.
• Writing sprints: I often start an article with a 15 minute writing sprint where I just throw out anything I can think off for the various headers of the article. Afterwards I can then clean up the mess and take the time to word things better.
• Snacks: I don't often eat snacks while writing. But being hungry doesn't help either. I always stock up on cashew and brazil nuts. But on occasion, depending on the time of day, I might eat a cookie or energybar. Soup is also something I might eat when hungry during a writing session.

TASK 2: HOW FAST DO YOU WORK?

Word sprint 1: 419 in 30 minutes.
Word sprint 2: 600 in 30 minutes.
Word sprint 3: 502 in 30 minutes.
Word sprint 4: 540 in 30 minutes.

Total: 2061 per 120 minutes = average of 17 words per minute.
10000/17 = 588,23 minutes = 9,8 hours.
Add 25% = 12,25 hours to finish WorldEmber.

My Plan

400 words a day = 25 days to win WorldEmber with optional 6 days off.

TASK 3: SCHEDULE YOUR WRITING TIME

I'm a nurse, so my work shedule varies from week to week, and can even change last minute. So it isn't always easy to make an actual writing shedule. What's more, on some days I might not get any writing done. Christmas might be one of those days for example. With that in mind I plan to write about 400 words a day. That way I have six days where I don't have to write anything. This means that I can have a day off without the stress of falling behind too much.

TASK 4: LIST YOUR SUPPORT GROUPS

The World Anvil discord is a great support for me. During WorldEmber this will often be the #worldember channel. But I can also be found in the #guild-hall.