NaNoWriMo Alternative: Sprint Your Way to Creative Success in 6 Weeks

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Break free from the constraints of traditional writing challenges and embrace a revolutionary way to achieve your writing dreams. What if you could boost your creativity and productivity without the burnout of daily word counts? Join me, Carissa Andrews, as I introduce an alternative to NaNoWriMo that respects your personal pace—a six-week writing sprint designed to fit seamlessly into your busy life. Through my own experiences and insights, discover how this approach can nurture healthier writing habits and maintain your creative flow, even during hectic times like November.

In this exciting episode of the Author Revolution Podcast, explore the benefits of structured flexibility found in six-week writing sprints. Learn how this method can transform your workload into a manageable and fulfilling process, avoiding the pressure and stress that often accompany traditional writing challenges. Plus, get the latest updates on the Revolutionary Authors membership—a community dedicated to empowering your writer's journey. Whether you're just starting out or looking to expand your existing literary empire, redefine your path to success and unlock a new level of writing achievement. Join our revolution and reshape what it means to be an author today!

Are you an author at a crossroads, feeling stuck & unfulfilled in your author career? Do you know deep down it's time for a change, but you’re unsure of the next step?

The High Vibe Author is the only transformational membership designed specifically for authors like you—those who are ready to break free from limitations & step into the abundant life they deserve. Click here to learn more.

Indie publishing wasn’t built for neurodivergent minds—so let’s change that. Inside Author Revolution on Substack, I share exclusive insights on writing, publishing, and manifestation for ND authors. Plus, explore my neurospicy romcoms & urban fantasy worlds. Want to go deeper? Get access to Manifest Differently: The Deep End, my private podcast. Follow now: 👉 authorrevolution.org/substack

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Author Revolution podcast, where
change is not just embraced,it's celebrated.
I'm Carissa Andrews,international bestselling author
, indie author coach and yournavigator through the
ever-evolving landscape ofauthorship.
Are you ready to harness thepower of your mind and the
latest innovations in technologyfor your writing journey?
If you're passionate aboutmanifesting your dreams and

(00:25):
pioneering new writing frontiers, then you're in the perfect
place.
Here we merge the mystical wooof writing with the exciting
advancements of the modern world.
We dive into the realms ofmindset, manifestation and the
transformative magic that occurswhen you believe in the
impossible.
We also venture into the worldof futuristic technologies and

(00:46):
strategies, preparing you forthe next chapter in your author
career.
Every week, we explore new waysto revolutionize your writing
and publishing experience, fromAI to breakthrough thinking.
This podcast is your gateway toa world where creativity meets
innovation.
Whether you're penning yourfirst novel or expanding your
literary empire, whether you'rea devotee of the pen or a

(01:09):
digital storyteller, thispodcast is where your author
revolution gains momentum.
So join me in this journey tocontinue growth and
transformation.
It's time to redefine what itmeans to be an author in today's
dynamic world.
This is the Author RevolutionPodcast, and your author
revolution starts now.
Hey there, revolutionaryauthors, welcome back to another

(01:36):
episode of the AuthorRevolution Podcast.
I am so excited about today'sepisode because we're going to
dive into something that couldcompletely transform the way you
approach your writing goals.
Now, I know some of you outthere are looking for an
alternative to NaNoWriMo thisyear, and if that's you listen
up what if I told you there's abetter way to challenge yourself

(01:57):
, one that's less overwhelming,more flexible and still wildly
productive?
I'm talking about creating yourown six-week writing sprint,
and today I'm going to show youhow to do just that.
Now stick with me, because notonly will I walk you through
exactly how a six-week sprintcan boost your productivity,
establish better habits and helpyou make meaningful progress on

(02:19):
your current project, but I'vealso got some exciting news
about the Revolutionary Authorsmembership that I can't wait to
share.
Trust me, you're not going towant to miss this.
So let's start by talking aboutwriting sprints.
If you've been following theAuthor Revolution podcast for a
while, you've probably heard metalk about the benefits of
sprints before, and, in specific, the fact that I love six-week

(02:41):
writing sprints.
I teach it inside of RapidRelease Roadmap.
It's my favorite way to be ableto get words onto the page
quickly and without as muchcrazy stress as NaNoWriMo.
You see, here's the thing thatI've noticed too, not just with
myself but with others.
Nanowrimo which is fantastic ifyou thrive on a challenge helps
you to get 50,000 words in 30days.

(03:02):
But not everyone works wellunder that kind of pressure, and
especially in November whenwe've got things like
Thanksgiving right.
So I know that for some of usthat type of pace can actually
be counterproductive.
I've seen many of my studentsthat it's a struggle that puts
them either into burnout orstress and it pulls them
straight out of their creativeflow.

(03:24):
And over the years, what I'velearned about that is that we
actually end up in a state ofnervous system dysregulation.
And when we do that toourselves, when we put ourselves
into a fight or flight, nervoussystem dysregulation, we are no
longer tapped in to thecreative flow that brings us the
best ideas, that helps us movein the best, most methodical way

(03:46):
that is in the creative flowright.
It puts us in the state of howdo I get out of this and how do
I do it quickly so that I cansave myself?
Oh God, oh God, where's thebear?
That's what it does to us, andI'm going to have a podcast
episode coming up that's goingto be all about the concepts
that are happening with this.
I mean, it's not going to beall about it.
We're going to be talking aboutthree reasons why the indie

(04:07):
author industry is not reallydoing us any favors right now,
and I'll touch on it a littlebit more.
But right now I just want you tounderstand that the six week
writing sprint really is astructured but flexible approach
when it comes to makingsignificant progress without the
extreme pressure of daily wordcounts, and here's why that's

(04:27):
even better.
When you approach writing thisway, you can actually set
achievable goals that fit yourlife, your schedule and your
personal writing style.
There's many times where Iteach you know, you could write
five days and have two days off.
Or if you have differentscenarios where that sort of
situation doesn't work but you'dlike to write 5,000 words a day
, for instance, you could do5,000 words one day, 5,000 words

(04:50):
another day and have the restof the week off, like this gets
to be how it works for you, butthen you're going to just choose
the time frame, okay.
So, speaking of that, why do Isay six weeks?
Why not a month or a longerstretch of time?
Well, after years of workingwith authors and experimenting
with the different timelinesmyself, I found that six weeks

(05:10):
is a really good sweet spot.
It's long enough to give youtime to see real progress, but
short enough to keep you focusedand motivated, and that's
really key.
Right, we want to keep themomentum going.
We want to remember what thehell we just wrote.
We want to keep everythingmoving, but we don't want to be
so burnt out that we feel likewe don't have time for anything

(05:31):
else.
And in a six week sprint, youcan break down your goals in a
way that it doesn't feeloverwhelming.
Let's just say, you're workingon a new draft for your novel.
Right, we're coming up onNovember.
It's kind of in our DNA at thispoint.
But instead of trying to pumpout an entire book in a single
month, you're aiming formanageable chunks of progress,
like finishing a quarter or ahalf of your manuscript.

(05:52):
That can be a part of this too.
Right, it makes it easier tostay consistent without
sacrificing your quality.
And speaking of consistency, oneof the biggest benefits of a
six-week sprint is that it helpsyou establish better habits by
focusing on your writing over aslightly longer period of time.
You create a routine that'ssustainable, which is key to

(06:14):
building a long-term writingpractice, and, if you're going
to be writing multiple books ina year, it keeps you focused
enough so that when you move onto the next book, you're still
in the flow of writing.
You're not like, oh my God, doI even remember how to do this?
So how can you set yourself upfor success in a six week sprint
?
So here's a few tactics that Iteach inside Rapid Release

(06:35):
Roadmap, which is, by the way,exclusively available to members
inside the RevolutionaryAuthors membership, just FYI.
Okay, number one, I want you toset clear, achievable goals At
the start of your six weeksprint.
Take some time to set specificgoals right, instead of vague
aspirations like I'm going towrite more.
Get really clear about what youwant to accomplish.

(06:57):
Are you aiming to finish acertain number of chapters?
Are you going to try to hit60,000 words, like I teach?
Are you going to maybe revisita draft and you want to get
through a number of scenes?
Whatever it is, make sure thatyour goal is measurable so that
you can track your progressalong the way.
And that's so key because,number one it keeps us in the

(07:18):
energy of the thing that we'retrying to create Manifestation
101, right, right, we gotta stayin the vibe, lock it in.
But it also helps you to keepeverything in your head.
It helps you to keep it in away that it's gonna really
settle in and you're not havingto go back and reread 50 billion
times, because that's no fun.
Number two I want you to breakit down into weekly milestones.

(07:40):
Now, once you have youroverarching goal, like the
60,000 words, for instance,break it down into the weekly
milestones.
So if it's a six week writingsprint and it's 60,000 words,
that means 10,000 words righteach week and this keeps you on
track and it prevents you fromfeeling overwhelmed.
And remember, the confused minddoes nothing.
When we get overwhelmed, wetend to freeze.

(08:00):
Right, we go into fight, flightor freeze, and typically freeze
is the big one when it comes tothings like this.
So each week, if you have thatgoal, you know exactly what you
need to accomplish and theclarity makes it easier to sit
down and write without gettingstuck.
It also helps you to know like,okay, I've written, you know,
500 words Monday, 500 wordsTuesday and zero for the rest of

(08:23):
the week, and now it's Sunday.
Now you know what you have towrite if you're sticking to your
goal.
So it just helps you to know.
You know what you're trying tohit, what is the thing that
you're trying to make happen.
You know when we're in thatmanifestational flow too.
That's you taking thoseinspired action steps to get you
there, but they are accountable.
You know what you're trying toaccomplish.

(08:44):
Number three build inaccountability, and I think this
is where NaNoWriMo does areally good job, right, because
they've built this communitywhere you can be held
accountable for getting yourwords done.
You can put things up on there,you can put your daily word
counts, and that's really a hugefactor in whether or not we
stay motivated during a sprint,I think, especially as authors
who are very solitary.

(09:04):
So that's why, insideRevolutionary Authors Membership
, I've created a special sectioninside of our community itself.
So this is in Kajabi, whereit's called the First Draft
Fellowship.
So this is where you canconnect with other authors who
are also working on theirprojects, whether they're
writing a first draft, revisingor brainstorming.
It's just a space for you toshare your progress.

(09:27):
Do writing sprints together andkeep each other accountable.
Plus, it's perfect for anyonelooking for an alternative to
NaNoWriMo but still wants thesense of community, and for me,
that's a big one.
I think that's the reason why Idecided that all of these
things need to come together inmemberships, because I need to
be able to see people having fun, I need to be part of that

(09:48):
community myself, and I can'twait for you to be able to
experience it.
Okay, so, number four, I wantyou to remember to adjust as you
go.
One thing I love about the sixweek sprints is the flexibility.
If life gets in the way as itoften does, you can adjust.
Maybe one week is more hecticthan you expected and you don't

(10:10):
hit your word count.
Okay, that's fine, you havefive more weeks to make up for
it.
You just, you know, shiftthings around a little bit.
Let's say, you got 8,000 wordsin week one, so then you add a
little bit more in week two, oryou just spread it across the
whole thing, using Scrivener tobe able to adjust how quickly.

(10:30):
Right, the point is to reallyjust keep moving forward, even
if it's not perfect, andremember progress is progress,
no matter the pace, and done isbetter than perfect.
Now here's where things getreally exciting.
If you're ready to dive intothis six-week sprint approach
and really start makingmeaningful progress in your
writing, I do invite you to jointhe Revolutionary Authors.

(10:51):
Membership Doors are currentlyopen and if you join now, you're
not only getting access to theincredible resources inside
which, by the way, there is alot but you'll also be a part of
this live cohort of RapidRelease Roadmap, which starts on
October 21st.
This is a lot, but you'll alsobe a part of this live cohort of
rapid release roadmap, whichstarts on october 21st.
This is a six-week writingsprint.
This is huge, because rapidrelease roadmap is where I teach
this exact process in even moredetail how to sprint, how to

(11:15):
strategize and how to buildmomentum with your writing and
publishing, plus how to juggleit all, too, because we need to
learn how to live our lives andhave a sustainable author career
right.
So, plus, with this live cohort, you get the real-time support.
We have four calls that aregoing to be happening through
the six weeks that we'retogether, and then monthly calls
.
After that, there's feedback,accountability from me and your

(11:37):
fellow authors.
And don't forget about thatfirst draft fellowship right.
This special section inside themembership is designed
specifically for authors who areworking on something other than
NaNoWriMo.
It's a space to talk about yourcurrent work in progress, to
join in on group sprints and getthe community support that you
really need to stay motivatedover the next six weeks.

(11:57):
You don't have to do it alone,and it's way more fun when you
don't.
So, as you can see, a six-weeksprint can be the perfect
alternative to NaNoWriMo.
It gives you the structure youneed to make real progress, but
with enough flexibility to adaptit to your own life and
creative process.
By the end of the six weeks,you'll not only have made

(12:18):
serious headway on your project,but you also have built the
habits and consistency you needto help keep the momentum going.
So if this sounds likesomething you need in your life
right now, don't wait.
Join the Revolutionary Authorsmembership today.
Get in on the live cohort ofRapid Release Roadmap and let's
sprint our way to successtogether.
All you have to do is head overto authorrevolutionorg forward

(12:42):
slash 257.
We'll have the transcript, thelinks, all the things there.
But because you're an awesomepodcast listener, make sure you
use the coupon code ARP forAuthor Revolution Podcast, ram
for Revolutionary AuthorsMembership.
So A-R-P-R-A-M and you'll save$35 every single month on your

(13:05):
membership.
It's going to be an amazingexperience and I can't wait to
see you inside together.
So, guys, thank you so much fortuning in today to this episode
of the Author RevolutionPodcast.
I hope you're feeling inspiredto create your own writing
challenge and embrace thesix-week sprint.
Don't forget, if you want tojoin us inside the Revolutionary

(13:27):
Authors membership, the doorsare open and I'd love to see you
there.
So, until next time, keepwriting, keep creating and go
forth and start your authorrevolution evolution.
You.