5 Ways to Gamify Your Writing Process
I recently ran into an article on gamification in education. The writer was explaining teachers could use game mechanics to make the learning process more engaging. This article made gamification seem so versatile that I was convinced I could implement it in my work: writing. That’s a great idea.
It inspires you to write without even realizing you’re working on an important project. You might be wondering: why would I ever want to gamify the process of writing? – Because I want to make it more fun.
If you’ve ever worked on an important writing project, you get me. Stress is an inevitable aspect of it. Anxiety, frustration, and exhaustion come as a bonus.
Mike Rogers, a writer from BidForWriting, gets it: “You work from home, and that can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your mood. It sounds like a dream job to some, but the fact that you’re spending months and years in front of the screen can get you in that bad place: the writer’s block. If you make the process more interesting through games, you won’t make your work any less serious.”
So how exactly do we do it? How can we gamify the process of writing without making our work silly? I found a few methods that work. They are applicable to any writing practice, so it doesn’t matter whether you’re a novelist, poet, freelance writer, blogger, or just a student writing research papers.
- Use Beeminder
If you’re like most other writers, you probably make lists. You like setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals, don’t you? That’s necessary for keeping our work organized, but we can’t say it’s the most interesting thing in the day. Here’s what makes it interesting: betting.
With Beeminder, you pledge money with the promise you’ll achieve a goal. If you fail, the platform will encourage you to try again. If you fail again, you’ll lose the money you pledged. It’s a fun concept that makes a writer’s day exciting.
- Do a Reddit Writing Prompt Every Day
“You’re going through your grandpa’s attic and find some stuff from his army days. You realize he never told you which army he was in, or which war he fought in.” This is one of the many prompts that are meant to inspire your writing.
When you feel like you’re lacking creativity, try a prompt. Reddit users post great entries. You’ll see endless variations on a theme. Anonymity is a good thing, since you can unleash your creativity to full extent. Don’t hold back and start posting entries inspired by these prompts.
This has to be the scariest writing game ever. If you don’t achieve a word count goal, the app will start deleting your work. Scary, huh? Well, I guess you’ll just have to reach the goal you set.
You can play in three modes: Reward, Consequence, and Stimulus. Each of them is fun in its own way, but I’m sure you’ll have a preference.
- Turn Your Goals into a Game
How about creating an actual role-playing game based on your writing goals? That’s possible through Habitica. You set goals to overcome bad habits, such as procrastination or social media.
The bad habits will be represented like monsters. You’ll have a goal to defeat those monsters by developing good habits, such as productivity. Habitica has an entire community that will inspire you to stay focused on your goals.
- Try Goalscape, Too
This is not just a to-do app. It’s a really fun goal-setting tool with a visually-attractive interface. It shows your goals in a pie chart, organized by priorities. You can track and update the goals, so you’ll be aware of the progress you’re making. The idea behind Goalscape is mindfulness.
That’s interesting. We usually relate our goals with the future. When you set a goal to write a book, you practically envision it in print. With Goalscape, you’re forced to focus on the present moment and take it as a foundation for achieving those goals. It makes our plans way more realistic.
So yes, writing can be a lot of fun. When you find it impossible to move past the blank page, it’s time to implement unusual methods. Gamification can make a huge difference.
The ideas represented above are just a start. You can have your own take on gamification.
Your writing process doesn’t have to feel like torture, especially when you have the above tools and specialized software like Funnel Scripts. As stated in the linked review, Funnel Scripts helps you create compelling copy that fully engages (and subsequently converts) your audience with ease.
Don’t forget to share the experience with us – do you have other ways to make writing fun?