27 minutes later (Write or Die)

And because I got ahead of myself in the title, the link to buy it was announced on Twitter 27 minutes ago. That's, uhh, where the title came from.

.... I'm going to go fangirl quietly in a corner until I can be trusted to communicate properly.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

You're not alone. I'm absolutely in love with it too.

~Nikki
http://www.nlberger.com

NaNoWriMo 2006 - Aundroma I: Memories
NaNoWriMo 2007 - Aundroma II: Missions (won!) AND Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
NaNoWriMo 2008 - Aundroma III: Momentum (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2009 - Death Makes A Lousy Dinner Date

Just found you on twitter, actually. I was like, "Why does that name look familiar...?". You have a new follower.

And this might just be me, but I'm having trouble convincing WoD that I want to stop writing. I reached my wordcount goal after 5 minutes (having assigned myself a 10 minute period). Pressed "exit," and nothing happened. I ended up having to alt-control-delete my way out of the program, because I couldn't get it to turn off x_X

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

Do you have the "Disable Save Until Goals Met" box checked? Because if you do, I think you have to meet both your time and your word count goal before it will let you click Done.

If not, I'm not sure what's going on there... He does seem to be answering questions on his twitter account pretty actively tonight.

~Nikki
http://www.nlberger.com

NaNoWriMo 2006 - Aundroma I: Memories
NaNoWriMo 2007 - Aundroma II: Missions (won!) AND Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
NaNoWriMo 2008 - Aundroma III: Momentum (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2009 - Death Makes A Lousy Dinner Date

I did have that checked, but it allows you to press "done" after you just reach the word goal.... it just doesn't exit the window.

Then I waited the timer out, and it still wouldn't let me exit x_X Going to fiddle around with it until I make it work, I think.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

Hmmmm... I don't know what to tell you. I've been playing with mine trying to replicate the error for you (can you tell I used to work in tech support???), but I'm not having any trouble. Try emailing him; see what he comes back at you with.

~Nikki
http://www.nlberger.com

NaNoWriMo 2006 - Aundroma I: Memories
NaNoWriMo 2007 - Aundroma II: Missions (won!) AND Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
NaNoWriMo 2008 - Aundroma III: Momentum (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2009 - Death Makes A Lousy Dinner Date

Figured it out. Apparently the boyfriend's computer just doesn't like to exit out of full-screen programs. If I write without fullscreen, but with the app maximized, everything works fine -- I can press the red "X" to exit, just like any other program.

... And now that I've spent over an hour playing with it, I should eventually start to write.

Eventually.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

So...Um..Yeah... I have no Idea what Write or Die is...Can I get a bit of an explanation and why it's so Awetastic?
(If you didn't know Awetastic is a word conjunction of Awesome and Fantastic! The more you know!) xD

- What doesn't kill will probably make you wish you were dead -

Write or Die is a web app which allows you to set a timer and word count goal. If you are victorious and meet your goals, it rewards you with happy midi sounds. If you fail, you are punished with bad midi sounds. If you wait too long and stall on your feverish writing during the time limit, one of three things will happen depending on your level of difficulty: Your browser will flash red, your speakers will play annoying midi sounds, and/or your words will one by one begin deleting themselves until you begin writing again (this is Kamikaze mode. I recommend NEVER setting this on accident, nor going to make popcorn in the middle of your war with the Write or Die app. You will have nothing left.)

http://writeordie.drwicked.com/

Now it boasts a $10 desktop edition with new shiny features (it now averages your output per session, keeps a running total of your successes and fails...)

PS: You can achieve similar results by procuring a monkey/little sibling/ever-supportive significant other, setting an egg timer offline and scribbling in a frenzied haze of glory. When you get stuck during your time limit, your previously procured moral support device/person/creature must mock you until you begin writing again. Kamikaze mode for the pen and paper edition should also involve a cattle prod. A little electroshock encouragement never hurt anyone. Right? Beuller?

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. --Robert Louis Stevenson

StarStones: NaNo Novel 2007
Eyewitness: NaNo Novel 2008
Broken Spark: NaNo Novel 2009

I'm a fan of the egg timer....I do not have a live in mocker though. I have to punish myself. We also do word wars at the events where we challenge each other to see how many words we can get. Its pretty awesome. I will investigate write or die, but I"m naturally skeptical of anything that erases my words.

Go Tigers!

You'd probably be better off with Gentle or Normal mode -- Kamikaze is the only one that deletes words ;) /shudder

To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive. --Robert Louis Stevenson

StarStones: NaNo Novel 2007
Eyewitness: NaNo Novel 2008
Broken Spark: NaNo Novel 2009

In defense of Kamikaze mode, which is the only one that works for me: it gives you ten seconds of warning before it touches any of your words, and then it only deletes one word per second. Sounds like a lot, but it's really quite manageable. Mine never gets more than three words before I catch it.

Also, pressing the spacebar qualifies as typing. So when stuck, just press "Space, backspace. Space, backspace" until you've got something.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/NanowrimoUtils/MyMonth/95590-goal=200000-pc-day...
Ideal Goal: 200k
Minimum Goal: finish Only Child

Write or Die is awetastic for many reasons! As has already been said, there is the online version, which is free, and the desktop edition, which costs $10. I use Write or Die all the time, even when it's not NaNo. As I don't have a trained monkey or a husband who is willing to monitor my writing progress, the egg timer approach doesn't work for me. I get stuck on a word or a sentence or get distracted by something random my cat is doing or any of a whole host of other, non-writing things, and all of the sudden the timer goes off and I've written approximately 5 words. With Write or Die, I have no such problem. I have even been known to use it to plot my way through a problem. I set the timer and just brainstorm in the text box for a few minutes, thinking my way through the issue, trying out new ideas. Because I only have a set amount of time to muse on the issue, I find that I come up with answers a lot faster. Otherwise I'd probably stall out in the writing for days while I try to figure out the perfect solution.

I DO NOT RECOMMEND KAMIKAZE MODE! Certainly not in the beginning, as you might get discouraged and give up on the program altogether. This is the one that deletes your words if you stop typing and I think it was invented for those highly masochistic folks. If you're into that kind of thing, by all means, go ahead. Just keep it away from me. ;-)

Basically, Write or Die works as described. You enter a word count goal and a time limit, pick your punishment mode, and go. It opens a text window and you have to keep typing, even if you're typing crap, until time runs out or you hit your word count goal. Normal mode, the one that plays a sound if you pause for too long, is especially useful at work, because nothing says "I'm not working" to your coworkers like the alarm clock from hell ringing out in your office. Fear of being caught is a great motivator. (Of course, if you are genuinely afraid of getting caught not working and the consequences are really important, like you might get fired or something, then go with Gentle mode. That just turns your screen red if you stop typing, so you won't get caught unless someone happens to be looking, at which point I'd think you'd get caught anyway.)

All of that is available on the online edition or the desktop edition. The desktop edition is totally worth the $10 in my opinion though. For one thing, it means that you can use the program even when you don't have access to the internet, which makes it perfect for those random scraps of time you might get when you don't have access to the web. I have to pick my husband up from work a lot of the time, and Sears strangely doesn't have wifi access in their parking lot. So I just set the timer for 10 minutes and type up a storm while I'm waiting for him to come out!

Also, the web edition doesn't let you hit enter or tab or anything, so you always have to reformat your text after you're done. I don't know about you, but nothing tempts my inner editor more than reading back through what I've just written to find the paragraph breaks. "Oh," she whispers, "you need to add a paragraph break there. And while you're at it, you could just change this one little thing...." and the next thing I know, all my shiny new words are gone. The desktop edition lets you have paragraphs and such.

Other things I like: you can adjust the grace period, meaning you can tell it how long you want to be able to sit there on pause before it starts screaming at you, it gives you the option to save what you typed to a text file so you don't have to mess with copying and pasting, the typing page shows you a progress bar that compares how fast you're actually typing to how fast you'd need to be typing to hit your word goal, so you can tell when you're getting behind and need to write a little faster, and it lets you publish what you wrote to a blog or something, should you feel the need to share your awesome NaNo words with cyberspace at large.

One of the things I can't wait for is the Word War feature. I assume I'll be getting a lot of use out of this during NaNo. You can set yourself up against someone else using the desktop edition and during your word war, you see their progress bar and yours at the top of the screen, so you can tell how bad you're kicking their ass. **coughcough** I mean, who happens to be ahead at the moment. Um... yeah, I can get a little competitive.

Wow. Okay, that was a long answer. Um, in summary, Write or Die is awetastic, and I think everyone should use it.

~Nikki
http://www.nlberger.com

NaNoWriMo 2006 - Aundroma I: Memories
NaNoWriMo 2007 - Aundroma II: Missions (won!) AND Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
NaNoWriMo 2008 - Aundroma III: Momentum (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2009 - Death Makes A Lousy Dinner Date

Thank you so much for putting this topic up! I have now conned my parents into buying it by insisting that "It will help me focus while doing schoolwork." They didn't really fall for that but they did buy it.

Also, I prefer Kamikaze mode. I am a chronic slacker/procrastinator. Gentle doesn't motivate me and my laptop had a touch sensitive mute button that I often accidentally hit. There's nothing that says "Get back to work slacker!" like a program that looks you in the eye and says "This is an accurate representation of the effects of wasting time. DELETE....DELETE....DELETE!" Plus, even if I've got the Grace Period on the highest setting, the fear of losing my work spurs me to type faster.

Man, I would love to be able to use this program, but I am a Mac user. Alas.

They have it for Mac too! Kalayna was using it on her Mac yesterday. (Though I guess the Mac version has some kinks when it comes to the Word War feature.)

~Nikki
http://www.nlberger.com

NaNoWriMo 2006 - Aundroma I: Memories
NaNoWriMo 2007 - Aundroma II: Missions (won!) AND Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
NaNoWriMo 2008 - Aundroma III: Momentum (won!)
NaNoWriMo 2009 - Death Makes A Lousy Dinner Date

Dr Wicked just released an update, so now word war works on my mac just fine! I love this program. It's great!

Columbia, SC Municipal Liaison
Once Bitten NaNo from 2005.
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