A Wicked Christmas Greeting, Write or Die Offline Development

First and foremost I'd like to thank you all for your kind responses and feedback regarding Write or Die. I've been overwhelmed by how it has spread and how many people it has reached. So thank you very very much.
I'd also like to wish you a Merry Christmas (or Happy Holiday, whichever you prefer) and give you this by way of a greeting card. I usually write a Christmas poem around this time of year and this is it, please feel free to share it with friends.

The Grinch's Mother

A Sequel
The roast beast had been sliced the last toy was silenced
but that was not yet the end of the violence
Here is a tale that goes back up Mount Crumpit
To meet the she-fiend, the worst kind of strumpet
Though her son's heart was two sizes too small
The Grinch's mother, as you'll see, had no heart at all
She lurked in the depths, in the deepest of caves
Plotting to make all the Who's into slaves...

Continue Reading...

The other announcement I would like to make at this time is that, due to overwhelming demand, I am starting development on an offline version of Write or Die. It will include some new features, some fiendish, some helpful, but watch this blog for updates.

Thanks again to everyone for all your support.

Write or Die: New Features

I promise that sometime soon I'll post something that's not blatant self-aggrandizement, really.
I've been gradually upgrading Write or Die based on a lot of great feedback from users.
New Features

• Victory Sound: When you have reached either your word goal or your time limit, a majestic victory song will be played. This now only plays once, thanks for letting me know all of you who were getting annoyed with too much victory.
• Variable Grace Period: This has been requested since I put out the first version and I'm pretty sure I got it working seamlessly. There are now 3 modes that affect how long the delay is between the last word typed and the consequences. Forgiving gives you a little longer than normal, 13 seconds to red, 23 to consequences. Harsh is the normal mode, 7 seconds to red, 17 to consequences. Due to surprising demand, I've added Evil Mode, which give you 1 second till red and 10 till destruction.
  

 Enjoy, and let me know how you like the new features or if there are any problems.

Write or Die on CommandN, Delicious, glee!

[UPDATE: They fixed my URL, they are fast and also awesome]
I got featured on the technology podcast Command N!

http://commandn.typepad.com/commandn/2008/11/commandn-156-november-7-2008.html
I am the featured web link towards the end of the show, but watch the whole thing, it's nifty.
Seem like a cool bunch of people even though they got my URL wrong.
If only I could get writeordie.com, that would be nice.
Also of note today, Write or Die was featured on the Delicious.com front page!
For posterity:

Click to save to your delicious bookmarks

Write or Die 2.0, Putting the "Prod" in Productivity

We're one week into NaNoWriMo and many, many people have used Write or Die.
I'd like to thank you all for your feedback and for sharing this with your friends. Now it's time to introduce a few improvements to the application. No, there's still no Electric Shock mode, though if anyone knows a USB device manufacturer we could perhaps talk.
Without further ado I'd like to introduce:

Write or Die 2.0

Here's a rundown of the new features.

• Auto Clipboard Copy! If you navigate away from the page it will prompt you if you'd like to have your work auto-copied to the clipboard. Should save some people some hair loss (credit)
  
• Pause function added, but it will only work once! This is the only concession I make to your human needs.
• Done button added. If you're done writing, click done and a frame will pop over the text box, showing you what you've written as well as...
• Bragging Widget! On the Done Page, I've added a widget that you can copy to your page to show everyone how much you wrote and in what little time!
• More Evil Sounds! Some people didn't think Rick Astley and Hanson were bad enough, now we've got the Devil's interval, among others.
• Word Count decreases in Kamikaze mode for extra ominosity.

Please send me an e-mail if you have any comments about the changes or the application in general. I'll still provide a link to the old app if needed but I think this version is an improvement all around.

Rust and Ashes : Excerpt

The night is quietly rumbling. Snowfall and gaslight illuminate the Loop and sparks fall like hellfire on the white drifts. He is looking out the spider frosted windows of his laboratory and wondering where she is now. He looks at the quite curious cat which is all that remains of the adventure. Having received the desired attention, the cat meanders elsewhere, twining its way through the shining copper tubing of the apparatus like a blue black thread. The darkened and cracked chambers, concoctions spilled from beakers like wax from an acid candle eating into the metal leaving a verdant patina. There is an anguished squeaking as he moves his desk from the dark corner where it, and several other less savory things, were living. He places it in front of the window, even though it is cold, so he can watch the snow, perhaps it will be warm by the time the tale is done with its telling. Assuming that winter ever ends, which seems increasingly unlikely.

Halloween, NaNo, Domo

Last night was a lovely night for Halloween, this is my costume:

Got as much candy as one is allowed to get when one is the chaperone. No Take5s this year, which is disappointing.
In other news, apparently people like Write or Die

That makes me deep happy.
Went to the NaNo Countdown meetup in darkest Maplewood (there are THREE (3) Denny's in Maplewood, the one with the meeting was technically in Landfall, MN, pop 700, like a Venn diagram inside of Maplewood proper). It was fun, stayed till about 1 AM then jaw was hurting so bad that the words were no longer coming. It was good to see people though. I will most assuredly be attending more write-ins as the month plonks onward. Only have a mere 500 words so far. Time for more Write or Die.
Catch you all later!

Write or Die (Just in time for NaNoWriMo)

Check out my Screencast Demonstration of Write or Die
or Watch on YouTube


Write or Die is a web application that encourages writing by punishing the tendency to avoid writing. Start typing in the box, as long as you keep typing, you're fine, but once you stop typing, you have a grace period of a certain number of seconds and then there are consequences.

Many people find themselves unable to write consistently. I believe that this is because their reason to write is intangible. For instance, I want to write and finish a book because I want to be published and make a living as a writer. That goal is a long way away so I often find it difficult to sit down to the task of writing.

Conversely, I'm in a creative writing class for which I manage to consistently write and finish projects (albeit at the last minute). I therefore draw the conclusion:

A tangible consequence is more effective than an intangible reward.

-serif;">If I don't write stories for class, I will receive scorn from my teacher and a bad grade in the class. If I don't write my own stories I am only disappointing myself. I experience perpetual disappointment in myself so I'm kindof used to it. Add to that the fact that I simply have neither the self-discipline to write consistently on my own nor the capacity for self-deception that would enable me to create artificial deadlines. That is how Write or Die was born.

The idea is to instill in the would-be writer with a fear of not writing. We do this by employing principles taught in Introduction to Psychology. Anyone remember Operant Conditioning and Negative Reinforcement?

Negative Reinforcement "strengthens a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior."

Consequences:

• Gentle Mode: A certain amount of time after you stop writing, a box will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing.
  
• Normal Mode: If you persistently avoid writing, you will be played a most unpleasant sound. The sound will stop if and only if you continue to write.
  
• Kamikaze Mode: Keep Writing or Your Work Will Unwrite Itself
  
• These consequences will persist until your preset conditions have been met (that is, your time is up or you've written you wordcount goal or both)

This text box is not a word processor, it is not for editing, the way to save is to select all of the text, copy and paste into your own text editor. The idea is to separate the writing process and the editing process as much as possible.

This is aimed at anyone who wants to get writing done. It requires only that you recognize your own tendency towards self-sabotage and be willing to do something about it. If you're sick of saccharine writing advice that no one could honestly follow and you want a real method to getting work done.

• Works great for real deadlines too!
  
• Excellent for getting your 1667 words a day for NaNoWriMo
  
• Good for writing on lunch breaks, just enter 30 minutes in the time limit box
  

You can't explain to a child that they should eat their vegetables or do their homework because, a long way down the road, they'll be glad they did. You must explain to a child that if they don't eat their vegetables or do their homework there will be dire consequences.

Your inner writer is very much like a willful child, this is how you discipline it.