Hi. I have written none of these crawls. I don't know how to credit most of these people, as they've likely left Nanowrimo with the latest problems. I'll still credit their usernames and include as much info as I can, but at the same time, please, be aware of the fact that this blog, as of now, is run by one person, and I'm trying what I can to preserve this data.
Please be kind to me, and just know, I mean no harm by moving this data here. I only mean to save these, and have turned off the AI part of Tumblr too. I promise, I'm doing my best.
So. Nanowrimo is officially closing their website.
I know that I don't have much of a follower base here, but I still feel the need to talk about this at least a little.
I know that people are sharing their alternate sites for nano-like events-- Feel free to reblog with them here. Feel free to use this post's comments and reblogs as a place to get things out.
I hope that this blog has at least done its purpose, and we can continue to enjoy these for as long as we can.
So. Nanowrimo is officially closing their website.
I know that I don't have much of a follower base here, but I still feel the need to talk about this at least a little.
I know that people are sharing their alternate sites for nano-like events-- Feel free to reblog with them here. Feel free to use this post's comments and reblogs as a place to get things out.
I hope that this blog has at least done its purpose, and we can continue to enjoy these for as long as we can.
Hello, everyone! Happy Halloween! I'm going to make sure to post at least one crawl per day in November, so that if someone is doing Nanowrimo this year, they can have a new word crawl every day!
Unfortunately, I'm also starting to run low on crawls overall. I actually only have a bit over 30 left. As such, I'm making a poll too.
What should I do after I run out of crawls from the Nano Forums?
Stop posting, the blog has done its duty
I have another idea! (please comment, reblog, or send an ask with it!)
Voting ended onNov 1, 2024
And with that: Thank you to all who have followed this blog over the past few weeks. I know I've been quiet, but I'm very grateful to all of you.
Hey, this is the current end of the queue. I do plan to add more (I've got 35 more bookmarks!) and I will get around to it soon, I'm just also doing writing of my own ^_^
Happy Birthday!
Congratulations! Youâre a year older today. Letâs celebrate.
Make sure to keep track of how many presents you receive along the way!
If today is your actual birthday, you automatically receive one present!
Multiply your age by 5 and write that many words!
a. If your total is <125 words, receive one present!
b. If your total is between 125 and 200, receive two presents!
c. If your total is 200+, receive three presents!
Take the number of the month you were born and sprint for that many minutes.
January - 1
February - 2
March - 3
April - 4
May - 5
June - 6
July - 7
August - 8
September - 9
October - 10
November - 11
December - 12
a. If your word count is <400, receive one birthday present!
b. If your word count is between 400 and 600, receive two birthday presents!
c. If your word count is 600+, receive three birthday presents!
Take the date of your birth, have a word war with someone or do a word sprint for that many minutes.
a. Word War
i. If the other person wins, you get one present.
ii. If you win, you get two presents.
b. Word Sprint
i. If you write less than 600 words, get one present.
ii. If you write 600 or more words, get two presents.
Take the number of letters in your first name and multiply by 100. Write that many words.
a. If your word count so far is <1000, receive one present!
b. If your word count is between 1000 and 1600, receive two presents!
c. If your word count so far is over 1600, receive three presents.
Take the number of letters in your last name and add 5. Do a word sprint for that many minutes.
a. If you wrote <400, receive one present!
b. If you wrote between 400 and 500, receive two presents!
c. If you wrote more than 500 words, receive three presents!
Add your birth month, day of birth, and birth year together. Write that many words!
a. If the number is even, receive one present!
b. If the number is odd, receive two presents!
Now, itâs time to open all those presents! For every present you have, you get to relax for one minute before you blow out the candles!
i.e. One present = one minute Five presents = five minutes
Time to blow out the candles! Take your age and write one sentence for each year.
If you are 24 years old, you would write 24 sentences. If you are 45 years old, you would write 45 sentences.
Bonus: Each sentence must start with the next letter in âHappy Birthday.â Once you reach the âyâ, go back to the H and start over.
For example: Harpies have been flying in from the Great North all afternoon! Amazing as that is, theyâre all clean and fresh smelling. Perhaps they donât know they are harpies?
Hello! Hereâs a Splatoon Writing Crawl for people who like Splatoon! I hope you guys enjoy it.
You press ZL and ZR and you watch the news. If youâre the type to spam the A button through Callie and Marieâs/Pearl and Marinaâs chit-chat, do a 15 minute-sprint and try to get 100 words or more. If you enjoy listening to the newcasters, then do a 20-minute sprint and try to get 200 words or more. After that, head to the lobby and select your game mode:
Turf War: Do a word war for 15 minutes and try to get 100 words or more: if you donât, keep rematching until you get it!
Turf War with Friends: War with a couple of friends with the same goal and time as above!
Private Battle: Invite someone from PMs, or a NaNo buddy to do a word war for 15 minutes, and try to get 100 words or more.
Ranked Battle: Check what mode your Ranked Battle is on. If itâs Splat Zones, do a 15-minute word war and try to fill up 5 pages. If the mode is Tower Control, do a 15-minute word war. If itâs Rainmaker, try to get 60 words or more during a 15 minute word-war. Finally, if Clam Blitz is your mode, do a 10 minute word war and try to pass 50 words.
Ranked Squad Battle: Gather four people and try to get 100 words or more in 20 minutes. If you donât hit your goal during the time frame, then your game goes into overtime! You get an extra 10 minutes to hit your goal.
Hi everyone! I love word crawls, and my favorites are the ones based on Broadway musicals, so I created a crawl based around In The Heights. Enjoy!
In The Heights â Lights up on your novel! Start out by sprinting ten minutes as the neighborhood wakes up.
Breathe â Take a moment to breathe, then keep going with a 300 word sprint.
Bennyâs Dispatch â Check the technique! Go all out in a 3 digit sprint!
It Wonât Be Long Now â If you keep up your word count, youâll reach your goal in no time! Do a 400 word sprint to bring those dreams closer to reality.
InĂştilâ Struggling with feeling useless? Sprint to the next thousand and prove the doubters wrong.
No Me Diga â Itâs time to throw in something unbelievable, like a gasp-inducing plot twist! Or stick with your plan and sprint fifteen minutes.
96,000 â You guessed it! Itâs time to write⌠No, I wouldnât do that to you. Iâll settle for 1%. 960 words!
Paciencia Y Fe â Reminisce on the past as you sprint for five minutes.
When Youâre Home â Remind yourself of how it felt when you were just starting out by doubling your count from the first challenge ( In The Heights ).
Piruaga â Keep scraping by as you plug away at your novel! Write 200 words.
The Club â Do a 15 minute word war, and try to make the other person jealous with your amazing word count.
Blackout â Just because the power is out doesnât mean you can stop! Take the last three digits of your word count and sprint that amount. And try to find Usnavi!
Sunrise â Anything at all can happen just before the sunrise⌠like adding another 250 words to your novel.
Hundreds Of Stories â Think of the hundreds of stories you can tell! Roll a die and multiply the number by 100, then sprint that amount.
Enough â Tell your inner editor ENOUGH and write for ten minutes with NO BACKSPACING.
Carnival Del Barrio â Donât succumb to feeling powerless â raise your flag with a 3 digit sprint!
Atencion â Itâs time to drive slow and turn down your radio. Take a five minute rest (and try not to cry listening to this song).
Alabanza â Celebrate the little things: glass coke bottles, bread crumbs, a sky full of stars. As you write for fifteen minutes, try to bring as many of these small sensory details into your writing as you can.
Everything I Know â Show off how much youâve learned by sprinting to the next thousand.
Piragua (Reprise) â Turn your struggles into opportunities and sprint for twenty minutes!
Champagne â You deserve a celebration as you close in on your goals â but keep pushing! Take the last digit of your word count, multiply it by 100, and write that amount.
When The Sun Goes Down â Your book is gonna change the world someday! But only if you write it! Sprint fifteen minutes.
Finale â Illuminate the stories of the characters in your novel and close out strong by sprinting 750 words.
1 point for every task completed.
2 points for every word war won.
3 points for every total thousand words.
Find a group of dragons.
Sprint 100 words.
Choose a dragon.
Write for 10 minutes.
Try to tame the dragon with a) fish or b) meat.
a)Â Write 100 words.
b)Â Sprint for 10 minutes.
The dragon doesnât like it. Either a) run for your life or b) hide.
a)Â 50 headed hydra.
b)Â Write for 45 minutes.
Watch the group of dragons from a distance.
Write 200 words.
Pick a new taming tactic. a) offer something for itâs hoard b) try and feed it something else c) pet it.
a)Â Word war with someone for 15 minutes.
b)Â Write 150 words.
c)Â Sprint for 15 minutes.
The dragon likes it.
Write for 10 minutes.
Get to know your dragon better.
Write to the next thousand words.
Name your dragon.
Count the letters in your dragonâs name and multiply it by 10. Write that many words.
Scavenge supplies to make gear. a) in the valley b) in the mountains.
a)Â Sprint 300 words.
b)Â Write for 20 minutes.
Build a dragon saddle.
The saddle is the wrong size. Make it a) bigger b) smaller.
a)Â Write 500 words.
b)Â Do a 50 headed hydra.
The saddle doesnât fit, retake your measurements and build a new one.
Word war someone for 15 minutes.
The new saddle fits. Put it on the dragon.
Sprint 250 words.
Get in the saddle and practice flying.
Write for 30 minutes.
Alright, hereâs a little crawl about Voltron for my fellow fans:
âââ
Quick Key/Glossary:
Activities :
X words / Y time : Write X words in Y time.
Dares: Go to Word Sprints 3, click âDare Meâ and then write.
Word Wars: When you find someone else whoâs willing to war, the two of you will write for an amount of time , and whoever has more words wins.
Sprints: Either write for a certain amount of time or write to a certain amount of words .
Fifty Headed Hydra: You attempt to write five hundred words in five minutes .
3-Digits: Look at the most recent comment, and find their word count when they finished the 3-digit challenge. You now write until your ânew-word countâ(i.e. your current word count minus your word count before this challenge) should end in those numbers. If youâre the first person to do this challenge, check the random number at that challenge. After you complete the challenge, put which stage of the crawl you were at and your word count when you finished the challenge.
Dice: Roll a dice three times, and multiply the three numbers. Thatâs how many words you now have to write. This is based off of Larissa Kâs 8d20 challenge.
3%: For this challenge, you find 3% of your word count(Word Count x 0.03) and write that many words.
Rewards:
Points: Awarded for reaching a goal or going over. Good Job!
Passes: These allow you to skip a challenge. Remember, though, that you canât use them back to back.
Get Out Of Jail Free Card: Special cards allowing you to skip the penalty for a challenge. You can only use one of these every five challenge penalties. If you skip a challengeâs penalty, then you canât skip another until youâve completed four other penalties.
Main Stage 1:
-Congratulations! Youâve officially made it far enough in the application process that all you need to do in order to be accepted is write an entrance essay! Write just 150 words in 5 minutes about your inspiration and backstory!
If you wrote it within five minutes, progress to the next part unscathed, and get 25 points!
If you took longer than five minutes, you now have to write for 10 minutes in a word war with another person.
If you win, you move on with 20 points. If not, you do a dare from Word Sprints 3, write for 300 words , and then you move on with 0 points.
-Now itâs time for the flight tests- Sprint to 450 words, writing about the flight simulator.
If you reach the minimum in under five minutes , take two Passes. Remember, you canât use one after the other. Youâll also get 30 points.
If you reach the minimum in under ten minutes take a Get Out Of Jail Free Card. You also receive 15 points.
-Good job, Cadet! Youâve officially become a student at the Galaxy Garrison. Now, on top of all of your regular courses, like math, English, and history, you have to take Physics, an extra Physical Education Class, and Flight Classes. There goes any hope for an easy school year. Sprint for Seven minutes and write about any topic in your life, before or at the Garrison.
If you wrote seven hundred and fifty new words , you can skip ahead to the Flight Classes. You also receive 30 points.
If you got to a total of 1,250 words, you receive 75 points.
-Now that youâve gotten through your desk-education, itâs time for P.E.-your goal is to do a Fifty Headed Hydra . This part is not skippable unless you wrote âĽ750 words in the last part.
If you managed to get 250-499 words , good job. You did the best you could, but it wasnât the best possible score. You wonât face any backlash, but thereâs no reward, either.
If you managed to reach 500 words , good on you! You receive 20 points.
If you got >500 words , thatâs great! You get 50 points, and a Dare Pass.
If you managed to get <250 words , you have to do a 3-digit challenge. The first person to do this challenge will use: 168
-Itâs time for flight class. Check this guide for what happens in the class:
If your current word count ends in 1-3, your class runs smoothly, and you do simple drills.
If your current word count ends in 6-8, you do more advanced drills, with a battle situation.
If your current word count ends in 9 or 0, you are a hotheaded student who does his own drills, ignoring Iversonâs instruction.
If your word count ends in 4 or 5, you get in a fight and are sent to the infirmary and office.
Now, using that guide, use the Dice challenge and write about the class.
if you finished in under 10 minutes , you get 45 points, and a 3-Digit Stage Pass.
If you finished in under 5 minutes , you receive 60 points and a Pass.
-If you want, you can repeat these steps, or you can skip ahead to the next stage.
Main Stage 2:
After years of training at the Garrison, itâs finally time for your first mission: To travel out to the farthest Space Station in the solar system, just beyond the Kepler Belt. It will take months, and you are the pilot assigned to fly through the Belt to the station.
-Do a 10 minute sprint about the interactions between you and someone else before you go on the mission.
If you write 750-999 words , you receive one Dare Pass, and 60 points.
If you write âĽÂ 1,000 words , you will receive one Penalty Pass and 85 points.
If you write <750 words , then you have to complete a 3% Challenge.
-Now that youâve said what may be your final goodbyes, itâs time to board your ship. The technology depends on your word count.
If it ends in 01 - 27 , you have a large, bulky ship. Itâs fast, but youâll have to detour to get away from the Belt. It will take four months to arrive. Luckily, you at least have cryogenic technology, so youâll be asleep for three out of those months.
If it ends in 28-54 , your ship is fast and large, but it doesnât have cryogenic technology. Bring something to entertain yourself, itâll take three months.
If it ends in 55-73 , you have a slow ship, equipped with cryogenic technology. It will take almost four months to get there.
If it ends in 74-86 , then you have the fastest ship available, and it has just enough room for you and two others. It will take two months to get there.
If it ends in 87-99 or 00 , Then you will be taking the slowest ship, but itâs small enough to navigate through the Belt. It also doesnât have cryogenic technology, and itâll take four and a half months to get there.
Using that guide, write for fifteen minutes about the trip there. However, if you have word counts of 00-73 or 87-99 , then your team is captured by the Galra right before you reach the belt. If you had 74-86 , then you manage to get to the closest moon before youâre captured, but the station was destroyed before you got there, and thereâs no communication to it. If you have cryogenic technology, you donât know until youâre on their ship. If you donât, you have just enough time to prepare yourself, send a message to Earth, or you can try to hide, but you canât do all three, or even two. Make your choice and then write for another 5 minutes . Then look at the list below for your points, and look at the second list for word count rewards.
If you choose to prepare yourself, then take 60 Points, but in the end, youâre still taken.
If you choose to Hide, you receive 25 Points but you are still captured.
If you choose to Send a Message, you receive 0 Points and youâre captured immediately.
If you wrote âĽÂ 1,000 words , take a Get Out Of Jail Free Card.
If you wrote 800-999 words , take a 3% Challenge Pass.
If you wrote 750-799 words , take a Dice Challenge Pass.
If you wrote <750 words , then you have to do a Fifty Headed Hydra, and give up any passes and a quarter of your points.
-Youâre taken to the gladiator matches, where you have to fight others. Write about your first match in a Word War for the next Ten minutes .
If you win, youâre given your âfreedomâ and put into space with no suit or weapons, but a spacecraft. Skip over the Third Main Stage.
If you lose, you have to do a Word War with someone for Fifteen Minutes , then Twenty , then Thirty , and then you can go to the Third Main Stage.
`write five times the last two digits .write four times the last two digits . write three times the last two digits. write twice the last two digits. write 385 words .
Main Stage 3:
-Youâre moved out of the gladiatorâs arena, and now youâre put into a mining colony, but youâve been working with an alien you met who says she works for the Blade of Marmora. The two of you are going to escape the colony together, in the dead of night, tonight. First, you have to trick the guards. Do a Dice Challenge and distract the guards somehow.
If you finish the challenge in < 5 minutes , you get 35 Points.
If you take 5-7 minutes , you get 10 points.
If you take >7 minutes , you get 0 points and have to do a 3% challenge.
-Now that the two of you have gotten past the guards, you need a ship. To do this, write for 30 minutes about how you got to the hangar, then use your word count from this part for your ship.
If you wrote 500-800 words , you get a beat up ship that barely flies, and it breaks down as soon as you land again, only about a system away.
If you wrote 801-1,200 words , you get a slightly nicer ship that flies okay, but thereâs barely enough room for the two of you, and you have to stop again about a system away, and then it wonât start.
If you wrote 1,201-1,500 words , you get a Galran ship that flies you out quickly and gets you several systems away.
If you wrote >1,500 words , you get the ship that was confiscated from another prisoner, and escape. It flies smoothly, and thereâs an on-board kitchen. You get several systems away before it runs out of gas.
Now you can proceed to Main Stage Four
Main Stage Four:
If you earned your freedom, then you landed a few systems away.
-While there, you learn of the Paladins of Voltron, and that theyâre going to Earth. You find someone there whoâs willing to signal them, but itâll cost you 75 Points and all of your remaining passes, if you have any. Sprint for Ten Minutes about the interaction.
If you wrote âĽ800 words , you get 50 points.
If you wrote 800-1,350 words , you get a x5 Point Multiplier, usable at any point after this, but using it will cost 1/2 of the Points you have afterwards.
If you wrote 1,351-1,750 words , you get your items returned to you.
-The paladins of Voltron soon find you, and they pick you up, offering to take you back to Earth. Now do two Dice Challenges and write about the trip back to Earth.
This is a crawl to do with a friend, based around Youtuber Markiplierâs choose your own adventure video series.
To do this word crawl, watch the first episode, A Heist with Markiplier, and each friend chooses their favorite option for the next part. Have a word war for 10 minutes as you decide which option to take. Whoever wins the war chooses.
This is best done with a friend, but could be done alone: use the forums for word wars, and throw in some word goals.
Some paths are different, longer or shorter than others.
After Video 1, word war for ten minutes.
After Video 2,fifteen minute word war.
After Video 3, try for a Fifty Headed Hydra (whoever gets closest wins).
After Video 4, word war for ten minutes.
After Video 5, have a cup of tea and listen to some music. The winner is whoever writes the most during the song.
After Video 6, word war for fifteen minutes.
After Video 7, write to the nearest thousand. Whoever had to write most gets to pick.
After Video 8, word war for five minutes.
After Video 9, word war. Ten minutes.
After Video 10, find yourself in the cave of the word eater, feed it or battle it. Then do some self care.
If you want to go again to explore the many different paths available, you can lather, rinse, repeat.
If you find yourself getting tired of this set up, feel free to use your own favorite challenges. I simply included the ones I like.
I hope you enjoy!
Hey everybody! Iâve posted this crawl on various NaNo and Camp NaNo forums over the years, so itâs time to post it here. Itâs not super long, but that makes it easy to jump into. Have fun!
Over the Garden Wall Crawl
The Old Grist Mill
Leg-Face McCullen, Artichoke, Penguin, Pete, SteveâŚÂ Write 200 words as you try to think of the very worst name for this frog.
Thereâs a huntsman in the woods! He could be of help, or he could be an ax murderer. Write for 3 minutes as you try to decide what to do. Oh, heâs gone. Do you think we maybe should have talked to him?
Did you know that writing to the nearest hundred helps your word count a lot? Itâs a rock fact!
Oh no! The Beast has been led straight to you! Attempt a Fifty-Headed Hydra as you try to get away from it. If you succeed, you manage to get up on the roof. If you fail, write 100 more words as you desperately throw more candy from your pants at it.
Fools, that wasnât The Beast! Write 250 words as the Huntsman laments the damage to his mill and sends you off with some eerie advice: beware the Unknown!
Hard Times at the Huskinâ Bee
Youâve helped out a bluebird! Write 100 words as you try to think of your wish.
The people of this town seem to be having some kind of weird pumpkin festival. Write for 5 minutes as you try to figure out whatâs going on.
Oh no, youâve been tried for local crimes- and found guilty! The scary one in charge has sentenced you to a hard dayâs work of 500 words .
Ahh! Skeletons! Try to write 200 words in 5 minutes. If you succeed, then Beatrice manages to unlock you and you get to run away. If you fail, you must write for another 3 minutes as the skeletons put on brand new pumpkins.
You realize theyâre all skeletons; which makes it extra creepy when the one in charge says youâll join them someday. Sprint to 200 words as you leave Pottsfield behind.
Schooltown Follies
To Adelaide! To Adelaide! Come on and join the Adelaide parade! Write 200 words as you walk. Stop to tie your shoe, then write another 100 words after Beatrice tells you to keep up.
School? Pshh. Not today. Sprint to the nearest hundred as you go find something better to do.
A is for the apple that he gave to meâŚÂ Write 260 words (10 for each letter in Ms. Langtreeâs alphabet song) as you sit in the dunce box.
Ahh! A gorilla! Write 200 words in 5 minutes as you try to elude him. If you succeed, one of your friends hits him with a baseball bat. If you fail, he chases you around the tree some more. Write for 3 more minutes as you run.
The school is having a charity concert. Write for 10 minutes , then get yourself a snack (mmm, potatoes and molasses).
Songs of the Dark Lantern
You come across a tavern. Write 300 words as you listen to the localsâ stories about The Beast and his lantern.
Tell us your story, Lover! Write 100 words in 3 minutes. If you succeed, you somehow manage to sing a song about your life. If you fail, the locals are unconvinced, and you have to write another 100 words to explain.
Youâre not the Lover, youâre the Pilgrim . Write for 5 minutes as the tavern people laude you for your daring destiny.
Inspired, you steal a horse and take off into the woods. Sprint to the nearest hundred as you rescue Beatrice from the Woodsman.
The Beast has arrived to remind you that you must keep the lantern lit, lest your daughterâs soul be lost forever. Chop away at 200 words so that you have enough oil to do so.
Mad Love
Youâre pretending to be this guyâs long-lost nephews⌠so you can steal from him? Write 250 words as you argue with Beatrice about how bad an idea this is.
You think youâre going, mmm, mad . Write for 5 minutes as you and your nephew walk the halls of your enormous mansion, looking for the beautiful ghost you once saw.
Thereâs a tapping at the window! Write 200 words as quietly as possible while you and Beatrice hide in an armoire.
The ghost appears, but doesnât appear to be a ghost. Write 200 words in 5 minutes as you try to figure this out. If you succeed, you realize that the two enormous mansions are actually connected! If you fail, write another 100 words as you look around the greenhouse for proof.
As thanks for all your hard work, the new couple gives you two cents! Write to the nearest hundred anyways , because youâve got no cents. No sense at all.
Lullaby in Frogland
You snuck aboard the ferry, but now you have to pretend to be part of the frog band. Write 100 words in 3 minutes as you, a clarinetist, try to play a bassoon. If you succeed, the frogs love you! If you fail, write another 100 words as your ruse is revealed and the frog guards chase you some more.
Youâre having second thoughts about taking Wirt and Greg to Adelaide. Do a word war with a friend, or try to write 400 words in 10 minutes. If you succeed, you seem to be getting through to Wirt. If you fail, write another 150 words as you try to argue your point without giving anything away.
Adelaideâs house is a trap! Sprint to 200 words as you try to avoid becoming her child slaves.
Wirt and Greg are tied up, and itâs up to you to help them. Sprint to the nearest hundred as you open the window and stop Adelaide.
Beatriceâs betrayal hurts. Write 100 words as you run off into the woods.
The Ringing of the Bell
You run into the Woodsman, who tries to warn you about The Beast. Sprint to 200 words as you run away from that crazy man.
Auntie Whispers is coming! Write 300 words as quietly as you can as you hide amongst the turtles.
You decide to help Lorna with her work. Write for 10 minutes as you clean the house.
Auntie Whispers is awake, Lorna has become wicked, and she is about to eat you! Write 200 words in 5 minutes as you try to get away. If you succeed, you run out into the forest. If you fail, write another 100 words as you wrestle to get the door open.
The ringing of the bell commands you: write 200 words. The demon leaves you, and you are free to live your life as your own.
Babes in the Wood
The Beastâs singing is getting to you, and youâre starting to feel like youâll never leave the Unknown. Write for 10 minutes as you fall asleep under a tree.
Welcome to Cloud City! Write to the nearest hundred as you are greeted by the various Cloud City committees.
Oh no, the Old North Wind is loose! Write 400 words in 10 minutes. If you succeed, you beat him handily and lock him back up. If you fail, write for another 5 minutes as he chases you around Cloud City.
The Queen of the Clouds thanks you for your service, and offers to take you home- but you canât take Wirt with you. Write for five minutes as you make your decision.
Greg has wished to be taken by The Beast instead of you! Sprint to 200 words as you try to chase after them- only to fall through the ice and write 50 more words as you nearly drown.
Into the Unknown
Itâs Halloween, and you hope itâs going to be a big night for you. Write for five minutes as you put together a costume.
At the football game, Greg gives your cassette tape to Saraâs friends! Sprint to 200 words as you try to get it back from them, only to find out they slipped it into her jacket.
You reluctantly go to the party Sara is at and, oh no, Jason Funderberker is there too! Write 100 words, and then another 100 words, as you blunder your way through a conversation with Sara (and still fail to get the tape).
At the graveyard, you have to make a distraction for Wirt. Write 100 words in 3 minutes as you pretend to be a ghost elephant. If you succeed, they think youâre funny! If you fail, write for 3 more minutes as they realize youâre Wirtâs little brother.
The police have arrived! Everybody scatter! Sprint to 300 words as you try to climb over the garden wall. On the other side, a coming train makes you fall, and you must write 50 more words as you sink into the lake.
You wake up in the Unknown, with the bluebird family. Write 100 words and eat your dirt, then take Gregâs frog and go out into the snowstorm to find him.
The Unknown
The Beast has given you many tasks to complete. Write 300 words as you cleverly figure them out.
You find Greg, but heâs becoming an Edelwood tree! Write a Fifty-Headed Hydra as you attempt to free him from the branches. If you succeed, he has fewer branches on him, and youâve cheered him up by naming the frog âJason Funderberkerâ. If you fail, write 100 more words as you desperately pull on the branches.
The Beast is back, and has given you an offer: keep Gregâs soul alive inside the lantern by keeping it lit, just as the Woodsman has. Write for 10 minutes as you consider his deal.
You realize that itâs The Beastâs soul inside the lantern, not anybody elseâs. Write 100 words as you free Greg, and 100 more words as you send Beatrice home with the scissors that can save her family.
Mortified to learn that the Edelwood trees have been the bodies of the lost all along, and that your daughterâs soul has never been in the lantern, you decide to end The Beast. Sprint to the nearest hundred as you blow out the lantern.
You wake up in the water. Write 100 words as you pull yourself, Greg, and the frog back up to the surface, and write another 50 as you call for help.
All your friends are around you at the hospital. Write for 5 minutes as Sara explains she doesnât have a cassette player, and Greg amuses and confuses everybody with his frogâs name. Write 100 more words for all the souls in the Unknown that get their happy ending.
Thatâs it guys! Hope you had fun. Let me know what you liked or didnât like about this word crawl so I can improve it for next time!
Itâs November 1st, and Halloween is officially overâŚfor the regular folks. But us? Weâre still in our costumes, going from door to door looking for candy, and generally reveling in the spooky spirit. Who says Halloween only comes once a year? For us, a real spooky person is spooky all year-round!
The following word crawl was developed to keep up the spooky spirit for NaNoWriMo. It probably works best for those writing horror, but hey, Iâm writing a travel memoir so youâre welcome to play no matter what!
Things You Should Know
There are a little over 30 challenges here not counting special events, and you can complete them in whatever time frame you like. You could do a couple a day, but a lot of them are smaller and I recommend spending a couple of days or so on each week.
Feel free to substitute song challenges with your own choices, but I highly recommend keeping the spooky atmosphere alive!
The currency of this word crawl is candy! Hereâs a list of them all and what they do:
Snickers:Â Skip a challenge of your choice; ignore any penalties (but also rewards).
KitKat:Â Half all the goals of a challenge. (10 minute sprints turn into 5 minute sprints, 500 word sprints turn into 250, and so on.)
M&Ms:Â SPECIAL! Youâll read more about these later.
Skittles:Â Subtract 50 words from a goal or give yourself a bonus 50 words to meet a challenge. (But you DO actually have to write these words!)
WEEK 1
The official festivities are over, and you had one wild night of debauchery! Inspect your candy stash and write for 10 minutes as you look over your haul.
How did you do?
Less than 200 words: You knew you shouldâve gone to the rich neighborhoods. You barely have any candy, and you have a lot of work to do. (You earned no candy, sorry!)
201-400 words: You have a pretty good amount of candy, but most of it is the cheap stuff. Hard candies with weird names and the like. Oh well. (You earned a candy of your choice!)
More than 400 words: Is that a full-sized KitKat!? You are truly an inspired trick-or-treater. You have enough candy to last you at least until Thanksgiving! (You take the lot! One of each candy!)
Now itâs time to hatch a game plan. Halloween may be over for everyone else, but you have some work to do. Sprint to the nearest 100 words as you plan a month of Halloween-revival!
With your master plan in front of you, itâs time to tackle the first of many goals: revamping your Halloween dĂŠcor. Pick one of the challenges below, but if you complete them all, you earn one Snickers bar!
Throw out the rotted Jack-o-Lanterns: Sprint 100 words as you quickly try to dispose of these! Yuck!
Take down all the dusty fake cobwebs and put up new ones: Roll a die and multiply by 50 â write that many words and contemplate why you use so much fake cobwebbing.
Steal some of your neighbors leaves to add to your own yard so you can really embrace that fall aesthetic: Word war for five minutes. If you win, you have a very lovely array of leaves in your yard. This may come in handy later. If you lose, write 50 more words as you attempt to make your leaf-less yard look autumn presentable.
With your post-Halloween chores out of the way, itâs time to get to the fun stuff! First task: buying some new pumpkins! Write for 10 minutes as you drive out of your way to one of the few pumpkin patches that hasnât closed for the year.
Oh no! The pumpkin patch is closed! But you see someoneâs vehicle, so maybe the owner is around somewhere? Multiply your typing speed by 10 and sprint that many words as you search for them.
You finally find them as theyâre retying a tire swing in the nearby forest. Roll a die to meet this character.
1 or 2: Drats! Old Man Marley is the grumpiest guy in town! He eyes you suspiciously as you approach. âDinâ ye see the sign? Weâre closed!â Word war for 10 minutes as you negotiate buying a pumpkin. If you win, move on to the next prompt. If you lose, retry until you win! (If you have to word war more than three times, youâve earned some Skittles for your trouble.)
3 or 4: Boozy Barbara isnât tending the gourds after all! Sheâs drunk! Sprint to the nearest 1000 as you wait for her to sober up. (If sheâs super drunk and you write more than 500 words, take a KitKat for being a good citizen.)
5 or 6: Count Bathory! Heâs always creeped you out a little bit but heâs happy to sell more pumpkins. Do a Three Digit Challenge to haggle. Count Bathory says heâll throw in a Reeseâs with your purchase for free.
Youâve convinced them to let you get a pumpkin or two, but only if youâre willing to help them out with a small task. Someoneâs been stealing pumpkins and they need you to check on their pumpkin patch one night next week. If you agree, they give you some M&Ms as a token of good will.
Finally, with pumpkins in tow, you head home and think about all the fun youâll have carving them. What design will you choose?
A scary skeleton: A classic choice! Sprint through âMonster Mashâ by Bobby Pickett.
A wild werewolf: Truly terrifying! Sprint though âHungry Like the Wolfâ by Duran Duran.
A wonderful witch: Very trendy! Sprint through âRhiannonâ by Fleetwood Mac.
In the middle of carving, you spy an extra candy that you forgot to put with the others! Sweet! Take a candy of your choice for finishing this week.
WEEK 2
You thought you would ease into this second week? Absolutely not, Halloween waits for no demon! Do an Epic Writing Hour as you find the motivation to stay spooky!
Time to check the mail! This isnât a very creepy task, so do a 5-minute sprint to get it over with quickly. How well did you do?
Less than 100 words : Itâs all junk. Maybe one of these coupons will be useful?
101-200 words: Hey, you got a letter from an old friend! Take a 10-minute break to read it.
More than 200 words: Whatâs this? Itâs an invitation to submit a piece of art in an unusual medium to the local art fair! You eye your pumpkins â this could be the perfect way to bring Halloween to the whole town! Follow the special prompts below.
SPECIAL EVENT (Only do these prompts if you wrote more than 200 words in the last challenge.)
Time to touch up your pumpkin of choice! Write 100 beautifully crafted words. Really put some thought into this! (Share your best line from this challenge here 2 to earn a candy of your choice.)
Itâs time to enter your pumpkin! Will you qualify? Do a 5-minute word war to find out! If you win, move on to the next prompt. If you fail, exit the special event.
They love your work! Itâs between you and two other people! Martha brought her origami miniature of the town and Louis made anatomically correct models of bugs out of various plantsâŚbut your pumpkin is fun! Surely you can win! Write like you meant it for 10 minutes!
Less than 300 words:Â You got third place! Thereâs no prize, but hey, everyone feels a little spookier after seeing your pumpkin!
301-500 words: Second place is a nice place to be! They give you a Snickers for your artistic contribution.
More than 500 words: As much as the judges loved all the submissions, they loved the âmetacommentaryâ of your pumpkin. They blabbed on about consumerism and then gave you your choice of two candies! Maybe they didnât get your pumpkin, but you walk away a little richer!
Win or lose, you deserve a break after all that! Take your pumpkin home and take a 15 minute break.
END SPECIAL EVENT
Tonight, you plan to spend a quiet night in, watching a string of scary movies. Letâs go shopping! Sprint to the nearest hundred to find a good deal, because the true horror in this universe is price inflation!
With your favorite scary movie in hand (the directorâs cut â score!) you head back to your house, but on the way, you remember that a certain pumpkin patch owner needed you to check on their pumpkins this evening. If you took the M&Ms, move on to the special event. Otherwise, skip it.
SPECIAL EVENT
You make a sharp left and head to the pumpkin patch, wishing you could head home and watch movies but also excited to look at the big pumpkins again. Itâs a long drive, so settle in and write 500 words before you reach your destination.
When you get to the pumpkin patch, you are horrified to see all the best pumpkins are gone! With your pumpkin expertise, you can tell that they were ripped violently from the rest of the plant rather than carefully harvested by pumpkin professionals! OH NO! Participate in a 10-minute word war to overcome your own panic! If you lose, you must spend an extra 15 minutes writing to calm yourself down.
With a new sense of clarity, you call up the owner of the pumpkin patch and tell them that their pumpkins have been sufficiently squashed and that itâs an emergency. They tell you to get out of there, and they tell you not to tell anyone what you saw. Sprint to the nearest thousand as you speed out of there!
END SPECIAL EVENT
At home and a little shaken up, you decide to curl up on the couch and watch your movie after all. Look up the running time of your favorite movie and write that many words. (If The Godfather is 2 hours and 58 minutes, you write 258 words.)
Itâs time for a mid-movie snack break! What are you getting? Take as many as you want, but at least one!
Popcorn: Sprint for 5 minutes as you wait for the popcorn to pop.
Soft Pretzel: Write 100 words to properly savor the saltiness.
Soda: Write 200 words in 5 minutes to keep yourself from drinking it too fast. If you fail, get a new drink and try one more time.
Ice Cream: Write 10% of your current daily wordcount before your ice cream melts!
If you completed all the snack tasks, reward yourself with a well-earned 15 minute break and a candy of your choice.
You just started playing the movie again when Martha calls you! Martha is so annoying! You pick up the phone and sheâs blabbing nonsensically. Word war for 15 minutes as you attempt to get off the phone.
Finally, Martha gets the picture and she hangs up. Now, itâs finally time to finish your movie! On your way to bed after the movie, your doorbell rings. You go to answer it, but no one is there. On the ground, a bag of M&Ms is wrapped up in a note that reads âHalloween is over, but the scares are just getting started. Meet me at the pumpkin patch in a fortnight.â You try to find the source of the mysterious note but there seems to be no one there. Sprint to the nearest hundred as you rush inside to hide under your covers.
WEEK 3
This weekend, you decide to throw a Halloween party. You need to round up some party guests, so do as many or as few of the challenges below to determine your party size!
Send out invitations to all your friends: Type the next 50 words with one hand as you address envelopes with the other. (+10 people)
Create a Facebook event for your party: Choose a specific challenge from the forums to complete (ie. Carrot/Stick, Take/Leave a Song, etc). (+5 people)
Paste flyers over Marthaâs flyers for her Thanksgiving party on the same date: Word war for 5 minutes as you remember why you canât stand Martha. (+5 people)
Film a local commercial advertising your party: Sure, some may call this overkill, but you call if effective! Write 3% of your word count to pay for this ridiculously expensive ad campaign. (+10 people)
Start a pyramid scheme to get more people involved in inviting: Sprint to 300 words and go leave some encouragement in the NaNo forums to get people motivated to do your bidding! (+10 people)
If you complete three or more challenges: With all your hard work, the mayor hears about your party and invites his whole office to accompany him! What luck! (+10 people)
If you completed all five challenges: Youâre beat! But on the way home, you find a bag of Skittles!
Before you get home, you decide to see what kind of discount Halloween costumes might still be around so that you can snag a good deal and look great in a new costume. Attempt a 1k1hour. If you succeed, you find a great deal on an amazing Frankensteinâs monster costume AND a cute little scientist outfit for your pet that will make a great Frankenstein with some minor adjustments. Fantastic! Take a Reeseâs for your outstanding find. If you fail, you look for a while but decide that the toilet paper mummy will have to do for now.
Time to do some costume crafting! (Even if you succeeded in the last step, this is to fix up your petâs costume.) Roll a die and multiply it by 100; write that many words. How is the finished product?
1-3: Itâs not your best work, but it gets the point across! Take a KitKat for your troubles.
4-6: VIOLA! Itâs perfect! Everyone will remember this costume â and this party â forever! Take a KitKat AND a Snickerâs! You earned it!
Itâs almost time for the party, and now you must decide what games to set up. Pick as many as you want, but you MUST have an apple-bobbing station.
Apple-Bobbing: Write 300 words in 10 minutes. If you fail, you spill the water everywhere. Write for another 5 minutes to clean it up.
Murder Mystery: Word war for 15 minutes as you grapple with what guest to make the murderer. If you lose, try again for 5 minutes before you finally figure it out.
Mafia: Where did you put that deck of cards? Sprint to the nearest hundred in 60 seconds. If you fail, you put the cards in the most obscure place possible and youâll spend an afternoon writing to the nearest thousand.
If you completed all three challenges, you rock! Steal some Skittles from your candy bowl.
Quickly run through the house and do all the last-minute things before the guests arrive! Make sure the candy bowl is filled! Spruce up the decorations! Start your spooky playlist! Sprint to the end of your scene as you wait for that first knock at the door!
Within a few minutes, the party is in full swing! How many people showed up? (Return to the first challenge of this week to find your total.)
0-4 people: This is what happens when you donât tell anyone about your party! At least you can cry if you want to. Do an Epic Writing Hour as you contemplate how cool this night would have been if youâd put in some energy. When you finish, you are horrified to find out that somehow, Martha knew about your party. She brought her bratty kids and their friends. Great.
5-10 people: Itâs a small gathering, but itâs your closest friends! Write as fast as you can for 15 minutes as you try to keep the energy high.
11-30 people: The party is swinging! People are chattering and having a good time. Write 300 words as you make the rounds and chat with everyone.
30-49 people: Several people showed up in costume and you host an impromptu costume contest! You declare yourself winner! Do a victory dance and sprint through a playing of âThrillerâ by Michael Jackson and donât forget to grab your prize of a KitKat !
50 people: Did the whole town show up!? The mayor is entertaining the crowd so you get to sneak into your bedroom for a 10 minute break but not before you grab a Snickers.
Finally, everyone gathers for a round of apple bobbing! Now is your chance to outshine everyone! After a few rounds, you are going head to head with Terrence Wiseman, the coolest and most talented guy in town, and Marthaâs date! You both take a moment to prepare for battle. Write casually for 5 minutes as you clear your head.
Remember at the beginning of week 1, when you had a word war to see if you could steal your neighborâs leaves? I told you winning would be helpful! If you won that challenge, then right as Terrence is getting ready to dunk his head in, someone starts loudly proclaiming about the incredible array of leaves in the yard. âItâs like an autumnal wonderland out there!â Terrence loses a precious few seconds and you easily beat him. Skip the next challenge.
This may be the most important moment of your life. Until next week, that is. Word war for 5 minutes.
If you lose, you go to give Terrence some candy but youâre all out, so you have to give him some from your Halloween stash. Give up one candy of your choice. If you have none, just sit there in your shame.
If you win, Terrence is impressed, and he invites you to his comedy show in early December! Plus, Martha looks annoyed with him for the rest of the night. HA. Take that, Martha!
The party winds down and people file out. Once you finally take some time to rest after the festivities, you realize that in all the craziness, you total forgot about Thanksgiving! Your friend brought over some of her leftover turkey yesterday, so you heat some up and even give a little to your pet. Itâs a lovely Thanksgiving in your household, but an even lovelier Halloween.
WEEK 4
Whatâs scarier than a haunted house on Halloween? A trashed house in November! Time for some Fall Cleaning! Hereâs a list of chores, unfortunately you won the Homeownerâs Association Award for Cleanest Home last year so youâll have to do all these chores to maintain your title.
Clear out the trash: Sprint to 200 words to get all the trash, and donât forget to recycle!
Mop, sweep, and vacuum: Sparkly floors and clean carpets make for happy homeowners. Write for 30 minutes as you finish this up.
Return all the furniture to rightful homes: Manual labor is fun! Do the Never Have I Ever Challenge as you swear youâll just pay one of Marthaâs bratty kids to do this next time. (Link)
Once the chores are done, you can finally get back to whatâs most important: Halloween! The town has finally started to see that Halloween is important all year round and some people have taken to the streets to Trick-or-Treat in celebration! You sit outside for an hour of casual writing and end up handing out some candy to a few local kids. (And even a couple of adults, too! Halloween is for everyone, after all!)
Whew! Reviving a holiday is hard work! Take a 20 minute break because you deserve it.
After your break, you return to keep handing out candy, but your bowl has been raided! You search desperately for any spilled pieces but all you find is another note. âIf you ever want to see your candy again, youâll be at the pumpkin patch tonight. Bring your M&Ms.â You look around once more for the culprit, but they are long gone. Complete a Three-Digit Challenge as you gather your supplies.
Later that nightâŚ
Before you go on your way to the pumpkin patch, you look at your special candy stash. You grab the M&Ms stockpiled and get in the car. You are nervous the whole way. Word war for 5 minutes as you resist the urge to eat some candy. If you lose, you know what to do.
As you pull up to the pumpkin patch, the air feels electric. You round the corner and
OH MY PUMPKINS, THREE FIFTY-HEADED HYDRAS ARE ATTACKING THE PUMPKIN PATCH!
Count Bathory and some other townsfolk are battling them, with little ground being gained! One of the heads crashes into the ground next to Not-So-Boozy Barbara and she swiftly dodges, but the poor pumpkins are lost in the crossfire!
Count Bathory sees you and TURNS INTO AN ACTUAL BAT to flee the scene, directly towards you! As he approaches, he shoves a package of M&Ms into your hands. âYou wanted Halloween? Help us defeat these monsters and save the pumpkin patch or weâll never be able to celebrate again!â
You can only use M&Ms in these challenges. One M&M will lower your word goal by 10, and each bag contains 10 M&Ms. Use them wisely.
The First Hydra:Â Bathory comes to your aid as you try to tag-team the Hydra. Unfortunately, it has way more heads than you do and itâs a tough fight.
The Second Hydra:Â Old Man Marley shows up with a rake and takes a good swing at this one, and one of the heads immediately swallows him whole. Thatâs okay, he was pretty grumpy. You secretly wish it was Martha, though.
The Third Hydra: Terrence is here! He lands a good blow in one of the Hydraâs eyes! If you beat him in the apple-bobbing contest, it was an eye on the head youâre currently fighting and your word count goal is reduced by 25.
PICK YOUR ENDING BASED ON HOW MANY YOU KILLED!
0: You wake up in the wreckage of the pumpkin patch, with the guts of the most beautiful pumpkins all over you. Boozy Barbara is patching up the wounds of Count Bathory as you approach them. âWhat happened?â You ask, slightly dazed. âThey took the city. The Hydras rule us, now.â Write 1,667 words as you try to cope with this new information.
1: You slay one Hydra, and the other two scramble back into the forest, knocking down trees and slinking into the hellscape void that surrounds your quaint town. You donât know when theyâll be back, but you know it will be soon. You spend the next few weeks drumming up an army, and since youâve been the talk of the town recently, itâs pretty easy. Sprint for 500 words to slay the Hydras when they return and save the town.
2: You have waited your whole life to see real monsters, and tonight you got to slay them! (Also, is Count Bathory a vampire!?) You take two Hydra hearts home to display in large fish tanks, and the town puts the other in a jail cell until it agrees to leave them alone forever. Martha tries to tell the local news that youâre her best friend, but your local journalists value integrity and get the facts from you before the story runs. You go to Terrenceâs comedy show and leave feeling a little less impressed by him overall. Sprint for 10 minutes to leave before Terrence has a chance to ask you what you thought.
3: You expertly wove in and out of battle like a warrior! Did those moves come from adrenaline? A deep love of pumpkins? Or maybe some crazy backstory I neglected to give you? Who knows! The town regards you as a hero, and after the Mayor resigns for failing to protect everyone from the Hydras, you win by write-in votes! You declare every day as Halloween and the town prospers for all eternity! Sprint to 100 to wrap up a job well done.
Finally, my time has come! Iâve been building this puppy for months and I finally get to share it here! I want to preface this with the fact that any challenge you donât want to do, you donât have to do, word wars can be replaced with word sprints if you so desire, and I donât expect anyone to complete this in a day. Now, without further ado, I present to youâŚa Sanders Sides crawl!
My True Identity: Itâs time to introduce yourself to the world at large! Do a 5 minute sprint as you explain what you want to do with this YouTube series.
Way Too Adult: Adultery is a scary thing, but you can get through it! Sprint 300 words to kickstart your journey!
Taking on Anxiety with Lilly Singh: Your Anxiety shows up, but you will prove to both Anxiety and your Inner Editor that you wonât back down! Sprint to the nearest thousand.
A New Year of Lying to MyselfâŚIn Song: Prove to yourself that finishing your novel isnât a bunch of lies! Do a 15 minute word war to prove you can accomplish this!
The Dark Side of Disney: Anxiety and Princey never seem to agree, or do they? Sprint for 10 minutes as the two sides debate!
Iâm in a Disney Show!: Being on a Disney show is a great achievement! Do a three-digit challenge to celebrate!
The Mind vs. The Heart: When Logic and Morality clash, it can get difficult to find the right answer. Sprint for 20 minutes as you reach a compromise between the two!
Alone on Valentineâs Day: Another Valentineâs, another reminder about being alone. But your friends will always be there to support you. Do a 15 minute word war with them to boost everyoneâs word count!
Losing my Motivation: Everyone is at fault, and Logic is Logan?! What?! Sprint to the nearest thousand as you try to wrap your head around this new information.
My Personality Q & A: So many questions, so little time! Sprint for 10 minutes as you answer a few questions while a few more arise.
Am I Original?: Itâs hard to come up with an original idea, and itâs even harder when it has to be a good one! Do a 30 minute word war while you brainstorm. Bonus: mention something about originality in your novel! Double bonus: use the name Roman!
My Negative Thinking: Figuring out cognitive distortions is a pain, and falsehoods abound in this episode. Sprint to 300 words, one for every falsehood in the video.
Growing Up: Birthdays come and go, but adultery is forever. The problem is, are you truly âadult enoughâ? Sprint to the nearest thousand and keep yourself focused to see this novel through to the end, and give Patton a hug!
Making Some Changes: You need your friends nearby to support you, sometimes. While they canât always be there, you can keep them with you in your heart! Sprint 800 words, 200 for every friend in the episode.
Becoming a Cartoon: Everyone loves the villain! Prove yourself worthy of the title by attempting a fifty-headed hydra! If you win, congratulations! If you lose, no worries, just keep swimming to the next prompt!
Accepting Anxiety Part 1 (Excepting Anxiety): Where oh where could Anxiety be? Do a 10 minute word war as you travel to Anxietyâs room.
Accepting Anxiety Part 2 (Can ANXIETY Be Good?): Everyoneâs freaking out, but at least Virgil has returned! Write 478 words in celebration.
Fitting In (Hogwarts Houses): This episode is all about figuring out where you fit in, or if you want to do your own thing entirely. If youâre a Gryffindor, sprint for 10 minutes. If youâre a Ravenclaw, write 600 words. If youâre a Slytherin, do a 15 minute word war. If youâre a Hufflepuff, do a three digit challenge! If you donât fit into any house, write for half an hour to show how awesome you are!
Moving On Part 1 (Exploring Nostalgia): Looking back on the past can be useful, but it can also have drawbacks. Sprint 650 words as you realize that you need to stay in the present.
Moving On Part 2 (Dealing with a Breakup): If you canât move on, moving forward is the next best way to go. Write to the end of your current scene to move forward in your story.
The Sanders Sides 12 Days of Christmas: Thereâs just no winning on Christmas! Write for 12 minutes, and donât forget about the truckload of Bubba Gump shrimp!
Can LYING Be Good?: If Deceit is here, then where is Patton?! Sprint 1,000 words to find your favorite father figure of the series!
Why Do We Get Out of Bed in the Morning?: Finding the right balance in life can be difficult. If you want to focus on more creative endeavors, and pants your way through the novel, sprint for 15 minutes. If you prefer to focus on the more logical things in life, and plan out your novel, write 500 words. Donât forget to take a break and drink something, and eat if you need to!
Crofterâs (The Musical): Time for something a little silly! Relax and write through the song (found here) at your own pace.
Learning New Things About Ourselves: Discovering who you are can be a difficult process. Do a 20 minute word war as you contemplate who you are.
Embarrassing Phases (The Nightmare Instead of Christmas): There are always phases that we look back on and cringe. Sprint for 1,000 words as you learn to accept these parts of yourself.
Selfishness v. Selflessness: Deceit is a slimey boy, but at least he hates Nazis? Consider what he has to say in the court case and sprint for 45 minutes as you contemplate going to Lee and Mary-Leeâs wedding.
Dealing with INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS: Uh-oh, The Duke is here, and it looks like he isnât going away anytime soon! Write whatever comes to mind for 20 minutes as you battle his intrusive thoughts!
Posting again the word crawl I made. Itâs long, so itâs best to break it up into bits.
Howlâs Moving Castle word crawl! Follows the plot of the book by Diana Wynne Jones.
In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it absolutely sucks to be the eldest of three. Based on your writing speed, pick where in the birth order you line up.
Youngest: Slower
Middle: Medium
Eldest: Faster
Your stepmother decides that the only way to keep the family millinery open is to send you and your sisters off to apprentice somewhere profitable. You get stuck in the hat shop. Even though theyâre not satisfied with their assignments, your sisters, at least, get to leave the house. Sprint for ten minutes, because your life surely isnât going anywhere.
If you reached the word count below, you overhear about the mysterious Wizard Howl and how he kidnaps beautiful girls to eat their hearts, and that will never hold significance for you. If you donât reach it, sprint for seven minutes while your stepmother teaches you how to sell a hat to a customer.
Youngest: 375 words
Middle: 685 words
Eldest: 950 words
Making hats is boring. You talk to them as if they were people, because yeah, like youâre going to step outside.
⢠If you chose the hat that was all veiling with hidden twinkles, you have a mysterious allure. Write 550 words.
⢠If you chose the creamy hat with roses under the brim, you have to marry into money. Write 700 words.
⢠If you chose the mushroom pleated bonnet, you have a heart of gold, and someone in a high position will fall in love with you. Write 1000 words.
Youâre a little depressed that none of them look nice on you. On May Day, you decide to go see your sister Lettie, who was sent to apprentice at a local bakery. Youâre scared stiff. You run into a pretentious blond, and you dash into the crowded bakery. Write to the next multiple of 300 while you push your way to the front counter.
Lettie pulls you aside to tell you that sheâs not Lettie. Using magic to disguise themselves, she and your sister Martha swopped places of apprenticeship. Sprint for 15 minutes while you jump to conclusions.
If you reach the word count, you take Marthaâs advice to stand up for yourself when you get home. If you fail, you stumble around your words in a pathetic way. Type for five minutes with your eyes closed.
Youngest: 580
Middle: 880
Eldest: 1250
A glamourous woman walks into your shop. Her tastes are too highfalutin for your shop. Youâre tacky, and she hates you.
⢠If you are the youngest or middle child, you try to sell her the mushroom hat. Allow your writing to suck for a solid 25 minutes.
⢠If you are the eldest child, you sass her despite her henchmanâs nervous gesturing behind her back. You done screwed up, son. Write 2500 in 30 minutes.
Oh, motherâthat was the Witch of the Waste, the most diabolical mind this side of paradise, and sheâs cursed you with old age. You now have the body of a 90-year-old, and you canât let your family know about this. Your joints may ache, but youâve got to go out into the world to make your fortune. Man, these hills are unforgiving. Write for a leisurely 35 minutes as you slowly head out into the waste.
If you reach the word count, you happen upon Howlâs castle. If you donât you write 300 words while you wander about in the mist.
Youngest: 750
Middle: 999
Eldest: 1300
You barge into the moving castle, which is a bit of a dump, and Howl is out. Instead, you meet his apprentice, Michael. You also meet a fire demon, Calcifer, who can tell that youâre under a spell. He convinces you to break his contract with Howl in exchange for breaking your curse. For some reason, Calcifer tells you that Howl is quite heartless. You didnât need to be told; have you seen the inside of this castle? Itâs filthy. Clearly someone who treats a castle like this would be heartless. Anyway. Do a three digit challenge while Michael tries to get you to leave.
In the morning, you bully Calcifer into bending down his head for you so that you can cook breakfast. No one but Howl is supposed to be able to do that. Youâre distracted by the bacon, so you donât notice Howl come in until itâs too lateâand oh no heâs hot. You say Calcifer hired you as the cleaning lady. Write for 10 minutes while Howl moans about how much he loves the filth.
Youâre determined to be the very best cleaning lady, like no one ever was, but you get distracted by his magical door.
⢠Porthaven Door: The king sends his thanks for the seven league boots. Write seven times the last two digits of your word count.
⢠Kingbury Door: A girl shows up for the safety spell for her dadâs boat. Write for 15 minutes using precise phrasing, because youâre going to spread rumours about being a witch if you donât stop saying the wrong things.
⢠Market Chipping Door: Your stepmother canât know youâre here. Write 849 words, which is how many times in the past month sheâs ignored your opinion.
⢠What the Frick Frackleâs Behind That Door, Howl?: Death. Death and destruction. Death, destruction, and Secret Wales. Write to the next multiple of 3000.
Howl doesnât want you to clean anything. The filth is his friend. He loves the spiders. You think heâs a sick jerk. Sprint to 350.
The girl who bought the mushroom hat has run off with a countâlike you with your word count. Write for 20 minutes without using be verbs. If you chose the mushroom hat earlier, you may skip this step.
Calcifer and Michael tell you about Howlâs romantic exploits. Heâll start courting a girl, and then heâll get bored with her as soon as she returns his affections. Calcifer then goes into Howlâs beauty routine, and he uses more products on his face than you do. Howl rushes downstairs from the bathroom and yells at you for organising his bathroom supplies, because now his hair is ginger. He calls upon the spirits of darkness. Sprint for 15 minutes while you try to fix this.
When Howl is in his right mind, he tells you that heâs in love with Lettie, who is, as you found out earlier, actually Martha. Not your sister, dang it! Plus, thereâs this mad scarecrow following the castle. What luck. Take a leisurely twenty minutes as you make a plan.
But Howl isnât in love with Martha, it turns out. Michael shows up with a cake from the bakery and says that heâs in love with Lettie. Lettie from the cake shop. Youâre so confused. Huh. Howl tells you that heâs weaselled out of finding the lost prince over a piece of cake. You decide to go visit the real Lettie at her magic apprenticeship, and you steal some seven league boots. Write 475 words.
The real Lettie knows that Howl is courting her, and sheâs knows exactly what sheâs doing. Oops. You go home to help Michael with a spell that is suspiciously like John Donneâs âSongâ. Howl is pissed at you for trying to catch a fallen star, just as the poem says. Sprint to 500.
Howl takes you to through the fourth door to Secret Wales. His family is rotten, but he loves them. You track down Miss Angorian, who tells you another part of âSongâ. She makes you feel uneasy, especially when she talks about her missing fiancĂŠ, Ben Sullivan. 10 minute word war!
Howl wants to avoid responsibility, so he sends you to blacken his name. You go to an old teacher and the King of Ingary. Write for an hour.
If you hit the word count, you successfully make Howl seem like a terribly lazy and irresponsible person, which he is. If you donât, you run into the Witch of the Waste and have to double back. Write until youâve doubled what you wrote in the hour.
Youngest: 1000
Middle: 3000
Eldest: 5000
After a brawl in town. The Witch of the Waste has caught up with Howl. He hurriedly forces Calcifer to move the castle, and the red setter that youâve picked up does not like the magic. Calcifer is rooted in this rock-like object when Howl moves him, and moving the castle means more doors!
⢠Market Chipping Door: Youâre back in your childhood home. Write a scene that is inspired by something in your childhood, because write what you know, you know?
⢠The Mansion: Weed killer time! Delete that fluff you wrote out of desperation.
⢠Meadow on the Edge of the Waste: Look at all these flowers, man. So pretty. Put a bouquet of flowers into your next scene.
⢠Secret Wales Door: Howl plays rugby? Oh, er. Okay. Write for six minutes about something about which you know nothing.
Howl starts courting Miss Angorian to avoid looking for the lost prince, and you figure out that Calcifer was once a falling star that Howl caught. The scarecrow wonât leave you alone, and it creeps you out. Do a three digit challenge.
The red setter you picked up is actually a human under a curse. You call him Percival. Percival says the Witch of the Waste had his head on a shelf for a long time. By all accounts, it makes no sense. And then Howl goes to say that he knew you were cursed all along! What the heck? That jerk. Sprint for 20 minutes while you insult him with everything youâve got.
Howl goes out drinking with his Rugby team and comes home, as he so eloquently phrases it, âcone sold stoberâ. The scarecrow catches up with Percival, for whom he has been looking, and says something about missing parts. In his inebriated state, Howl has been tricked by the Witch of the Waste, and she now has Miss Angorian as captive in the Waste. Write 3 percent of your word count.
You go to the Witchâs lair to save Miss Angorian. You dodge some vicious, orange blobs, and the Witch shows you a headless body. She tells you itâs a perfect conglomeration of the bodies of the missing prince and missing Wizard Sullivan. All she needs now is the head of Howl to make the perfect King of Ingary, and the Witch shall be his queen. Do a Fifty Headed Hydra to effectively inform her that sheâs mad, which you do by fighting her with a stick.
Holy crap it worked thank God. Howl shows up, and the two of you figure out not only that Percival is made of body parts of the prince and Sullivan (lol I know) but also that Miss Angorian is a demon working for the Witch. You rush back to the castle to find her squeezing Calciferâattached to Howlâs heartâin her hand. All of the âSongâ spell has come true. You have to break the spell to save Howl and Calcifer. Write until you hit the next checkpoint below.
Youngest: the next 2,000 word checkpoint
Middle: the next 5,000 word checkpoint
Eldest: the next 10,000 word checkpoint
You break the spell and put Howlâs heart back in his chest. Calcifer lives. Howl thinks he has a hangover, and by breaking Howlâs spell, you broke your own. You are your proper age. You should have noticed that the prince and the Wizard Sullivan are their normal selves again, but youâre too focused on how in love with Howl you areâthat jerk. Write for 5 minutes using only polysyllabic words.
Youâre a new kid in school. Yay. sarcasm. Write 100 words as you get ready for school.
You barely get to school before there is an akuma attack! You are very confused at this weird thing that is happening. Write 200 words while Alya explains whatâs going on.
Marinette sneaks out while Mme. Bustier is telling everyone to stay calm. You are very suspicious, and you try to decide whether or not to follow her. Do a 15-minute sprint or word war.
If you get under 400 words, you try to go, but Alya sees you. Write an extra 200 words to convince Alya that you have to go to the restroom.
If you get over 400, you sneak out after her and no one sees you.
In either case, you follow Marinette downstairs and OMG! Marinette says, âSpots onâ and transforms into Ladybug! Youâve heard about her even outside of Paris. She runs outside and you follow her. She swings away on her yoyo and you try to convince a cyclist to let you borrow their bike. Write 100 words as quick as you can!
The cyclist finally relents and you speed after Ladybug. You catch up to her just as she meets up with Chat Noir. Do the three-digit challenge and try to incorporate a pun of some kind, because, you know, itâs Chat Noir. Heâs the pun master.
The akuma is called NaNoWriMonster. Heâs a writer participating in NaNoWriMo and heâs frustrated because his characters keep rebelling. You can relate.
Ladybug and Chat fight with NaNoWriMonster for a few minutes before Ladybug decides to do Lucky Charm. You hear her say âA typewriter? What am I supposed to do with this?â Write 200 words as they try to figure it out.
Ding! A lightbulb goes off in your head. What if⌠you think. To test your theory, you grab a piece of paper and pull your pencil from behind your ear. Write 10 words.
The akuma looks at you, but instead of trying to kill you, he smiles and takes a deep breath, like heâs refreshed. Chat runs towards you. âWhat did you just do?â he demands. Write 30 words to tell him your idea: the monster is calmed down by words!
Ladybug is still trying to figure out the typewriter as she retreats away from the monster. Chat Noir calls her over to you. The three of you run inside a nearby building. You and Chat tell her your idea (another 30 words).
They two of them look really panicked! Neither of them are very good writers. Quickly, you tell them that you are! The are relieved, but Ladybug isnât sure they can rely on you without a little evidence. To prove to them that you are a writer, you rattle off a quick 150 words. While you do this, Ladybug runs off because her earrings are beeping, then she comes right back after feeding Tikki.
They are convinced by your writerly-ness, and the three of you go back out to face the monster. Ladybug hands you the typewriter. Do a ten-minute word war 1 or sprint.
If you get under 500 words: oh no! The monster is still coming! Do another one!
**If you got less than 300 words, keep going until you reach the nearest 100.
**If you got more than 300 words, youâre safe!
If you got over 500 words: yay the monster is super calm now!
Either way, NaNoWriMonster is asleep! Ladybug grabs the akumatized object (a pen) and breaks it. No more evil-doing for you, little akuma! Bye-bye, little butterfly!
Then she yells âMIRACULOUS LADYBUG!â and everything goes back to normal, except for the papers you typed up with the typewriter, which you get to keep as a souvenir. Save your work. Right now. Seriously, save your work.
Ladybug and Chat thank you profusely for helping them. Write 200 words. Bonus: include another pun, because Hawkmoth is definitely doing it too!
Out of curiosity, you decide to follow Chat Noir away from the scene this time, instead of Ladybug. He leads youâŚback to school? Without looking to see if anyone is watching, he de-transforms intoâŚAdrien Agreste?! The famous model?! What you donât realize is that you are now the only person in Paris besides Master Fu who knows both of the superheroesâ identities!
You let out a gasp of surprise. Adrien doesnât seem to notice, but Plagg does. He quickly alerts Adrien. Write 150 words as you promise Adrien that you wonât tell anyone.
The two of you go back into the classroom. Do a 2-minute sprint to make up an excuse for the teacher.
If you get under 100 words, Mme. Bustier is unconvinced. Quick, do it again!
** If you get less than fifty, go to the principalâs office! Luckily, Principal Damocles is easier to convince than Mme. Bustier. You and Adrien go back to the class.
** If you get over fifty, you manage to convince her.
If you get over 100 words, youâre fine.
** optional mini game break! **
Go watch an episode of Miraculous. Pay attention to the plot! Now write stuff according to these criteria:
Who caused the akuma?
** If Chloe causes the akuma, 50 words.
** If it was Marinette, Alya, Adrien, or Nino, 100 words.
** Anyone else in the class or parents of students, 150 words
** Anyone else, or more than one person caused it, 200 words
Who is the akuma?
** Someone in the class, 100
** Someone outside of the class that isnât an adult, 200
** Adults, 300
Miraculous time!
** If they use Lucky Charm and Cataclysm, 100
** Only Lucky Charm, 50
** Lucky Charm more than once, 200
** Cataclysm more than once, 250
If you like Chat Noir better, write 100 words. If Ladybug, write 150. If undecided, write 200.
