Have you ever tried a word crawl before?
I first heard about word crawls last year when I was participating in NaNoWriMo, and they have changed my writing process ever since.
Since November is NaNoWriMo season, I figured I would pass along the idea of word crawls. Plus, I wrote out a little word crawl for you guys, inspired by the Spy x Family anime (which is the cutest series ever, by the way).
So let’s get started by answering the question, “What is a word crawl?”
What is a Word Crawl?
A word crawl is a set of writing challenges and word sprints, usually based on a certain theme.
It’s sort of like a choose-your-own-adventure story, as writing challenge.
You can find word crawls on pretty much any theme, like Harry Potter, Marvel, The Hunger Games, or real world settings like a trip to the library.
Word crawls became super popular in the NaNoWriMo community. It’s a great tool for NaNoWriMo, because it helps writing feel like a game. It keeps things a little more interesting than if you sat down and wrote 2,000 words without stopping.
Each word crawl will be a mixture of story and challenges. It might follow a set path, where you go from one challenge to the next, or it might be a choose-your-own-adventure style, where your results determine what happens next.
- When you pick a word crawl, some are longer than others. You can pause the word crawl at any point. Of course, if you’re doing NaNoWriMo, I recommend that you keep going as long as you can and get as much writing done as possible!
Word Crawl Terminology
There are several types of challenges you might find in a word crawl.
Word Sprint
The word sprint is the most basic challenge. Set a timer for the specified time (usually 5, 10, or 15 minutes), and write as many words as you can before the timer runs out.
Alternatively, it might say “sprint to the nearest 1,000.” That just means write as quickly as you can, until your word count reaches the next 1,000. (So if you started with 850 words, keep writing until you hit 1,000. If you start with 2,250, keep writing until you hit 3,000.)
Word Count
These challenges are pretty self-explanatory. The challenge will say something like “write 500 words,” or “write 1,000 words.” Just write that many words.
There’s no time limit on these challenges, but you don’t want to get stuck on it, so try to keep moving quickly.
Word War
A word war is when you face off against another writer and see who writes more words in a specified time frame. For example, you go for 15 minutes, and whoever wrote the most words wins. It’s the same idea as a sprint, but you’re facing off against another writer.
You can find word war opponents on a writing forum, like the NaNoWriMo forum. Different forums have slightly different ways of doing it. And if you can’t find anyone to do a word war with, just do a sprint for the same amount of time instead.
Fifty-Headed Hydra
The fifty headed hydra is the toughest challenge in a word crawl. You’ll usually find it towards the end of a word crawl, or at a point where the story gets intense.
Fifty-headed hydra means to write 500 words in just 5 minutes. Make sure to stretch, drink water, or use the bathroom beforehand, because there’s no stopping the fifty-headed hydra.
Even if you mess up, don’t use the backspace key. Don’t stop to think. Just write as fast as you possibly can for five minutes straight without stopping.
Some of My Favorite Word Crawls
The best place to find word crawls is on the Wikiwrimo website, as well as the NaNoWriMo forums.
My personal favorite word crawls include:
- Bookshelf Crawl. This is a shorter crawl, and it’s also really interactive because the challenges are based off of your real life answers. I recommend this one for your first word crawl, since it’s a good middle-of-the-road crawl. Not too intense, but you will get some writing done. https://www.wikiwrimo.org/wiki/Word_crawl/Bookshelf_Crawl
- Mean Girls Crawl. Mean Girls is one of my favorite movies, and this crawl follows the plot of the movie while mixing in a lot of challenges. It’s a lot of word count focused goals, and it’s longer than other crawls, so you’ll be adding a lot of words to your story! https://www.wikiwrimo.org/wiki/Word_crawl/Mean_Girls_Crawl
- Extreme Harry Potter Word Crawl. This user on NaNoWriMo created seven giant word crawls, one for each year at Hogwarts. The crawls get tougher every year. These word crawls are also on the longer side, but they’re more of a game. You’ll do different challenges based on how well you do. https://www.wikiwrimo.org/wiki/Word_crawl/Extreme_HP_1
- This Ends Soon Crawl. This one is fantastic as well as funny. If you’re panicking about your word count during NaNoWriMo, try this crawl. It’s very fast paced with a lot of word sprints. https://www.wikiwrimo.org/wiki/Word_crawl/This_Ends_Soon_Crawl
Spy x Family Word Crawl
I tried my hand at writing my own word crawl, so I figured I’d share it with you guys. It’s my first time trying one of these, so if it’s a bit rough, I apologize. Hopefully it does its job and helps you get plenty of writing done!
This has a few smaller spoilers for episodes 1-11 of Spy x Family. (No major spoilers, and you don’t need to watch the show before you do the word crawl.)
Twilight gets the mission assignment– he’s part of Operation Strix. He must infiltrate the social circles of the elite, in order to spy on Donovan Desmond and protect peace between east and west. Sprint for 10 minutes while he is briefed on the mission.
Part of Operation Strix is to gain entrance to Eden Academy, the most elite school in the nation. And in order to do that, Twilight needs a child. Write for 5 minutes while Twilight adopts the first child he sees. Then treat yourself to a snack (preferably peanuts).
Twilight’s new daughter, Anya, is a very smart child, but how will he get into Eden Academy without a wife? Family interviews are coming up soon, and they need to look like a perfect family. Thankfully, Anya decides to play matchmaker. Write 400 words while Anya tries to find a wife for her new dad.
Good job– Anya finds Yor, a nice lady who is happy to start a fake marriage to keep the secret police off her tail. But they don’t know that Yor is an assassin, and she just got a new target. At night, Yor must sneak out and assassinate her target. Word war for 15 minutes.
If you won, congratulations! Yor completes her mission, and her newfound family is none the wiser.
If you lost, Twilight catches Yor sneaking inside after midnight with a spot of blood on her dress. Uh oh. Write 250 words as Yor tries to make up a cover story for herself.
Part of Operation Strix is to make sure that Anya becomes friends with Damien, the son of Donovan Desmond. But things aren’t going quite so well. Anya starts off by getting in big trouble with her teachers. Sprint for 10 minutes.
If you wrote less than 400 words during that sprint, Anya receives a tonitrus bolt for bad behavior. Write for 10 more minutes.
Anya is not fitting in well at Eden Academy, and Damien starts bullying her. At home, Twilight tries to convince Anya that she needs to be friends with Damien, but no matter how hard she tries, Anya can’t get Damien to be her friend.
If your story’s word count is less than 25,000, Anya tries to give Damien a gift, and he laughs in her face. Write to the nearest 1,000.
If your story’s word count is over 25,000, Anya is tired of being laughed at, and punches Damien in the face. The professor says that wasn’t very elegant of her, and threatens to give her a tonitrus bolt. Anya must defend herself and explain her side of the story. Roll a dice and write that many hundreds of words.
Oh, what’s that? Anya finds a kid that fell in the swimming pool. He’s drowning. She thinks she might be able to save his life. Put on some intense music and your coolest pair of spy sunglasses while Anya gets ready to save him.
Anya can’t swim too well, but she jumps in to save the drowning boy. Sprint for 10 minutes, quick!
Finally, Anya pulls the boy to the side of the pool, and manages to save his life. Word spreads quickly, and soon enough, the professor at Eden Academy decides to give Anya her very first stella star! Write until you can use the word “star” in a sentence (or 500 words, whichever comes first).
To celebrate, Twilight buys her some peanuts, and Yor makes her a cup of hot cocoa. Write for 5 minutes while you wait for the cocoa to cool.
Anya saved the day. The boy is fine, and the stella star gets her one step closer to saving the world with Operation Strix. Time for a well-deserved night’s rest. Write to the end of the scene, or to the nearest 1,000.
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this year? Do you like word crawls? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back soon with a new post.
