Writing Sprints and Reminders

A sprint is a timed stretch of writing, with a word goal if you like.

Starting a sprint

Choose the timer under the page, choose how long, and type a word goal if you want one. On the Mac you can also choose Project ▸ Start Writing Sprint… (⌃⌘T), which becomes Finish Sprint Now while a sprint runs. You can start one with Shortcuts or Siri too ("Start a Five Rooms sprint").

While it runs, the line under the page shows the time left and your words so far; in composition mode it's on the bottom line. Choose it to see your goal, finish early or discard the sprint.

When time's up, Five Rooms shows what you wrote. If it's in the background, you get a notification (if you allow them).

Honest counts

Words you write and words you cut are counted separately, so an hour of rewriting shows as work rather than as nothing. Library ▸ All statistics ▸ This session shows this session's words written and cut beside the net count. Only the manuscript counts (or all your text, if you turned that on in Targets).

Your sprints

Library ▸ All statistics ▸ Sprints lists your recent sprints with your average and best rate in words a minute. Sprints shorter than five minutes don't count as a best. Sprints are kept on this device.

Daily reminder

In Library ▸ All statistics ▸ Targets, turn on Remind me to write each day at and choose a time. The reminder mentions your session target if you've set one. It's set separately on each device.