Word crawl/Hamilton Word Crawl

By willowe, posted on 4 November 2015

I wrote this for my own use, but after seeing the Hamilton-themed prompts one the @NaNoWordSprints twitter I thought a few of you might get some enjoyment out of this as well.

Most of the goals tend to be 5-15 minute, or 200-750 word, sprints. And with 46 songs this probably isn't something you can get done in one sitting. (But I will be thoroughly impressed if anyone does!)

Act I

Alexander Hamilton: Put a pencil to your temple, connect it to your brain. Write 500 words to inspire your neighbors to take up a collection to send you to the mainland.

Aaron Burr, Sir: Talk less. Smile more. And write more. Do a 15-minute sprint.

My Shot: Don’t throw away your shot. Sprint to the nearest thousand.

The Story of Tonight: Raise a glass to freedom! Take a break, and write 150 words.

The Schuyler Sisters: Work! Work! Do a 3-digit sprint.

Farmer Refuted: Oh my god, tear this dude apart – in a 5-minute word war.

You’ll Be Back: Write 200 words to stop George from sending a fully-armed battalion to remind you of his love.

Right Hand Man: Rise up! Even if you’re working with a third of what our Congress has promised, you can still sprint 3% of your current word count.

A Winter’s Ball: Hamilton may want to fight, not write, but you still have a novel to finish. Write 250 words.

Helpless: One week later and you’re writing a letter nightly. So get tonight’s letter (or word count) done in a 10-minute sprint.

Satisfied: You will never be satisfied… with the word count from the last challenge. Don’t be “helpless”- write twice as much as you just wrote.

The Story of Tonight (reprise): Raise a glass to freedom- something you will never see again! At least, not for the rest of the month. Take a break, have a drink. We’ll see you on the other side of the war.

Wait For It: Are you willing to wait for it? Or do you exhibit no restraint? Listen to the song, and either take another break or write until it’s over.

Stay Alive: Outrun, outlast. Hit ‘em quick, get out fast. Do three rounds of 100-word sprints.

Ten Duel Commandments: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine- It’s time for a #1k1hr!

Meet Me Inside: Write 500 words. That’s an order, from your commander.

That Would Be Enough: We don’t need a legacy. We don’t need money. But you do have to write. Do a 5-minute sprint. That would be enough.

Guns and Ships: And so the balance shifts! If you can rap this, take a break from the writing and rattle off these verses. If you can’t, write 200 words (the approximate words-per-minute of this song).

History Has Its Eyes On You: I know that we can win. I know that greatness lies in you. So write 750 words.

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down): Through the night, we have one shot to live another day. Fight that Fifty Headed Hydra!

What Comes Next?: Wow. Do you have a clue what happens now? Finish out your current scene and figure that out.

Dear Theodosia: Do whatever it takes. Make a million mistakes. Just write 300 words without deleting.

Non-Stop: How do you write every second you’re alive? How do you write like you need it to survive? Write non-stop in a 1-hour sprint.

Act II

What’d I Miss?: You have your first cabinet meeting today. Use a ten-minute sprint to think of something to say.

Cabinet Battle #1: Are you ready for a cabinet meeting? Do a 15-minute word war to determine the victor in today’s debate!

Take A Break: You want to take a break… but there’s just so much on your plate! You can’t stop until you get your plan through Congress, so write for the duration of the song.

Say No To This: Haven’t slept in a week? Are you weak, in need of a break? Say “no” to the temptation to stop and write 250 words.

The Room Where It Happens: When you got skin in the game, you stay in the game. But you don’t get a win unless you play in the game. So write 1000 words now, because you’ll get nothing if you wait for it (wait for it, wait!)

Schuyler Defeated: Will you change things up to seize the opportunity you saw? Change plot direction, introduce a new character, or start a new scene. Or keep your political loyalties and do two rounds of a 250-word sprint instead.

Cabinet Battle #2: France is on the verge of war with England. Do a 3-digit sprint to convince Washington to draft a statement of neutrality.

Washington on Your Side: Every action has it’s equal, opposite reactions. Do another #1k1hr, and try not to crack under the stress.

One Last Time: Relax, have a drink. Let’s take a break tonight. Pick up your pen and keep writing later.

I Know Him: Ocean’s rise, empires fall, and you need to write 150 words.

The Adams Administration: As long as you hold a pen, you’re a threat. Tackle another Fifty Headed Hydra to hold your own against the new administration.

We Know: Even if you may have mortally wounded your prospects, your papers are orderly. If they aren’t, take 10 minutes to tidy up the loose ends in this scene.

Hurricane: You’ll write your way out, write everything down far as you can see. Do a 30-minute sprint.

The Reynolds Pamphlet: Use a Random Number Generator to pick a number between 1 and 10. Multiply that number by 95 (the number of pages in the Reynolds Pamphlet) and write that many words. Now you’ll have one less thing to worry about (one less thing to worry about).

Burn: Eliza may be burning the letters she wrote, but you can’t do the same. Write 300 words without deleting a thing.

Blow Us All Away: Be smart. Make me proud. Sprint for 20 minutes, and blow us all away!

Stay Alive – Reprise: Are you doing to survive this [month]? Write 700 words.

It’s Quiet Uptown: I don’t pretend to know the challenges you’re facing. But if you aren’t crying too hard listening to this song, sprint for an hour and try to do the unimaginable.

The Election of 1800: Can we get back to politics? Or at least back to writing? Please? There’s nothing you wouldn’t do, so chase what you want and sprint to the nearest thousand.

Your Obedient Servant: Look back on where you failed- what’s the common thread in every place you’ve checked? Whatever it is, correct it now in a ten-minute sprint.

Best of Wives and Best of Women: You just need to write something down. 150 words should do it.

The World Was Wide Enough: What is a legacy? What if this novel is your legacy? Better finish it then. Sprint 3% of your current word count.

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: You have no control who lives, who dies, who tells your story. But you can tell the story of your novel. Finish out with an attempt at 3k in 1 hour.

Misc Notes

Some misc. notes and links:

• You don't have to listen to the song as you do each part of the crawl (except in cases where you're writing for the duration of the song), although I tended to put each track on repeat as I worked through that particular challenge.
• Sprints are intended to be done solo, and word wars are intended to go head-to-head with someone. If you don't have a buddy to do word wars with, I'd suggest posting in the relevant timed sprint threads- there's usually someone willing to sprint with you, and even if there's no "winner" just posting about your sprint in the forums breaks up the monotony of endless sprinting by yourself (at least, in my experience).
• Fifty headed hydra is where you try to write 500 words in 5 minutes
• Three digit sprints
• #1k1hr is where you attempt to write 1k words in 1hr
• Sprint 3% of your current word count
• 3k in 1hr challenge
• If you can't complete part of the crawl, feel free to skip after an attempt! I have never managed a successful Fifty-Headed Hydra so I certainly don't repeat those until I'm successful. The way I see it, any attempt on any of these challenges still boosts your word count which is always a good thing!