So yesterday I managed to update Roses in Rain. I was pleased with myself, but also vaguely depressed because I haven't updated anything all year up until now and I didn't rate my chances of keeping it up.

Today I remembered Write or Die.

If you're a writer with a procrastination problem, you probably need this program. I bought the desktop client with birthday money and fired it up about an hour back. And it works. If it can get me writing again, it can probably do it for anybody.

There's an Internet application as well for anyone who'd just like to try the thing without the commitment. I plumped for the desktop version for two reasons: firstly, the Internet is the primary source of distraction for me and with a web application I can't very easily take the first and most important step toward concentrating on my writing namely closing my fucking browser and, secondly and more importantly, I am (was?) just that desperate to actually get some writing done without any distractions for once.

This program managed to get over 1000 words of fiction out of me in under an hour. That's better productivity than I've managed alone all year.

Of course, it goes without saying that you should, uh, probably edit whatever you've written afterward - I know I'm going to. Nothing produced that quickly without any real reflection is as good as it could be with a bit of polishing. Still, at least this way I'm actually going to have something new there to edit, and that makes all the difference. That's definitely worth $10 to me.