Writing Ladder is focus training for writers. Start small, stay consistent, and climb your way to longer writing sessions, one rung at a time.
14-day free trial. No credit card to start. iPhone, Android and web.
Ready to climb?
No complicated setup, no productivity philosophy to learn. Open the app and write.
Tell us how long you can currently write in one sitting. We start you just below that, so your first session is a win rather than a wall.
Write until the timer ends, even if you stop mid-sentence. Then get up and move for five minutes. Log your words and capture any idea you don't want to lose.
When a level starts feeling easy, move up. You decide when, and you never move back down. Progress is permanent.
Most focus apps hand you a 25-minute timer and assume you can already concentrate. If you can't, that's not a starting point. It's a wall.
Writing Ladder starts wherever you actually are. Even one minute counts.
Built for writers who want to finish the book, not optimise a productivity system.
A step-by-step training program for writers. Start short, build up, unlock longer sprints.
Distraction-free timers that end on time, so you stop while you still have momentum.
Log your count after each sprint. Watch words per minute climb as your focus grows.
Mid-flow when the bell rings? Dictate the thought on your break. It's waiting next sprint.
Every break gets you on your feet, your way. Optional heart-rate sync with Apple Health.
Build a habit if that motivates you, or switch it off entirely. Stats that only count up.
Voice or text notes after every sprint. A record of how the work actually felt.
iPhone, Android, and a desktop writing pad that stops you at the bell. All synced.
They outperform marathon writing, and the research has been clear about it for decades.
Academics writing in brief daily sessions and logging their output produced roughly nine times the pages of those who wrote in long, occasional bursts. (Boice, 1989)
A meta-analysis of 22 studies found short breaks significantly increase vigour and reduce fatigue, with bigger gains on creative work. (Albulescu et al., 2022)
Brief activity breaks during prolonged sitting preserved attention and self-reported energy that otherwise declined over hours. (SITLess trial, 2025)
Writing Ladder combines established findings into one program. It has not been clinically trialled as a protocol, and we won't pretend otherwise.
Full access from day one. No credit card to start, and cancel any time before the trial ends.
Flexible, cancel whenever.
Billed once a year.
Cancel any time. Prices in USD.
Stop anyway. That's the point. Finishing mid-sentence leaves an open loop that makes the next sprint far easier to start. And you won't lose the thought: dictate it into your break note while you're moving, and it's waiting for you when you sit back down.
For someone who currently writes nothing, one minute is the difference between zero and started, and it compounds. The research on brief, regular sessions is unambiguous: consistency beats intensity, by a wide margin. You won't stay at one minute for long.
No. Writing Ladder works alongside Scrivener, Word, Google Docs, or a notebook. You just log your word count after each sprint. Pro also includes a desktop writing pad that counts live and stops you at the bell, if you'd rather write in one place.
Move however works for your body and your space. We never prescribe specific exercises, chair stretches, a walk to the kettle, or a full workout all count equally. The only rule is getting away from the keyboard.
Nothing bad. Your level is permanent. You never get demoted for taking time off. Streaks are entirely optional and can be switched off, and every other stat only counts upward.
Both, eventually, but consistency comes first. As you climb, more of each hour becomes writing time, and your words-per-minute trend becomes visible in your stats. That trend is also what tells you when a level has stopped challenging you.
That's all it takes to start. Build from there at whatever pace your life allows.
Start your first sprint14-day free trial. No credit card to start. iPhone, Android and web.