We are blazing through National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! Unfortunately, I am NOT blazing through my actual manuscript and am, in fact, about 20,000 words away from par. Word crawls are pretty helpful tools to boost word count, so I decided to procrastinate on my novel writing and write a word crawl instead! (Hmm, should I count the word crawl words themselves towards my NaNoWriMo goal? I don’t think it really counts…)
The forums at NaNoWriMo are down indefinitely (you can head there yourself for the reasoning if you like), so I’m going to post my word crawl here. This is the first one I’ve done, so I would greatly appreciate feedback. It’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons-themed, and I hope you love it!
If you aren’t familiar with word crawls, they are little stories with writing goals mixed in. You can play along at your own pace as there is no time limit here (some word crawls DO have time limits). Go through the scenario, follow the instructions, and you should come out at the end with a decent chunk of new writing. I’d love to hear what options you picked, especially how you spent your Nook Miles at the end.
Now without further ado, here’s the word crawl. Writing tasks are bolded. Happy writing!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Word Crawl
Thank you for letting me visit your beautiful island with a Dodo Code. Write for 5 minutes while you give me the grand tour.
Now that you’re done with the grand tour, I want to recap a little bit. But first, how many words did you write during the tour?
- 0-50: 100 Nook Miles
- 51-100: 150 Nook Miles
- 101-200: 200 Nook Miles
- 201-300: 300 Nook Miles
- 301+: 350 Nook Miles
Wait, you ask. What do I use Nook Miles for? Great question! You’ll use your Nook Miles to make choices, get bonuses, select activities, etc. To see what I mean, check this out:
Something looks delicious! What’s your native fruit? Pick one.
- Peaches – redeem 20 Nook Miles
- Oranges – redeem 20 Nook Miles
- Cherries – redeem 20 Nook Miles
- Pears – redeem 20 Nook Miles
- Apples – redeem 20 Nook Miles
Those options all have the same value, but sometimes, different options will have different Nook Mile requirements. These values are based on my personal and highly arbitrary opinions. Like this:
Something smells amazing! What’s your native flower? Pick one.
- Cosmos – redeem 50 Nook Miles
- Hyacinths – redeem 75 Nook Miles
- Lilies – redeem 50 Nook Miles
- Mums – redeem 40 Nook Miles
- Pansies – redeem 30 Nook Miles
- Roses – No cost! Have some roses!
- Tulips – Redeem 50 Nook Miles
- Windflowers – redeem 30 Nook Miles
Now that we have that down, who were your original villagers? A shout-out to my ACNH group online who gave me some of their favorites to build this list. Pick two.
- Apollo (eagle, cranky personality, catchphrase is “pah”)
- Audie (wolf, peppy personality, catchphrase is “foxtrot”)
- Beardo (bear, smug personality, catchphrase is “whiskers”)
- Bree (mouse, snooty personality, catchphrase is “cheeseball”)
- Cherry (dog, sisterly personality, catchphrase is “what what”)
- Cousteau (frog, jock personality, catchphrase is “oui oui”)
- Fauna (deer, normal personality, catchphrase is “dearie”)
- Julian (unicorn, smug personality, catchphrase is “glitter”)
- Molly (duck, normal personality, catchphrase is “quackidee”)
- Nibbles (squirrel, peppy personality, catchphrase is “niblet”)
- Octavian (octopus, cranky personality, catchphrase is “sucker”)
- Punchy (cat, lazy personality, catchphrase is “mrmpht”)
- Roald (penguin, jock personality, catchphrase is “b-b-buddy”)
- Shari (monkey, sisterly personality, catchphrase is “cheeky”)
- Sherb (goat, lazy personality, catchphrase is “bawwww”)
- Soleil (hamster, snooty personality, catchphrase is “tarnation”)
Nice choices! Now write for 5 minutes, and let your writing be inspired by your villagers. Will you use their species, personality trait, or catchphrase to drive your writing? Go go go!
You are doing wonderfully! How many words did you get this time?
- 0-50: 100 Nook Miles
- 51-100: 150 Nook Miles
- 101-200: 200 Nook Miles
- 201-300: 300 Nook Miles
- 301+: 350 Nook Miles
I love your island so much, and you picked the perfect name for it. Now let’s really get started. Will you walk me through a perfect day here? (Pick at least 3 activities, but feel free to pick more!) Each activity gives you a chance to write AND a chance to earn Nook Miles, yes yes. After you’ve done your activities, see what rewards you can get with your Nook Miles!
Activity Options (each activity has a different color for a background, so they’re easier to keep separate – at least, for me):
- Visit the museum
- Boost the island economy
- Access Resident Services
- Do Some Grounds-Keeping
- Go Fishing
- Travel a Bit
- Use Your Terraforming Permits
- Try Your Hand at Creating Something
- Check the Mail
1. VISIT THE MUSEUM
Let’s check out your museum, and say hello to Blathers. What will we look at while we’re here? Pick one.
- The Art Gallery – write for 2 minutes while you contemplate how the details are… very detailed.
- The Aquarium – write 250 words as you admire the graceful whale shark.
- The Fossil Collection – write for 5 minutes while you experience the majesty of dinosaur skeletons and the noble Australopith.
- The Bug Exhibit – write 150 words while you appreciate your chitinous patrons.
- Nothing, but we’re totally going to show Blathers a bug and see what happens – write for 3 minutes while poor Blathers has an anxiety attack.
While we’re here at the museum, let’s get some coffee from The Roost. Do you want pigeon milk in that? Pick one.
- Yes, please – earn 100 Nook Miles for the smooth taste and texture.
- Ew, no! – earn 50 Nook Miles for the caffeine, but you don’t get any more because poor Brewster probably worked hard to produce that milk for you.
2. BOOST THE ISLAND’S ECONOMY
This is so much fun! Let’s go shopping at your fine establishments. Where are we going? Pick one.
- Buy a new shirt from Able Sisters – write for 3 minutes while you decide on the best color option.
- Pick up a new piece of furniture from Nook’s Cranny – write 150 words while you decide – but here, there are limited supplies available!
- Order a wetsuit from the online store – write for 5 minutes while your order processes (but you’ll still have to wait until tomorrow before the wetsuit shows up in your mailbox).
- Use Nook Miles to buy a carnival ride – write 200 words while you decide between a Ferris wheel and a tea cup ride.
Now, do you have anything to sell to Timmy and Tommy? Pick one. …one.
- A duplicate clothing item you accidentally bought the other day – earn 50 Nook Miles
- Today’s hot item – earn 100 Nook Miles (a fortune!)
- A bunch of turnips at a massive profit – earn 150 Nook Miles
3. ACCESS RESIDENT SERVICES
We should swing by Resident Services to visit Tom Nook (scoundrel) and Isabelle (adorable angel we must protect at all costs). What will we do while we’re there? Pick one.
- Complain to Isabelle about a villager – write for 3 minutes while you explain how that villager is using problematic language (that, let’s be real, YOU probably taught them).
- Change the island’s theme song – write 150 words while you adjust the little frog faces (or while you look up what other people have done online which I hope is totally valid because that is absolutely what I did).
- Request layout changes – write for 4 minutes to build a bridge OR write 100 words to build an incline.
- Check the recycle bin – write 50 words to get a holey sock.
- Use the crafting station even though you have a perfectly good one at home – write for 5 minutes while you scroll through your recipes to see what’s currently craftable.
Let’s do just one more thing before we go. Pick one.
- Check your island evals – earn 150 Nook Miles (or 200 Nook Miles if your island is ranked at 5 stars!).
- Make a deposit in the bank – earn 100 Nook Miles.
- Sit in the chair at Tom Nook’s desk to make him put his full coffee cup in his pocket – earn 50 Nook Miles.
4. DO SOME GROUNDS-KEEPING
Daily maintenance of the island is very important. What grounds-keeping chore shall we tackle together? Pick one.
- Clear the beach of shells – write 200 words while you pick up all those sand dollars.
- Pick all the weeds – write for 3 minutes while you run around the island and find them all.
- Shake wasps, sticks, and random furniture out of the trees – write for 5 minutes, but also make sure to never shake a tree without holding your net so the wasps don’t get you right in the face.
- Hit rocks looking for gold nuggets – write 150 words while you sigh in defeat because you only get stone and clay.
Oooh, look! Let’s pop that balloon. What color is it? Pick one.
- Red – earn 100 Nook Miles and a seasonal recipe card.
- Yellow – earn 75 Nook Miles and 5,000 bells.
- Blue – earn 60 Nook Miles and 5 iron nuggets.
- Green – earn 50 Nook Miles and a hot dog hood.
5. GO FISHING
Shall we run around looking for fish silhouettes? Absolutely. What size are you going for? Pick one.
- Small Fry – write 100 words. Of course, mack…erel.
- Big-Time Fish – write for 3 minutes. Yar, it’s a gar! Har har!
- Freestyle! – write for 5 minutes. Do they… not actually bloop?
Oh no! Your pockets are too full for the fish you caught. What will you do? Pick one.
- Throw it back – earn 50 Nook Miles
- Swap it with something in your pack – earn 100 Nook Miles (and tell me what you dropped!)
6. TRAVEL A BIT
I could go for a change of scenery. Let’s go to Dodo Airlines and book a flight. Where to? Pick one.
- Visit Harv’s Island – write for 5 minutes while you get a blessing from Katrina. SELUR PIHSDNEIRF!
- Use a Nook Miles ticket – write 200 words while you catch some bees and chop some trees.
- Visit a friend’s island – write for 3 minutes while you water their flowers and help them get rare colors.
- Sail to a mystery island – write 150 words while Kapp’n sings about cucumbers.
Oh no, one of your tools just broke! Luckily, we can get a flimsy replacement from Kapp’n. What broke? Pick one.
- Colorful net – earn 50 Nook Miles.
- Stone axe – earn 50 Nook Miles.
- Outdoorsy slingshot – earn 50 Nook Miles.
- Printed design shovel – earn 50 Nook Miles.
- Fish fishing rod – earn 100 Nook Miles because it was so cute.
- Elephant watering can – earn 100 Nook Miles because it was also very cute.
7. USE YOUR TERRAFORMING PERMITS
Even though you shouldn’t be terraforming when you have guests, I promise not to tell. So what are we making? And don’t forget to wear your hard hat. Pick one.
- A cliff – write for 3 minutes while you make those edges nice and neat.
- A pit – write 150 words while you figure out what you’ll put down there.
- A waterfall – write for 5 minutes while you listen to the peaceful roar of water.
- A pond – write 200 words while you wait for a goldfish to spawn because they have the prettiest containers.
What else will you do to improve your island’s rating? Pick one.
- Create a dark dirt path – earn 50 Nook Miles.
- Create a terracotta tile path – earn 100 Nook Miles.
- Create a stone path – earn 150 Nook Miles.
- Create a custom design path – earn 200 Nook Miles.
8. TRY YOUR HAND AT CREATING STUFF.
We should make something! Creation is super fun. What are we making? Pick one.
- Cook some pesce all’acqua pazza – write for 3 minutes while you drool over how delicious that’s going to be.
- Cook a barred knifejaw carpaccio – write 100 words, then lament because you could have sold that fish to CJ for some serious bells.
- Craft a glowing moss wreath – write 150 words, then maybe wash your hands reaaaaaaally well.
- Craft a wooden block stereo – write for 5 minutes, then upload all your K.K. Slider tracks!
Let’s customize something while we’re at it. What should we customize? Pick one.
- I want to leave everything as it is – earn 50 Nook Miles because that’s valid.
- Give a baby chair a yellow strawberry variation – earn 100 Nook Miles.
- Turn your inflatable bird ring green – earn 150 Nook Miles.
- Make your ironwood low table teak and black – earn 200 Nook Miles.
- Give your kotatsu a flower pattern – earn 250 Nook Miles.
- Change your Mama bear variation to tweed with a yellow stripe shirt – earn 300 Nook Miles.
- Make your Festivale lamp rainbow – earn 350 Nook Miles.
9. CHECK YOUR MAIL.
Don’t forget to check the mail! The beeping mailbox will remind you. What did you get? Pick one.
- A letter from mom with a cute present – write 150 words while you unwrap your gift.
- A letter from a villager – write for 3 minutes while you try to figure out why they picked THAT card background.
- A package from Nook Stop – write 100 words while you put that item in your house storage for later.
- A letter from a friend – write for 5 minutes while you appreciate how amazing your friends are!
And I just have to know – what mailbox do you have? Pick one.
- The default wooden one – earn 50 Nook Miles.
- A red square one – earn 100 Nook Miles.
- A large blue one – earn 150 Nook Miles.
- A pink ordinary one – earn 200 Nook Miles (because this one is my personal favorite).
Yay, you’ve completed all your activities! Now it’s time to redeem your Nook Miles and see what fun things you’ve discovered on your island today. Let me know what you get.
Let’s look around for today’s visitor. Pick one.
- It’s Daisy Mae! Redeem 0 Nook Miles and recoil in horror at her drippy nose and her highway robbery turnip prices.
- It’s Redd! Redeem 50 Nook Miles and get fake art OR redeem 200 Nook Miles and get something genuine with your cousin’s discount.
- It’s Saharah! Redeem 100 Nook Miles, and buy a mysterious wallpaper that makes your mouth yawn like a beluga whale.
- It’s CJ! Redeem 200 Nook Miles when you complete a seasports challenge. Now go catch anything but a horse mackerel – sorry, chat request.
- It’s Flick! Redeem 250 Nook Miles and commission a sculpture of the noble bell cricket.
- It’s Leif! Redeem 150 Nook Miles and do what makes you happy by purchasing some lovely azalea bush starts.
- It’s Gulliver (or Gullivarr, if you prefer)! Redeem 300 Nook Miles and bonk him in the head with your net until he wakes up.
- It’s KK Slider! Redeem 350 Nook Miles and request your favorite song. (What IS your favorite song? Tell me, tell me!)
Quick, dig up that fossil! What is it? Pick one.
- A coprolite – redeem 0 Nook Miles and sit with the understanding that coprolite is a fossilized turd.
- An ophthalmo torso – redeem 50 Nook Miles and aww, look at how cute it is!
- A dunkleosteus – redeem 100 Nook Miles and set it up somewhere everyone can see because it is seriously rad.
- A left quetzal wing – redeem 200 Nook Miles and be happy that this creature with its 36-foot wingspan isn’t around to eat us today.
- A t-rex skull – redeem 300 Nook Miles and start using its teeth as a size reference because they’re about the same size as a banana.
What was the best fish you caught all day? Pick one.
- A #@*!% sea bass – redeem 0 Nook Miles, and no, it most certainly is NOT a C+.
- A carp – redeem 50 Nook Miles and remember to carpool.
- A bitterling – redeem 100 Nook Miles and be bitter about it, but only a little.
- A piranha – redeem 150 Nook Miles and hope it’s the only one.
- A coelacanth – redeem 200 Nook Miles and enjoy being a coela-CAN!
And now it’s getting dark. I’m getting ready to go back home after this amazing day, but first, what’s happening now? Pick one.
- Aaaaah, a tarantula! Redeem 0 Nook Miles and faint dramatically.
- Wisp is here! Redeem 50 Nook Miles and AAAAAAAH A GHOST
- It’s a clear night with shooting stars! Redeem 100 Nook Miles and make a wish.
- It’s a meteor shower, and Celeste is here! Redeem 150 Nook Miles and get a cool new astrological recipe.
Aww, thanks for spending such a lovely day with me, and I hope you’ll share how the day went. You should come visit my island next.
Leave a comment with details about your day and how many words you got, and remember, feedback is always appreciated!