The Friends & Members of 750 Words

750 Words exists because of mutual good will between the people that run this site (Buster & Kellianne) and the people who use it (you). The site wouldn't exist without the generosity, patience, and humor of everyone involved. For the first 3+ years that the site was running (Dec 2009 to May 2013), the site was free to use but with some encouragement to donate. That served us well (and most importantly, generated enough income to keep the site up), but as the site grew the need for support also grew.

On June 12th 2013, all existing users of the site were given lifetime free accounts (we hope you'll continue to donate when you can). New accounts created after June 12th, 2013 are now required to become members within 30 days after signing up in order to keep writing. Everyone will always have access to previous writings, stats, etc, even if they choose not to become members.

We're listening to your feedback and want to make sure that first and foremost, we offer a friendly and safe place for people to dump their private thoughts. I expect that we'll continue to adjust the way this all works for the near term. Thanks for being an awesome community!

Who runs this site?

Our names are Buster and Kellianne, we live in Berkeley, California with our two sons (Niko and Louie) and this is something we've built and run in our spare time.

Badge.latte<a href="https://750words.com/auth">Sign up or log in</a> to buy Cups of Patronage

Notes of inspiration from members

1 cup

In just the short amount of time that I have been using this website, I have seen incredible improvement in my writing. I actually write everyday now and I am so proud to be able to say that. 750 words gave me the accountability that I needed to be disciplined and get my writing done on a regular basis. Not only has it helped me to get just 750 words done, but it has also inspired me to write everyday on the book that I am writing. I have been able to use pieces I have written for 750 words in my book and I have been able to use 750 words to help clarify ideas that I am trying to convey. I would recommend this website to any aspiring writer. This has changed my world as a writer and I am forever grateful for it.

Testimonial Note from Taya James on Thu, Apr 07
2 cups
Histogram metadata

It would be cool if text-valued metadata could be represented by a histogram. For example, BOOK: Some Book. The horizontal axis would be BOOK, and a new bin would be created for each unique title, eg, Some Book. Then the vertical axis would give the number of times that Some Book was entered into the BOOK metadata. This would show how many days one spends reading their books.

New Feature Request Note from Anonymous on Thu, Apr 07
1 cup
Highest Speed

It would tell you how fast your fastest writing speed is for each entry, based on your fastest minute of writing. It would be easier than trying to guess it from the existing graph. Thank you for considering this feature!

New Feature Request Note from Ellen Keiter on Tue, Apr 05
1 cup

I’m not sure how much this is a testimonial but more of a question….

I’m getting a lot from this, remembering the discipline of Morning Pages when I did it 20 years ago when I wrote pages by hand. And when I watch Julia Cameron’s video, she really emphasizes writing by hand and I see that repeated in the links to her I look up—handwriting over typing. So I went back to writing by hand in a journal and really appreciate the feel. When I am on my computer I can get easily distracted, plus the hard cold computer feels mechanical vs. the the curving of cursive writing with my right hand on warm paper. It feels more organic. And thoughts and my brain move differently.

So I’m left wondering, since reference is made to Julia’s Morning Pages, has she really given her “blessing” on how we do it here because of the basic principle? I like aspects of both and hope to incorporate some of each. It is less tiring to write by hand 3 pages than it is to type 750 words (and I used to be a speedy typist back in the day of typewriters and early word processing computers).

What I’m thinking of is going back to my handwritten journal entry of the morning and start to type it in as a starting point. Perhaps keeping up finishing in 20 minutes will keep me from feeling like I’m spending too much time.

Any thoughts on the matter?

Testimonial Note from Mary Meyer on Sun, Apr 03
1 cup

I joined 750words in 2011/2012 as I begin working on my PhD dissertation. I was going through so much, I stopped using it. In 2013 I returned, eager to finish (and I did! Huzzah!). Without this site, I don’t think I would have completed my degree. Now that I am turning my academic prose into a work of historical fiction, I am back. This is a form of therapy. It is a safe space. It is my space. And yet, I get all the benefits of it being a communal space. This site is a glorious beacon for all of us navigating the treacherous seas of a work-in-progress. Some of us are in large ocean liners, others are on rafts. All of us need the light that 750words provides, to help us get to where we’re going.

Thank you for creating this space. Thank you for letting me return to you time and again. Thank you for continuing to support all kinds of writers and scholars from around the world. It is the simplest of ideas, and the most effective. Thank you.

Testimonial Note from Anouska on Sun, Apr 03
4 cups
An iPhone/iPad app
New Feature Vote from Natalie Hazbun on Sat, Apr 02
3 cups
Backing up all entries in a single file

Would it be possible to implement a feature allowing all entries to be backed up with one click / in a single continuous file? I’m always afraid to skip a month or lose something when I’m backing up – and I’d love to have one whole chronicle of the whole writing history.

As always, thank you for your wonderful work! 750words is a highlight of my day.

New Feature Request Note from egelantier on Sat, Apr 02
2 cups

I have recently been blessed/cursed with the wonderful fulfillment of possibility of two of my most cherished dreams, getting into an MFA program for fiction and a PhD program for literature. And of the programs I applied to, I got into the one that’s most perfect for me in each set. I am so unspeakably elated, but I am also extremely divided. My parents are engineers, and so of course their solution to this problem is for me to make a numerically ranked pro-con list, add up the two sides, and then bam! Math = the answer. However, getting to work through my emotions on each side, over, around, and in between, sorting through intuitions and my heart and what’s at the center of my dreams is something infinitely more precious and important, and that’s what I’ve been able to do with my 750 words. They can be at one moment a celebration and at the next mourning, and then moments of pure logic, or a revelation into something I’ve missed. I’m so grateful for this multiplicity of experience, for a mode of expression which is infinitely more personal, more me – it is a true treasure.

Testimonial Note from Katherine Ball on Fri, Apr 01
1 cup
More badges for accomplishments

More behaviour badges might be fun! Maybe topics you write most about, or the structure of your writing- if you use lots of flowery adjectives, or if it’s very direct and concise language.

New Feature Vote from Rebecca Acceber on Fri, Apr 01
1 cup

750 words has been a fantastic way for me to get ideas out of my head, and into a place where I don’t feel tied to them. It’s been very helpful for thinking through plans and projects, for keeping a daily journal, for everything! I LOVE the badges and analysis of the writing – so motivating and interesting. I’ve recommended the site to loads of people and sing its praises all the time.
Thank you so much for this site!

Testimonial Note from Rebecca Acceber on Fri, Apr 01
1 cup
More badges for accomplishments

More badges! Especially, a way to post the badges on Facebook!
I, and others would love to have bragging rights (especially since I’ll be obtaining the NaNo Badge for 50,000 words / 30 days tonight!) AND this would expose more writers and writer-wannabes to check out 750 Words! Win-win!

New Feature Vote from Ingrid Bouldin on Wed, Mar 30
1 cup

Consistency! Thanks to 750 Words I’ve developed a taste for consistency in showing up to write. I had gotten away from the habit and this little space in the universe have given me the place to fulfill my inclination to write again.

Testimonial Note from Kim Hawkins on Wed, Mar 30
1 cup
Improve the writing page

We can already change the look of the writing page, but I would like to see a day/night feature, to automatically have settings for light and dark situations without having to go through the whole thing. Maybe just an option to set the page to invert? Or have a personal setting that’s like “Invert page colors when writing between TIME RANGE” that would be amazing! Many text heavy sites (such as fanfiction.net) have a day/night feature – just click it and boom! Done.

Thank you!

New Feature Vote from Reidun Saxerud on Wed, Mar 30
1 cup
Night Mode

just a darker contrast in case one writes in the wee hours of the morning, or late hours at night

New Feature Request Note from Alexander Coy Ortiz on Tue, Mar 29
1 cup

About two weeks after the death of my wife of 37 years, help information from the hospital came in the mail.That same day I was able to locate this website and began following hospital advice to journal through grief. It has been been six months now. I sob a lot but also am so grateful God provided a wife and marriage beyond anything I would have ever guessed could be.

Testimonial Note from Fred Faraday on Mon, Mar 28
2 cups

I keep coming back to 750words. I love how it helps to sort things out and clear my mind.

Testimonial Note from Sanne on Mon, Mar 28
1 cup

I’ve taken a break using 750words, but I’m back with renewed interest and an intention to stick to the plan. Looking back upon the time I’ve spent here, it’s pretty obvious of the benefits that resulted. It’s time I take my writing to new levels and I can’t think of a better tool than 750 words to do just that.

Testimonial Note from Richard Blankenship on Mon, Mar 28
1 cup
More text analysis
New Feature Vote from Jose L. Matus on Mon, Mar 28
1 cup
Write how you protect privacy or make offline client

750 words helped me to stick and see how I stick to that habit. But after 3 month of great effect I am also noticed that I afraid of low privacy when I write online. So afraid — that my writing affected by that fear. So I am going offline, writing into Ghost blog (on node.js) under firewall and password. Unfortunately it is unclear to me how 750words.com protects privacy of members and keeps servers secure. Yep — recently developers released https:// but I tried to log in by entering wrong password and there is no even captcha for too many log in attempts.

New Feature Request Note from Daria Space on Sun, Mar 27
1 cup
Togglable word count

For me, I often find that when I’m writing, I get TOO focused on my word count, to the extent that it distracts me from my thoughts. So I feel it would be nice to have a little button on the side of the page that you can click at any time to hide your word count — maybe display “>750” or “<750” instead? Either way, it would get my focus away from the numbers, and back into the words where it belongs.

New Feature Request Note from Giratina on Sat, Mar 26
1 cup
An iPhone/iPad app
New Feature Vote from Max on Sat, Mar 26
7 cups

I love 750 words. I began a few years ago when an instructor tipped me off to the site. A great way to start or end the day! It keeps me writing :) Thank you!

Testimonial Note from Amie Nelson on Fri, Mar 25
1 cup
More text analysis

Better analysis in different languages, e.g. Danish.

New Feature Vote from Troels K on Thu, Mar 24
1 cup
Secure server for writing
New Feature Vote from Nina K on Thu, Mar 24
1 cup

I am so grateful to have been lead to this site to get the things out there, I didn’t realize I needed to release. I just started doing this everyday almost for the past few weeks. I feel so much more at ease with life to release all the stuff I tried to stuff, haha! Thank you so much for having this site available for the masses!

Testimonial Note from Cindy Plehn on Thu, Mar 24
3 cups
A better mobile site

It would be cool to be able to write on my mobile phone or tablet whenever I don’t have access to my computer. Perhaps you could build a mobile app that would get the basic features right, most importantly, not losing/forgetting written words which happened to me before on mobile devices.

New Feature Vote from Zosia on Thu, Mar 24
5 cups
More badges for accomplishments
New Feature Vote from Zosia on Thu, Mar 24
4 cups
Custom challenges

Each user would have an option to define a customized challenge for him or herself, as to the number of words and number of days.
Eg. you want to write 20,000 words in 10 days; so you set a customized challenge for yourself with those two variables: number of words=20,000 in a given number of days=10. Then the system would follow your challenge, check if you succeed and congratulate you and/or reward you with cups of patronage/badges.

Another kind of challenge would consist in writing more words every day for a given number of days, eg. 5 days of writing at least 1500 words per day. If on one day you wrote 900 words, you would still get your cross and keep your streak, but you would fail the challenge.

Also, some of these could become fixed challenges proposed to everyone (perhaps in a new section with optional challenges we could sign up for) and rewarded with a badge.

New Feature Request Note from Zosia on Thu, Mar 24
1 cup

I like to do brain dumps. Meaningless to others, but $5 therapy. I like to collect badges :)

Paying for it means I am more likely to actually write, and I like the tracking system. Thank you 750 words!

Testimonial Note from Christina Oliveri on Thu, Mar 24
1 cup

Like an oddly furred cat, with a strange gait that I followed into the jungle.

Testimonial Note from Eric Dittmar on Wed, Mar 23