The Friends & Members of 750 Words

1 cup

This site has really helped me find the discipline to write. I’m a little lost for words at the moment and I would normally deal with that withdrawing. A commitment to a daily writing is something that is making me push through it. Thank you a lot 750 words

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Allow a user to alter the minimum word commitment per diem without an option to go below 750 words. So, for example, 1000 or 1500 words completed would greet the user with a green “Congratulations!” Perhaps it could be an option for the One Month Challenge.

1 cup

This site helped me to develop daily disciple in writing. More importantly, It organizes the chatter in my head. I oscillate between multiple writing projects and mostly think about finishing them instead of actually writing.

I recently earned my first 30 day badge of which I am SO proud!!! In this period, I completed a script that lingered since Christmas break and kept a lid on my anxious thoughts about some impending career and life decisions. Thanks to all of you who inspire me with your commitment to daily writing. I am now telling everyone about the site, and I look forward to completing more unfinished projects over the summer months. Only 67 days til my next badge….

1 cup

I have made 750 words a daily habit. Sometimes I journal. Sometimes I write fiction. Sometimes I struggle with “nothing” to say but I always manage to find something deep in my subconscious once I start. I’m closing in on 200 days. I would like to be able to reset all my badges and start over, and more badges would be fun.

4 cups

It is the end of three days of math testing, after last week’s three days of ELA testing (and before next week’s two days of testing in Math and ELA again). I am exhausted, but also I am looking forward to getting back into some good habits of writing for myself. I’m glad that 750 words was waiting for me.

1 cup

I’ve known about this site for such a long time but for whatever reason did not think it was for me. One day not long ago I simply had too many things on my mind, most of which I really couldn’t share with anyone, and I couldn’t square them all away. And then I remembered 750words.

Thank goodness for that. Not only has it given me a positive morning routine that clears my mind and makes my personal thoughts more ready for those with whom I interact, but it made me realize I was thinking about things I didn’t even realize. The process was the catalyst which caused me to reconnect with an old friend. It has been nothing but positive.

And I learned about Bedlam Coffee, a discovery that will be put to good use when I visit Seattle soon!

4 cups

I was 13 days from my 200th day, and one day with a bad plane flight messed up what was then a 187 day streak. That was 50 days ago, and I am a solid 50 days back into my streak (I will get that Pterodactyl! I will! I will!!), with almost 400,000 words. Needless to say, it is great to write daily. Even on days when I am mad at the computer, and mad at Buster’s email reminding me to start writing, by the end of 750 words I am always glad to have written.

Thanks!!!!!

2 cups

Today was my 300th day of writing. Quiet a milestone for me. Sometimes I have no idea of what to write, but it then takes off like it is writing itself. Sometimes that is the best stuff I write. I don’t tend to whine as much as in the beginning even when I am having a bad day (like today). I have written stories about people, incidence in my life, or experiences that I have had, both good and bad. It is sometimes pedestrian, silly yet rarely pretentious and/or profound, but they are my words, my thoughts, my joy and my heartbreak. To say this has not been a wonderful experience or made my life better would be an out and out lie. It has helped me to be disciplined, focused and allowed me to vent or laugh. It has helped me through frustration and allowed me to share my feelings in writing, which is extremely cathartic. I have been unemployed for sixteen months so I am very grateful for this, and I thank Buster for both the format and the daily nudge. I will most certainly continue this through three hundred sixty five days, and then we will take it from there.

3 cups

There are many times that I write simply to get it done and that I want to still be in the running and not break my streak. Like many people, I’ve found myself counting down the words because I’m so tired and I just want it done! And, many times, after writing I would consider myself the dullest person in the world. But every once in a while, I realize that the words are writing me and not the other way around. I discover answers that evaded me throughout the day and I’ve come to realize that I can be my own best guru. This phenomena still astounds me. Recently, a published author said that she does not write what she knows, which is tedious; she writes to discover the unknown, and uses this information to develop her richly complex characters in her books. I think I get what she is saying. Life is more complex and has many layers. I’ve only begun to scratch the surface.

2 cups

I’m hardly a model user of this site. I’ve missed days, slapped up random crap on days when I didn’t want to write, and counted down every 100 words on days when I didn’t have anything to say. I’ve used my daily words to brainstorm for essays or novels, to record what happened during my day, to repeat the same old complaints about my life and my personality. Many days I’ve written, not because I want to, or because I have something to say, or even because I’m dedicated to the site, but just because I can be competitive and I didn’t want my streak to vanish.

But despite that, looking back at what I’ve written since I joined the site, I find things of value. I find a genuine record of my thought process, something I can go back to later to see how I solved a particular problem or how often I’ve felt a certain way. I’ve been using the metadata feature since early January and that’s equally valuable as a shorthand to track things I consider important. Even the days where I literally counted down every 100 words (and those are more common than I’d like to admit) have something to offer, if only as proof that I can take things far too seriously. 750 words lets me, as a dedicated introvert who specializes in overthinking things, get out of my own head a bit and step back. Seeing my thoughts in black and white brings perspective and can act as either a wake up call or an endorsement that I’m moving in the right direction with whatever I’m thinking about.

I might not be the poster child for users here, but the site has made its way into my daily routine and I’m grateful for it.

Also, watching my typing speed increase over time has been delightful.

20 cups

Yesterday after writing for 768 days in a row. I forgot to write!! I realized it this morning after starting my usual routine of writing today. At first I felt disappointed and sad, but then I realized that this site and writing daily is such an integral part of my life – that I just assume that I do it every day and I do not need to think about it. I just do it. So, this morning as usual – I did my writing.

I am back to being an egg after flying high with space birds! The most important thing to me is that I now know I can be very disciplined. I have proven this to myself by writing every day for over 2 years. Writing every day for so long has resulted in amazing changes throughout my life. Thank you 750 words and Buster.

1 cup

Keep it up. You can be more than what you are today.

3 cups

For having done something, something slightly different, in every day, I am a better person. I’m coming up on a two month long streak. What this has done is to enable me to change other areas in my life. Holding on to this makes me pray more, exercise more, and hold myself more accountable. I feel a bit more like I’m living my life instead of just letting it happen to me.

2 cups

Sometimes it’s drivel … just typing those words to stack them up endlessly like old poker chips with no value behind them.

Sometimes it’s a to-do list or complaining about this or that.

Sometimes it’s flying high on a good feeling and wanting to capture every detail so I can remember some day when I need it, like “catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day.”

One day, I tried writing with the radio on … the whole 750 words was song lyrics. I couldn’t help myself!

But then, the month was OVER, and I had DONE IT! I had completed the 750words one-month challenge! And because I had only missed ONE day in January, I was well on my way to yet another badge.

So the next month (March 2012), I dared myself to not only complete another one-month 750words challenge, but to ALSO earn the badge for writing 50,000 words in one month.

The writing got richer. I can’t stack several thousand words a day like meaningless poker chips. I have to say something meaningful sooner or later. And the more meaningful writing I did, the easier it was to do MORE meaningful writing!

I earned that badge for writing 50,000 words in March. I’m back to writing just 750 words every day. I recently earned the badge for a 100-day streak. I’m on day 109 now.

I don’t plan to stop.

If I did, I would miss out on discovering what I have to say!

Good luck with YOUR challenge. For me, it continues to be worth the effort!

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I love getting badges, it’s really encouraging.

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750 Words appeals to my competitive side – I always have to try to beat my last streak, so it really helps spur me on to write and to ensure that I actually sit down and some work instead of slacking off.

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Thanks for the year of writing to clear my mind!

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Day 365! I can’t believe I made it a full year of writing every single day. In the past, I’ve tried to keep a journal. I’ve started with good intentions, writing every night for a week or two or even three. But I never made it past a month of daily writing until 750 Words! The badges got me motivated in the beginning and carried me beyond the six month mark before I knew it. After that, it was the catharsis I got from writing that kept me motivated. Daily writing clears my mind, allows me to sleep better, to organize my thoughts better, and to stay positive in a career that’s filled with Negative Nellie’s. Thank you so much, 750 Words, for my one year of relaxation! I’m hoping to be here for another year, cleaning my mind every day.

1 cup

Breaking all kinds of writing limits I have had in place for years, this is what participating in 750 words has helped me to do… thank you very much for making it possible.

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I started using 750 Words when I was feeling down and realized that part of the reason was that I hadn’t been writing for myself since the new semester of school had started. Once I got back to writing every day, I felt immensely better.

I am currently on my fifty day streak.

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I enjoy the badge system immensely and I’d love to have more of them.

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I got my Pterodactyl today. I have also written over 300,000 words to date too. That’s pretty awesome for me but I now find that after making the effort it isn’t really an effort any more to muster at least 750 words a day its just what I do. I rarely take more than twenty minutes to write the words so it really is worth sticking with it and using it as a personal development tool.

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I just tried to schedule time off because I will be out of the country with very limited internet access for the next month. Alas, the site has informed me that I can only have ten days off. Now, my carefully-preserved streak will be ruined! Please consider adjusting this feature to allow longer break times.

3 cups

I have recently won the Space Bird badge for completing 500 days in a row. Whoo-hoo! Go me! I really love the badges and think that there really NEEDS to be a badge for completing 750 days, don’t you think? It should have Buster’s picture (or caricature) on it. And I predict it will quickly become the most coveted of all the badges. I bow to you, Buster. Thanks for this site. It has made a writer out of me.

1 cup

750 Words is a space to clear the mental clutter, a space to try out new ideas, a space to vent about writing frustrations, and a space to keep a manageable writing commitment. These things don’t occur all at the same time and that’s the beauty of the format – it can be many things for a writer, depending on their needs on a given day. Still working on April’s monthly challenge :)