The Friends & Members of 750 Words

100 cups

Today is my 10-year anniversary of starting to write at 750 Words! Coffee all around! : )

Over these 10 years, I’ve written 1,332,016 words. That fact alone is a huge lesson for me. It is a testament to what I can do with a little bit of (sometimes) consistent effort over time. I’ve only written here 43% of the time for the past 10 years and I still managed to write over a million words. If I had tried to explain that to myself 10 years ago, she would still be laughing.

For the heck of it, I went back to the first entry I ever wrote to see what was going on 10 years ago. I love that I can go back to any entry from the past 10 years and pull it up (and export it for good measure!) Thank you!

I love that I can search 10 years worth of writing for a particular phrase. Not too long ago I did that and found everything I thought would “light me up” for the past 10 years. It was insightful. Again, thank you!

Because I can : ), I’ll leave you with a line from what I wrote 10 years today. The sentiment is as true today as it was then, if not more so.

“It’s feeling like reading about 750words today wasn’t an accident, like it was a piece in this cosmic puzzle I’m living, a big, important edge piece maybe.”

Thank you, Friends! Keep writing : )

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I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how liberating this way of writing is. I’ve been here about 4 months now. I’ve unearthed new depths of honesty with myself, about the way I feel, and about what I truly want. I love data, so getting to see things like how many words I’ve written, where my mind is at, what my thematic key words are- it all gives me an insight that doesn’t come when I do my annual reading of all my journal entries for the year. Plus being able to tag my writing and then do keyword searches has helped me learn how my thoughts have changed over time; likewise I might think I’ve been stuck on something but then a search tells me how much movement there has been. This writing practice has been a great anchor for me, and I’m excited to see where it takes me.

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Does anyone have any tips for how to write in a “Certain” manner? I am “Uncertain” almost every single day. I wonder if contributing factors are questions marks, and the word “maybe.”

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I love this site. 52 days and going strong!
I still need to have some kind of contingency plan in place in case I miss a day, as I don’t want to beat myself up about it.
I never thought I would be in a position where I was enjoying writing again and writing regularly without having to grapple with the incessant inner critic telling me that it’s not good enough.
Thank you 750words.com!

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It would help me to write ‘on the go’ if ideas come to mind and then I could revisit them later.

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Writing is the first thing I do every morning. It’s like a form of meditation for me. Doing this one thing every morning clears the mind of clutter and sets the tone for the rest of the day.

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It’s been very here cold with subzero temperatures at night so I decided it would be a good week to challenge myself to reach for the penguin badge. After all penguins are cold weather birds. I arrived at that at few days ago. Tonight we’ll see -20 F, and then a warm up will begin. That inspires me to aim for a flamingo! I enjoy the badges more than I thought would and I’m grateful to be journaling daily. Thanks!

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If you asked me to name the most romantic species of bird I could think of, I can promise my mind wouldn’t go immediately to the rooster. (Actually, now that I’ve posed it, I’m low-key wondering what the answer to that question is. The loon? The turtledove? The swan, maybe? Thoughts, anyone?)

Regardless, I was so, SO excited to see a bright red rooster appear like a vision in my collection of badges this Valentine’s Day morning, looking more cheerful and full of zeal than anything has a right to before nine in the morning. (ANY morning, mind you, Valentine’s Day aside.) In case it wasn’t clear as glass by now, let me assure you: I am NOT an early morning writer. Never have been. Never, EVER will be. In college, I would happily stay up until half past three in the morning making an essay pretty if it meant I didn’t have to set my alarm for six AM to tackle the same task. (Yes, yes, I know – my logic was a little flawed. But such was my thought process back then.) I’ve been steadily nabbing the badges that 750 Words loves to torment and prod us with, though, one at a time – and I wanted that freaking overly cheerful rooster. Fiercely. I’d gotten the Night Bat without even breaking a sweat. Nocturnal writing comes naturally to me, and while I was very happy to have it, I didn’t have to stretch for that particular winged creature. The Night Bat came when I whistled for him and landed contentedly in my open palm, munching a piece of fruit.

The Early Bird, on the other hand, has been taunting me since I first started writing my pages here. I came close a number of times, within a couple of early mornings of success – only to drift back to sleep for “five more minutes” or stare blearily at the blinking cursor for just a few minutes too long. I would let the idea go for a while in pursuit of other things, then drift back to it, annoyed and frustrated that this badge stayed just out of my reach.

Well, early this Sunday morning I am delighted to say I have FINALLY bagged that stupid rooster. He’s mine. MINE!! He will mock me no more! No, he’s no Flying Squirrel, no Great Gryphon. A long way from either of those giants, but I’ve been snatching at his tail feathers for a very long time nevertheless. Small though the accomplishment is, seeing that rooster appear gives me a spark of hope that maybe I CAN wrangle that Pterodactyl I’ve got my eye on next. Maybe I can lasso a Pegasus, snare myself a Space Bird. Who knows – maybe one day I’ll get to ride a Gryphon. If I give up tomorrow because it’s hard, because I’m too tired, because I don’t think I’ve got the words in me, because I’d rather drown all of my doubts in a movie or novel someone else has sweated and worried over, I’ll never know what I’ve got in me, will I? And neither will you, if you’re still reading this far.

Keep going, you guys. No, seriously. Go. Type. Outline. Ramble. Do one more character sketch. Make that grocery list. Whatever it is you’re doing. Keep reaching for that next writing goal dancing just in front of you, and the next, and the next, whatever your personal reasons for showing up in this wonderful space every day. Trust that those reasons are valid and your time doing these words will be worth it. Trust that they matter. I know how hard it is some days to believe you have something worthwhile to say, or that you have the ability to say it well. Show up anyway, put your fingers on the keyboard anyway, because that spiteful little voice is full of lies, and its only purpose is to hold you back. To keep you from taking creative and personal risks. You are so much more capable than you think. So go prove it, to yourself if no one else.

And happy Valentine’s Day one last time, while I’m thinking of it. There’s so much needless emphasis put on one single kind of love today, and one way of expressing that love. If that’s what you’re celebrating, that’s great. That’s wonderful. But if it’s not, be assured that you also have a vibrant and active community here who loves you dearly and is cheering for you, clicking our keys in solidarity as you add one more X to your row of boxes for the month. Thank you, thank you, to the wonderful people who make that solidarity possible for each one of us.

Now I’m off on a Pterodactyl hunt, and hopefully to manage some actual fiction before bedtime rolls around. Wish me luck, ladies and gentlemen! I’m sending all my love and hope and good fortune with you today, too.

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An app on the phone would make journaling easier because you could post entries straight from your bead. If inspiration struck you in the middle of the night, you could write it all down without having to get out of bed and then go back to sleep.

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I love this site! It is such a great place for brain dumping. Recently I had some issues with my wrist (might have been carpal tunnel syndrome) and I couldn’t write for a few weeks. I could just feel the clutter piling up in my brain, which had been so neat and organized after using this website for nearly a year. Today was my first time in a while doing the brain dump exercise, and I feel so much calmer already. Thank you Buster and Kellianne for maintaining this site!

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Today, amid sadness, strife and ongoing uncertainty I did at least one good thing. I hit the 2 million word mark, aptly commemorating the beginning of the year of the ox, a year known for diligence, dependability, strength and determination… so mote it be. On to the next million. Thank you 750 words.

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Intermediate levels between 100 and 200 days, for example.

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italics and bold

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It would be nice to allow italics or bolding, maybe in a little button along the top. I know the point of this site is the simplicity, but I keep running into spots when I need to asterisk instead of using italics. It doesn’t translate onto the word documents I copy/paste onto, so I need to go through them after at italicize. Italics or bolding would be a great non-yelling (ALL CAPS) way to emphasize words.

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I like writing. I enjoy doing it and I like the way I feel after. However, it also takes more effort than going on Youtube or Reddit, so it can be hard to start. It was frustrating to think of writing as one of hobbies in months where I only wrote a few times, if at all. 750 gets me to actually do it. The idea of breaking my streak pulls me to the keyboard, even on days where I don’t feel like it. The goal of reaching 100 000 words makes me want to add more to whatever I’m doing.
On this site, I don’t need to be working on the same one long project (hard to keep up) to keep track of my overall word count. I can work on a different short story every day, or multiple, or add little bits to other longer projects, and still have a record of how much I did. It’s motivating. I just copy and paste whatever I did onto the appropriate word document afterwards.
There’s a lot of ideas swirling around my head, and 99% of them will never ever get written down, because it’s so much effort compared to thinking about them. Thanks to the habit of writing every day, kept in place by this site, a bit more of them will reach paper and not be forgotten. I’ll get more practice, realize my own writing quirks to work around, and have a record of old ideas.

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750 Words has been one of the things that keep me writing every day. I use this platform to launch my daily writing and everything flows from there. I jot down ideas, summarize my plans for the day, and check-in with my state of mind.
In short, 750 words acts as my online journal and I’m happy to have it.
THANK YOU!

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I’m a terrible journaler (sp?), but a techy at heart. 750words has provided me the perfect middle ground of attempting to stay consistent in a journey of self-love, introspection, and overall wellness and healing that has been such an amazing tool in this season of my life.. Thank you for the work you do, and providing ongoing support for this site..

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I procrastinate often, 750Words keeps me on track. I have become dedicated to writing 3 pages everyday. You will never know how grateful I am that you are here. You are the kind, thoughtful supportive parent I never had. There is no harsh judgment, just a gentle, quiet nudge. There is no anger or recrimination, Just being there, quietly yet with gentle strength. You have no idea how much this means to some of us. Thank you. Writing used to be my most feared subject, it has strangely become my favorite.

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With 750 Words, I can start with the simplest recollection of the day or planning out of my day coming up, and then the words just start pouring out, and one thread of an idea for my book — a memoir I am writing — just starts to form. And then there is a torrent of thoughts and meanings that just appear on the page. And that only happens here. There is something unrestricted, yet contained, by this platform that has brought ideas to the surface of my consciousness in a way that no other platform does. So grateful!

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Today is my last day !

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So far it’s a very fun way to look at what I’m writing. I’d love to see some sort of graph over time, too.

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I’d love to see more stats in general, more charts! And maybe an explanation of how you reached the conclusions of said analysis.

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I’ve been using this website since 2016! For the most part I have very consistent. Previously I had been writing morning pages by hand, but this is even better. It’s nice having a digital version around, complete with stats. And if I use the meta tags, I can even track what I’d been doing or feeling that day! I like using this as a way to dump out thoughts on my mind for the day. Will continue to support!

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I’m finally over a 100 day streak, and the habit of remembering to write every day has been incredibly helpful. Actually, I do handwritten morning pages almost every day, so this is my second batch of writing. That’s my excuse when I sometimes forget. But there’s something about it being searchable that really helps me keep track of certain ideas and develop them over time. I LOVE THIS SITE! I tell everyone about it :)

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I’m thinking of a scenario where one would not book time off from writing, would still want to do the daily 750 words, but either because they’re travelling or for whatever reason they do not have a stable connection that would allow them to do so. Let’s say I know I’m going to spend the next two days on a train with no internet connection, or I’m going deep in the jungle, or somewhere where the internet is at the mercy of some mentally unstable dictator who likes to turn it off – I’d still want to keep my daily pages, even if on a word document, which I could then upload the first chance I get. I assume this would have to be based on some honour code, or maybe one could click a button before this situation happens that would allow a bit more flexibility in the uploading of the pages, and it would of course have to do without the stats of words per minute etc. But it would motivate people to keep doing this even when their internet is unstable, rather than losing their writing streak or opting for a time off altogether.

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I just wanted to encourage everyone to keep going as we hit February and sometimes the “NY Resolutions” sorrow kicks in. 750words has been my private respite from a number of things this year, and I love it for that. Keep going!

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This is the best writing place, where I can rant and rave, process my teaching experiences, plan ahead for portions of my books, and so much more. I love the little bit of pressure to write every day, and usually end up writing out a lot more than I expected to! Writing is good for the soul.

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This site has been the most effective journaling ritual in 40+ years of journal-writing experimentation. Worth every cent. And the bonus features are cool.

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The mobile site seems to be just a tad off. Not sure if building an app for 750words would smooth it out. Really the only thing is the fact my writing seems to run off the bottom of the screen. Maybe I’m doing something wrong.

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750 Words has become an absolutely vital part of my morning routine. Exercise. Coffee. Sit. Write. And it has been instrumental in clearing the decks for the day and birthing new ideas.