The Friends & Members of 750 Words

1 cup

750 Words is a haven for me, where I can gather my thoughts and clear my mind. I have never felt so inspired to write! It brightens my day and gives me something to look forward to, and for that I will always be grateful. Thank you!

3 cups

I would love a way to be able to set aside time for a vacation, by which I mean time that you intend to keep writing your 750 words a day, but will be without internet and don’t want to lose your streak. Basically, you would set aside the time in advance by marking the dates (just like you would at a job—prevents anyone from popping in a ‘vacation day’ anytime they forgot a day) and then enter your words. Since the distraction and time taken stats wouldn’t be valid for this (especially if you just copy/paste your words), they wouldn’t be counted for your vacation days, but if you still met your 750 words each day, your streak would be reinstated!

1 cup

This was tough, the iPhone app was calling my name, but the thing that drives me is getting a badge. It’s a long time between Albatross and Phoenix, there must be something else that could be rewarded with a badge. A badger badge for predominantly grumpy writing? An elephant for posts mostly about the past? A buddha badge for being in the present? Is there a place to make suggestions?

1 cup

I decided to commit to donating 1 cup of patronage every day that I skip writing for the next little while. I won’t be able to afford it forever, but so far it’s helped me keep up my streaks pretty well! I’d also like to add my voice to the requests for more badges, specifically ones that don’t have to do with streaks, such as writing for at least 90% of the days in a year or something like that. Thanks!

3 cups

I enjoy so much receiving the badges and they are an incentive to write on days that I am dragging my fingers across the keyboard in slow motion! I would love to see badges not only for streaks but also for completing a year of writing (even if you didn’t have a one-year streak). And also more badges for the number of words written.
Thanks Buster for all your efforts and for giving us this forum to offer our suggestions!
—Vicky :o)

1 cup

I think it would be good to release an app that will allow you to get your words in daily, and report back to 750words.com servers when you get internet access next as to what amounts (and stats, etc) you wrote since you logged in last.

I spend about three weeks a year staying in a place with little to no internet access, and therefore there’s no way that I can keep a streak going over that span.

1 cup

I want a badge for a 365-day streak, as I’m about to (hopefully) reach mine!

4 cups

OVERVIEW: Daily writing would be saved to the user’s Dropbox to serve as an archive and backup of their work.

INITIAL SETUP: The user could link their 750 Words account to their Dropbox using the latter’s authorization API. // The user would then select an existing folder in their Dropbox, or choose to have 750 Words create a folder, in which their daily writing would be stored. // At this time, the user could choose to export all previous days’ writing to their newly-linked Dropbox.

ONGOING OPERATION: The feature would require no further interaction or maintenance from the user. // At the end of each day, once the user’s latest writing had been locked from further editing, a file named with the current date (e.g. ‘2011-04-15.txt’, or perhaps ‘2011-04-15.markdown’) would be uploaded to the user’s Dropbox. // 750 Words could also export to Dropbox with each incremental save, if this would not create undue load on the server. // These files would be for archive/backup purposes only. Changes would not be reflected on 750words.com.

BENEFITS: Search – Users with local tools such as OS X’s Spotlight could easily search their archive of writing. // Portability – Users could export their writing into other journaling software or convert it to alternate formats. // Security – User data would be preserved in the (unlikely) event that 750 Words were to experience data loss or termination of service. // Feature parity – More and more text-based services are allowing users to sync, export, and backup their data to Dropbox. Dropbox export would be an attractive feature for 750 Words newcomers and a welcome addition for existing users.

RECOMMENDATION: The Dropbox API is well-suited for this purpose, and plain text files require very little bandwidth overhead. Implementing automatic export of users’ daily writing to Dropbox will enhance the usefulness of the 750 Words service and provide substantial benefits to users for minimal development cost.

1 cup

Thanks, Buster and all the writers on 750words.com! I love the combination of privacy and community. I come here to vent, know that nobody will read the words I write, and yet am proud whenever I see that Turkey badge by my name. And seeing all those Flamingoes and Phoenixes and others inspires me to keep going.

Buster, would it be possible for us to earn our Turkeys and Penguins more than once? For me it is so difficult to get a streak going, especially as I struggle with fatigue and disability. I’d love to be able to say “well, at least I’ve earned the Penguin twice in the past month” instead of only seeing it appear once up top. :-)

1 cup

I have noticed that in the month that I have been using the website, I have a more balanced attitude toward life, that I don’t feel so overwhelmed by my circumstance. As Ortega said “yo soy yo y mi circunstancia” — “I am myself and my circumstance” and with 750 words a day, I am able to better understand how that circumstance (be it personal, political, social, or cultural) affects the way that I am behaving in this world. My work ethic has improved, my follow-through is much better, and my self-esteem is solid. I feel a little guilty that my focus is always on the “I” but I think that in purging all the “me-stuff” I am better able to give back to the community that nurtures me. Thanks for the pick-me up… I’m sure my circumstance thanks you too, since I’ve stopped whining to those around me!

1 cup

i’ve never been much of a writer, have never blogged, have a twitter account but usually only read the posts of who i’m following, not required to write much for my job, wrote papers in college but have already graduated, you can see where this is going. however, once a couple of my friends showed me this website ( 750words.com ), i was intrigued and eager to try my hand at it.

needless to say, this website has had much positive effects on me. it’s become a semi – ritual, or pattern, to keep logging daily. the badges are little incentives to keep going, and i’ve even noticed my writing skills improving as time goes on.

i recently read one of the first posts i had written, and can see vast improvement in not only grammar, but subject matter as well. i know no one reads the posts but myself, but it’s a nice sense of gratification when i see that i’m improving.

it’s also become a stress reliever and almost theraputic time for when when i log. i just received my phoenix badge for 100 straight days, and i’m looking forward to hitting the 100,000 word count, which should be within the next week or 2, i’m hoping.

thank you 750words.com for providing a simple venue for people like to me to be inspired and motivated, not only to write, but to have positive results in more ways that one!!

5 cups

I got so completely sidetracked with school worries and my physical children that I missed a day. I did finish the March challenge though, so I am proud of myself for that and since my missed day, I am back to being a turkey. On to the albatross and beyond!
The ability to write in an unreserved way, every day, about whatever I need to work through, is priceless.

10 cups

After many months of writing, I hit 100 days and 250,000 words on the same day! I must say I am as proud of those lovely new badges as I am of some other accomplishments – I will graduate with a Master in Divinity next month, and writing here as helped me achieve that goal, for sure. Keep writing, folks – I am encouraged as writer, as a student, as a human being that so many other people are committed to expressing themselves through the written word. And special thanks to Buster for this site, for responding to my panic at times, and for enouraging us all to write, write, write!!

1 cup

I think that it would be great if we could get, say, another hampster every ten days of writing that we do without getting distracted, or another blue horse badge every one month challenge that we complete. That would be wonderfull. Thanks for the site, Buster!

7 cups

In sickness and in health, in nights and in days, on iphones and laptops, home and away – I never thought I’d be able to write every day for 100 days in a row, but apparently I could. Thank you, Buster, for letting me learn that about myself!

4 cups

That’s it, the 100 days are done. Celebrating that, I raise four of those lovely cups to 826 Seattle, keep up the good work!

5 cups

Focus. Clarity. Inspiration. Is it the coffee, or the daily writing? Or a glorious synergy?
Whatever it is, its all good. Keep it up.

5 cups

I have been writing on this site for over a year now. It has helped me grow as a writer and as a human being. I didn’t realize how much it helps to get your thoughts down on paper on a daily basis. I had worked very diligently to get all the way up to pterodactyl and then in a single, very busy, day I blew it. It was 12:30am before I realized that I hadn’t written my words that day. I won’t lie. I was angry with myself. I was upset. But I got up the next morning and wrote my words like nothing happened. I am back to flamingo now and I will be back to pterodactyl before I know it. Thanks, Buster. This is a great site.

1 cup

Allow people to get a badge of some kind for writing on four consecutive weekends. That will help those of us who really can only write on weekends as their jobs require too much writing and keyboarding to add a half hour or so every day. (According to my physiotherapist I am already doing too much keying during the week!)

1 cup

I find the discipline helpful. I was skeptical at first but there is a pleasant rhythm in working towards 750 words a day. I can only do this on weekends as I spend too much of my work time at my desk writing on my computer during the work week, but I really appreciate the time to reflect on weekends.