750 Words Status

1) How did you learn about 750words.com?

I learnt about 750Words from the Lifehacker.com weblog.

2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling?  Who are you and how do you define yourself?

I am a combination of many things in life, none of which perfected. I am biology major at UBC and a martial arts instructor. I am photography enthusiast and a detail oriented individual. I like to think that I give my thoughts a certain amount of time to fester, and take shape but not so much that everything becomes strategic, and fake. I enjoy the spontaneity of skydiving just as I enjoy planning on a vacation well ahead of time. I love wine, and spirits. I love all food. I could not live without my music on a daily basis, nor without my books. My thoughts tend to be rather scattered outside of 750Words, which is one of the main reasons I am using it in the first place.

3) What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

At some point, I ran out of things to write about that included me and my life. So then, I started to pursue all the subject that I procrastinated about researching and understanding further. I then divided my journal into sections » wings » subjects and wrote about them as time went on where I read, and listened to more ideas on those subjects. So far they have included morality and its origins, religious morality, religion, death, religious philosophy (or lack there of), laws (U.S. supreme court decisions), nutrition: including meats, factory farming, and vegetarianism, disasters such as earth quakes, and lately the BP oil spill, many current events, politics, etc.

4) What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

Well, the badges helped for sure! Even though they are inconsequential, the competitive behaviour within all of us really comes out even when anonymity is practised with whatever it is we’re doing. The fact that today, June 27, I have passed 100,000 words is quite a milestone for me. I have never written that much, in such a small amount of time. It is helping my vocabulary, speech, writing skills, and most of all it is helping me finish thoughts. It is quite difficult for me to start a thought, follow it logically all the way to the end, and end it with some kind of conclusion. This site helps me achieve this by pointing out my errors only a couple of sentences previous.

5) Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

No. There are an endless amount of things to understand before I leave Earth.

6) If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

I) Export previous entries in a better way: the text file is not formatted in any manner or form. I’d be willing to pay for this. Why? At the end of the year, I plan on printing it all, into a book…
II) Allow the user to see who is following them.
III) Allow for the editing for previous entries, maybe up to 50 extra words? There are some entries I’d like to spell check, and some at the beginning where I indented that messes with the formating.

7) Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

It is possible, with school, with multiple jobs and even more responsibilities. Anyone can do this, if they really want to. But the question is, why wouldn’t someone want to better reflect on life, and everything in it, if it helps make the future just a little brighter?

1) How did you learn about 750words.com?

A post on Lifehacker.com.

2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling?  Who are you and how do you define yourself?

I’m a husband, father, motorcyclist, gamer, and software developer in that order. I spend a lot of time trying to sort out what my relationships are all about and how to do this parenting thing. Motorcycles maintain my soul and I don’t mean that in any sort of flip or sarcastic way. I play games. Video games, board games, card games, you name it. As a life long insomniac I’ve also made math equation games to keep myself occupied in that 2am-3am time block. I’m a developer not by plan, but because I’m good at it. Some parts of life just come together.

3) What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

Most of my entries are reflections on the previous day. Most of them are pretty mundane, but occasionally I discover something interesting about myself or my relationships that has been rumbling around in my head undefined.

4) What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

I play a lot of games and keeping my “score” up on 750words became another thing to shoot for once a day. Plus, I like seeing just how fast I can type while composing ideas. Yeah, I’m pretty geeky.

5) Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

Motivation is never a problem, although access is. I was on motorcycle ride through the Rocky Mountains and the only computer I could work on in the mornings was a broken laptop with no battery, a sticking ‘a’ key, and had only an occasional wi-fi connection. Kept it alive, though some how I flaked a week back and stopped my entry 10 words shy of 750.

6) If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

I’ve been tempted to rewrite the entire site as an Android app a few times just so I could handle days when I don’t have an easy net connection. Or maybe some way of taking vacation without blowing the streak.

7) Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

Actually, my laptop burned out this morning and I’ve just gotten home so I need to go get my writing done.

1) How did you learn about 750words.com?

Gina Trapani’s Lifehacker review… me and a few thousand other readers evidently.

2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling?  Who are you and how do you define yourself?

Hmm, other outside interests… I suppose my myriad of interests could best be summed up as an eclectic study of the human condition, trying to figure out how all the pieces fit together.  Been at it for fifty odd years and the surprising answer is… 

3) What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

Super secret stuff (see above) ;-)

4) What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

I love a good challenge and the Phoenix badge is so shiny…

5) Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

Ah there are rumors of even more rare and beautiful badges…

6) If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

More badges!  I love my badges!

7) Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

So many things but to take advantage of this opportunity to address my fellow NaNoWriMo writers: 750 Words is a great way to train for November!  And badges… there are lots of shiny badges… 

And thank you Buster for being extra special awesome!  And please extend my thanks to to your wife and new babe for sharing you with the rest of us!

1) How did you learn about 750words.com? 

I read about your site from lifehacker.com

2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling?  Who are you and how do you define yourself?

I am a game designer living in Thailand, so pretty much my other interest is in games, video, board, cards game you name it. I define myself as the one who keep learning and trying to get more knowledge and be a better designer.

3) What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

I write about my life, my worries, my game ideas, and flush out any stream of thoughts that are bothering me.

4) What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

It is a ritual now, and I can see that it helps me tremendously each day.  I have to start a new day with writing. It keep me in check on what to do and keep priming me with the positivity.  

5) Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

Not at all, it is a habit now.

6) If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

Er.. auto correction? like in MS Word would it be to much to ask hahaha. And 365 days badge!!!!!! I know I can do it :D

7) Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

This is a great site, not just that it proved to me everyday that rewarding theory is working, as I use it when I design my game.  People just keep coming back for a small rewards and the point that it shows to the public, those small little badges, helps a lot! This site also giving me so much and I think I am gradually growing up everyday spiritually and intellectually just for keep writing and talking to myself.

I would also like to add that I am very very much grateful for the site and thank you so much Buster! :D

1) How did you learn about 750words.com?

I read about it on Lifehacker.

2) What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling?  Who are you and how do you define yourself?

I’m a working wife/mom, a hobby photographer/photoblogger, a gardener, a writer, a sparkly nail polish collector and more - to be discovered! I’m still trying to define myself, which is why the journal writing is vitally important to me.  Writing is helping me to test ideas, work through problems and ultimately try to bring out a new and improved me.

3) What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

Everything from the very deep to the incredibly shallow - career issues, the state of my garden, what’s bugging me today, random stories, what makes me happy and what sets me on fire with rage!

4) What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

The discovery process - and the badges!

5) Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

No, there is always something new to either wax rhapsodic or complain bitterly about…

6) If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

Somehow not losing all your hard work if you don’t write all 750 words each day…on day 104 I only wrote 300 words because I wasn’t feeling good and I meant to come back to finish but forgot…the next day when I signed on I was back to the egg and a zero day streak.  I’m still licking my wounds about that one.  Blown streak aside, I intend to continue writing and try to regain the phoenix.

7) Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

I can’t thank Buster enough for developing 750words.com, it is just what I was looking for!

How did you learn about 750words.com?

I first saw a post on Lifehacker (3/3/10) in my feed reader, but didn’t even go have a look at the site. A few days later (3/10/10) a post about 750words from The Stranger came through my feeds, and that’s when I had a look and decided to pursue the practice in earnest.

What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling?  Who are you and how do you define yourself?

I am an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Writing at Ball State University and a fellow with the Emerging Media Initiative. I research writing technologies for a living, and have a deep and abiding interest in the ways that writing work mediates everyday life, especially via our increasingly ubiquitous sociotechnical networks. 

I’m also a husband, father, cyclist, and passionate soccer player and supporter. 

What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

My daily goal is to use 750words.com as a space for research writing. So, that could mean working on a proposal for a conference or publication opportunity, working on part of a manuscript in progress, working on a research protocol, outlining a new project, or thinking through a particular piece of research reading (my daily 750 has inspired me to also institute a practice of reading a minimum of 50 pages of research each day as well, so I have a 50/750 regimen). 

On the whole, I’d say probably 85% of my days so far have been used in this way. The other 15% of the time have been planning sessions—thinking through my to do list for the following day, writing about upcoming projects or project ideas, or generally thinking through something out on the horizon.

In other words, I use 750words exclusively as a space to foment my professional writing practices.

What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

One of the expectations of my position as a college professor at a research institution is that I will publish original scholarship. I get paid to think, as my dissertation director once told me. Having just completed my first year toward tenure, I’ve done well in publishing and want to continue to produce new and meaningful scholarship. But as a writing researcher, I’m profoundly interested in what motivates these kinds of writing contexts; I’m also, as I mentioned above, interested in writing technologies, and 750words, as a writing technology, facilitates certain everyday human practices in novel ways.

In the fall of 2009 I participated in a faculty group that explored ways to improve writing and publishing practices. Many faculty members throw themselves into teaching and administrative commitments and find it difficult to maintain an active publishing record. As part of that group, we read a book called “How to Write A Lot” by Paul Silvia, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. The premise of his book is quite simple: if you want to write a lot (as an academic, that is), then you have to schedule time to write, every week, rain or shine.

The book is brilliant in its simplicity, and having worked in finance for several years before heading back to graduate school, I knew that scheduling time to complete a task was sound advice. I took this advice to heart. Silvia points out lots of specious barriers that keep people from writing, things like waiting for inspiration or holding out for a better writing space. But most academics are producing scholarship, not poetry, and there’s no inspiration that will help one code qualitative data or write a review of extant scholarship. You simply have to sit down and write. Preferably every day.

In the spring of this year, I was asked to facilitate meetings and discussions of Silvia’s book with a new group of faculty members. By that time, I had started with 750words, and I used it as an example of the ways that one could systematically stick to a goal of scheduled writing. 

Again, I see 750words.com as an essential part of my daily workflow. I get paid to write, and 750words.com gives me a mechanism (what I would call an “enabling technology” in a research context) for tracking and completing that daily work.

Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

No, not in the least. At this point, since I’ve logged 115+ days, it’s incredibly motivating to keep the streak alive. I am terrified of starting over!

If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

I’ve actually thought about this; the only thing I’d change is the scoring structure. I’d like to see it differentiate among users better, so that there aren’t 300 people with the same exact score everyday. [buster says, “Yes, I’d like to do this too.”]

Despite the fact that I use 750words for work, I’m extremely competitive and genuinely motivated by my score and my streak. Silly, but psychologically powerful nonetheless.

Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

In my field, we argue that writing is explicitly epistemic; in other words, writing work (however it may be actualized) is intimately related to knowledge—writing can and does help human beings make new knowledge. In that sense, 750words.com is a knowledge making machine. Write to know. Everyday.

How did you learn about 750words.com?

I came over in the mass March 1st sign-up after reading about the site on Lifehacker.

What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?

I have a day job I’ll skip because I don’t think it defines me but it does (well almost) pays the bills. I feel like I’d spent much of my life looking for a suitable creative outlet. These past three years I think I’ve found it in photography.

What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

My entries are heavily weighted to the past orientation. I get my bearings on the now and the future by trying to make sense of what has just happened to me. I usually just write about the day before. If it’s something that was upsetting I try to write it out of my system. I try to put things into perspective in my morning pages. I’ll also spend some time on affirmations. When I’m trying to fill some space to make up my word count I usually spend it congratulating myself on how many days I’ve done my journalling. It’s a little silly but it helps remind me how important this is to me.

What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

I’ve been trying to do Morning Pages on and off since about ‘96. I am a great believer in them even if I do struggle with the actual doing sometimes. I have two little sayings about them. “Three a day keeps the shrink away” recognizing their place in my life as a therapy substitute. The other one is that, “The Truth Lives on Page Three”. This isn’t always the case, but I have discovered some real revelations about myself out past the 500 word mark too many times to ignore it. I keep coming back to the site because it helps me stay motivated to do this one thing that I know works for me.

Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

I got caught up a little bit on the 100 day number. I know that my old record was somewhere around 90 straight days and many of those had been far under the three page number. So when I hit the century mark I admit there was a little bit of a let down. A moment of questioning if this was the really such a big deal. I’ve kept on with it though and I’m happy to do it. But Buster there had better be a pretty cool badge for day 365.

If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

It seems to me that we have a core group of a 150 to 200 writers that write every day. This pretty much breaks having a top 100. I haven’t missed a day since I got my invitation yet each day I can be anywhere between number 12 to number 200. Not much point in that. Keep the same point system but add 1 point for every day in your streak. That will make for a real leader board and a heck of a proud accomplishment for the person on top.

I’m on the fence about an iPhone Application. I like to write on my phone. I had often used my bus and train time to do my journals. Also not having to rely on an internet connection seems like a good idea. And while I would certainly buy such an app I have some reservations. Because I know I have to to my journal in one sitting while connected to the internet I have a much stronger tendency to do it first thing in the morning. I for one find the whole process so much more benificial when I do my pages first thing. If I knew that I was taking the whole thing with me on my phone I might be more tempted to skip the morning part.

Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

I signed up on a lark. I’m a big believer in the 750 word concept but I was totally unsold on the idea of an cloud journal. Besides after years of experimenting with any number of ways of doing my morning pages I was absolutely in love with a full screen MacJournal page with it’s mid page scroll and auto correct. It’s still my favorite place to write and I actually still import my days into it for my personal storage and review. But I got caught up in the Monthly Challenges, the quest for my Phoenix Badge, the top 100 (broke though I think it is), and all the stats and charts. Once I realized I was going to pass my personal record for journalling I had to acknowledge that this works and I’m going to stick with it. Suffice to say I am a huge fan of this site.

How did you learn about 750words.com?

I believe I heard about 750words.com from Lifehacker. (But I do a lot of surfing, so don’t quote me on that. (OK, I know it’s an interview, I’m just saying…)

What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private > journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?

Writing-wise, my main interest is poetry. I started writing poetry when I was a teenager some <cough, cough> years ago. I fell out of practice years ago and I’ve been crawling my way back to the Muse. What else? I’m happily married. Four years and counting. I practice meditation twice a day, every day. I’m an amateur photographer, Apple fanboy, lover of technology, comedy and all things chocolate.

What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

I write about whatever is on my mind or whatever has happened in the day. Sometimes it’s sketches of poems, sometimes stream of consciousness, sometimes a journal entry, sometimes a plan that’s hatching, sometimes a mashup of all of that and more. Mostly I just start and let what needs to come out come out.

What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

I find that my motivation comes and goes, but the simple act of committing to a site/agreement like this is strangely motivating. It’s sort of a perfect storm of having the desire to write and needing a bit of a push. Plus, there is something therapeutic about just writing about whatever is on your mind. The site has definitely helped me work out some issues and has helped me keep perspective and keep calm about things that otherwise tend to bore into my brain and rattle around at night, keeping me up. So, the more you write, the better you feel, the more you write. (For the most part, anyway.)

Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

I don’t find it too difficult to stay motivated. One of my goals is to just have writing be a part of my life, in whatever form that takes, and the only way to get better is to keep practicing, no matter what you want to get better at. I guess it’s also just a matter of
keeping your priorities in mind. You make time for what’s important. Plus, I get very irritated with myself when I miss a day. I still don’t know how I missed a day and broke my 100+ day streak.

If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

I can’t think of a thing I would change about the site. I love the fact that it’s super easy to use, that the interface is clean and direct. Too many sites these days want to pile on more and more until you can’t navigate at all. So don’t do that and we’ll all be happy.

Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach 100 days in a row?

It’s an honor to be part of this wonderful site. Also, I’d like to say what other, better people have already said: Keep writing. Keep writing. Keep writing. No matter how bad the first draft is, get it out and then get it out some more. Great writing is one of the most magical and beautiful things a human can do. It’s something that has the power to touch us and to change us like nothing else. If it’s in you, never give up.

I don’t know if I’ve said everything that I wanted to, but there comes a time when you have to let go. So here it is.

How did you learn about 750words.com?

The ‘750 Words Clears Your Mind, Gets Ideas Flowing’ post on Lifehacker by Gina Trapani

What are your interests outside of insanely long streaks of private journaling? Who are you and how do you define yourself?

By day I’m a Microbiologist who manages Proficiency Testing program and a smart ass SciFi/Fantasy reading nerd girl with a short attention span who likes helping locally owned small businesses with their social media marketing the rest of the time.

What do you write about in your super secret private journal?

A mixture of things: I vent my spleen, I organize my thoughts for the day if my head seems all over the place because of my ADHD, I capture marketing ideas I have for my local business buds, I write endings to creative writing starters that a Twitter friend sends me, I capture dreams I had that I thought were wonky or interesting, and when I need a boost I write positive affirmations down.

What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

I’m a competitive Type A personality so the idea of competing against myself and others has been a real hook and unlocking badges became a surprisingly addictive driver as well.  Friends have been very supportive of me as I’ve posted my progress. If I don’t post my status for a period of time they ask to see how I’m doing so I don’t want to let them down.  Finally, I think the contract I write with myself each month for the challenge seals since I don’t want to break my word.

Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

I thought that I might because I have in the past when writing in my paper based journals, but because of the mixture of information you provide on the site and the way things continue to change I have been kept interested.  Even on crazy days when I can’t get to the site until the day and I’m exhausted I still want to write my 750words.

If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

You seem to address anything I would change on the site before I can completely form the idea in my head!  I haven’t tried to export my entries so far so I’m not sure of the format of those export files, but integration into Evernote would be very cool.

Anything else you’d like to add as one of the first people to reach
100 days in a row?

I’d like to give a resounding thank you to you for creating such an awesome outlet that has done wonders for my creativity. I would also offer words of encouragement to those who are just starting out and don’t think that they can manage to keep at it.  I’d tell them to take some of the pressure off of themselves.  The thought of having to write 750 words can be intimidating at times, especially if you are holding yourself to all sorts of rules and restrictions.  Some days it can be just as productive to let your mind wander and describe the events going on around you, snippets of overheard conversation, etc.

I’ve begun interviewing people who make it all the way to the Phoenix badge (100 days in a row).  The Hall of Phoenixes.  I was the first Phoenix, and Olga Vorozheykina (interviewed below) was the second.  She’s still on her crazy streak now, almost to 170.  She’s awesome!  Congrats, Olga!

How did you learn about 750words.com?

I was looking through my friends’ Twitter updates and came across a tweet about the site. The guy’s opinion on the whole thing seemed tempting to me so I decided to give it a try.

What kept you coming back to the site, 100 days in a row?

It is a great tool for introspection. I’ve had online journals since I was 14, but it was always about expressing myself and at some point it felt too restrictive. So writing 750 words privately was a nice change.

I usually write my words before I go to sleep, and there is always this part about how I’ve spent the day. But there is always enough space left to write down my thoughts, even those which I would generally bypass without realizing how significant they might be. Besides, it really helps me when I feel sad, angry of anything: I can just write about it and, what’s more important, get to the bottom of it.

Overall, writing my words is a great relief for me.

Do you find it difficult to stay motivated after 100 days?

Not at all. I actually feel more motivated now after some experience of private writing than at the very beginning, because I’ve seen how useful it can be.

Also the very fact of me writing 3 pages every day (I was never able to write a blog post this big!) amazes me and keeps me going.

If you could change anything about the site, what would it be?

I really wish we could get word usage statistics while writing in languages other than English. I usually write in Russian and it would be nice if I could look through these stats after I finish my daily writing.

Anything else you’d like to add as the 1st person (other than myself, which doesn’t count) to reach 100 days in a row?

It is really awesome how this site made me write every day and that so many people do the same. I love it how writing became part of my daily routine and I’m really grateful for this.