All Hail 750words.com
June 15th 2011 13:13
I've just finished my 750words.com entry for today. I've written every day in June so far and I'm on an 19-day writing streak. Online morning pages, that's 750words.com in a nutshell.
The term morning pages was coined by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. The idea is that you get the clutter out of your head by writing three pages in longhand first thing in the morning, and then you can create the things that matter. 750words.com is for those of us who'd rather type their morning pages.
I agree that there's something about writing by hand that gets ideas flowing, but as far as stream of consciousness writing is concerned, I find that typing works better for me. I'm much faster typing and it's easier to follow my crazy thoughts that way.
I don't always manage to write my 750 words first thing in the morning. But whenever possible, I write them before I sit down to write anything that would benefit from a clean mind, like short stories, screen plays and blog posts. Often I use the site for brainstorming, too, and I allow myself to go off on any tangent that tempts me. I usually end up with a handful of good ideas or a usable paragraph or two, and some more material that I can use with a bit of editing. It does help me get ideas out, I can always develop them, turn my jumbled thoughts into intelligible prose later.
Sometimes, when I don't have time to write anything else, writing my 750 words helps me to keep up the momentum. Yes, sometimes my entries are very random, sometimes they turn into a bit of a moan-fest about why I'm not writing etc., but at least I can look back and say: But I wrote something. I wasn't having the best day, but I did it anyway. It's the best I can do sometimes, and it's good that I did it. On days like this, when time is scarce and I'm tired and I don't feel like writing, writing despite of it all is a victory. Bad writing is still writing, and nobody ever needs to see it. I don't have to re-read my entries. I do, though. I download the zip file of my entries every month and go through it. While I usually use the good bits immediately, I miss stuff sometimes. So it's good to dig it up and make the most of it, be reminded of this weird stuff that my subconscious throws at me when I give it a chance.
Also, 750words.com is great as a personal writing trainer. It gives me an incentive for showing up on the treadmill every day and it rewards me in the form of badges. I look forward to it, especially on days when I don't get a chance to sit down for 20 minutes until late. More often than not, my morning pages are evening pages these days. I don't care, as long as I get the thing written. I'd prefer to write early in the day, but if I can't, I can't (the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and I cannot change what the baby wants and when she wants it). So I write whenever, and if it turns out it's after 9pm, I have something to look forward to all day. 20 minutes I have to myself, doing something just for me. 750words.com equals precious me time. I don't get much of it at the moment, but that's the trade-off I knew I was letting myself in for when I embarked on this motherhood adventure.
Writing with a baby is challenging, and anything that makes it easier has to be cherished. I know I could just sit down and write three pages in Pages every day, I don't need a website for it. But it's things like seeing that I'm on an 19-day writing streak, getting badges because I've written x many days in a row etc. that make me do it some days.
So, thank you, 750words.com.
The term morning pages was coined by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way. The idea is that you get the clutter out of your head by writing three pages in longhand first thing in the morning, and then you can create the things that matter. 750words.com is for those of us who'd rather type their morning pages.
I agree that there's something about writing by hand that gets ideas flowing, but as far as stream of consciousness writing is concerned, I find that typing works better for me. I'm much faster typing and it's easier to follow my crazy thoughts that way.
I don't always manage to write my 750 words first thing in the morning. But whenever possible, I write them before I sit down to write anything that would benefit from a clean mind, like short stories, screen plays and blog posts. Often I use the site for brainstorming, too, and I allow myself to go off on any tangent that tempts me. I usually end up with a handful of good ideas or a usable paragraph or two, and some more material that I can use with a bit of editing. It does help me get ideas out, I can always develop them, turn my jumbled thoughts into intelligible prose later.
Sometimes, when I don't have time to write anything else, writing my 750 words helps me to keep up the momentum. Yes, sometimes my entries are very random, sometimes they turn into a bit of a moan-fest about why I'm not writing etc., but at least I can look back and say: But I wrote something. I wasn't having the best day, but I did it anyway. It's the best I can do sometimes, and it's good that I did it. On days like this, when time is scarce and I'm tired and I don't feel like writing, writing despite of it all is a victory. Bad writing is still writing, and nobody ever needs to see it. I don't have to re-read my entries. I do, though. I download the zip file of my entries every month and go through it. While I usually use the good bits immediately, I miss stuff sometimes. So it's good to dig it up and make the most of it, be reminded of this weird stuff that my subconscious throws at me when I give it a chance.
Also, 750words.com is great as a personal writing trainer. It gives me an incentive for showing up on the treadmill every day and it rewards me in the form of badges. I look forward to it, especially on days when I don't get a chance to sit down for 20 minutes until late. More often than not, my morning pages are evening pages these days. I don't care, as long as I get the thing written. I'd prefer to write early in the day, but if I can't, I can't (the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and I cannot change what the baby wants and when she wants it). So I write whenever, and if it turns out it's after 9pm, I have something to look forward to all day. 20 minutes I have to myself, doing something just for me. 750words.com equals precious me time. I don't get much of it at the moment, but that's the trade-off I knew I was letting myself in for when I embarked on this motherhood adventure.
Writing with a baby is challenging, and anything that makes it easier has to be cherished. I know I could just sit down and write three pages in Pages every day, I don't need a website for it. But it's things like seeing that I'm on an 19-day writing streak, getting badges because I've written x many days in a row etc. that make me do it some days.
So, thank you, 750words.com.
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