750words.com

3 articles tagged as 750words.com

Editing my First Draft

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Tips for Writers
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I am well into the editing stage and part of me hates everything, but a small part of me sees potential. There just might be something worthwhile in this manuscript.

In conjunction with my read-through, I am continuing to write every night. If there are scenes I think I missed, or areas that need to be elaborated on, I write them out in 500-1300 word chunks. They may not go into the final story, but by writing these, I am continuing to process the information, to see where I can go with my story. Plus it keeps me writing.

I owe the writing while editing in part to 750words.com. I wanted to complete their 1-month challenge, which I did. But it is also really nice to try things out on a clean piece of paper, to test scenes and ideas without having to commit to them. And, when I am ready to start doing my real edits, I will have some potential content to add into the story.

It is actually pretty refreshing, the amount of new material I am coming up with by writing while reading. I have discovered scenes I didn’t know existed. I am flushing out relationships I didn’t imagine. I am making the world all the more dynamic. And I love it.

I don’t know why I never thought of editing this way before, but so far, it is really working for me. I know that I don’t want to add too much more content to the manuscript. I am already right around my word limit, but by creating the new content within a second document, I have the freedom to keep or discard anything I want. Regardless of what I keep or toss, the insights I glean from the new scenes are something I will always have. The depth I am adding to the story will only improve it.

What do you think? Will writing new scenes while trying to read through my first draft distract me from my initial evaluation, or will it help me to produce a stronger story? Have you ever used this method?

 

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750 words revisited – making writing a habit

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Misc., Time Management
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A few weeks ago I read in a woman’s magazine (not sure which one) that it takes 66 days to make something a habit. The article was talking more about dieting, or exercising, or flossing your teeth. But in reading it, I couldn’t help but wonder if writing couldn’t also be applied to this.

I know I’ve talked about 750words.com before. Since my last post on the subject, I’ve been using it a lot – I’ve entered almost 20,000 words into the site. And I’ve got to say, it’s growing on me.

Making Writing a Daily Habit

Since February is the shortest month of the year, I decided to join the 750words.com 1-month challenge, where I will write 750 words a day for the entire month. I figure if I succeed, I will have reached day 28 in the 66 days needed to form a habit. And once I’ve hit my 28th day, what’s to stop me from writing for 38 more days? And if I manage to do this, will I have succeeded in making writing a daily habit? I hope so.

So far I am on day 7. Not long, I know. But I already feel the need to sit down and get my writing done. And it really is surprising how fast it is to write 750 words. My best time, earning me the Speedy Typist badge, is 12 minutes, but I average closer to 15. In 15 minutes a day, I can write 750+ words. Not too shabby.

My 750 words are not stellar, I know this. But I’m still on the rough draft stage of my book (and I’m almost done). My only concern with the 1-month challenge is that I will finish my first draft before the month is over. But then, is this really a bad thing?

Do you think I can finish the challenge? Do you think I can turn daily writing into a habit? Have you turned daily writing into a habit? How do you fit your writing time in? Is 15 minutes a day enough time? Or do you need more time to write a first draft?

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750words.com – Helping you meet your daily writing goals

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Time Management, Tips for Writers
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Meeting a daily word count was easy during NaNoWriMo, or easier. Now that November is long gone, I’ll be the first to admit that my daily word counts are suffering.

Why is it easier to meet daily word counts during NaNoWriMo?

NaNo is only a month long. It’s easy to put your personal life aside for one month. Plus, there’s a score of other people also sacrificing their lives for the common goal of 1,667 words a day. But for me, the progress bar was what really helped. I didn’t want to miss a day and risk falling below the ‘where you should be’ line. And so I stayed up an extra hour, or spent my lunch hour writing, or skipped the gym here and there. And then November ended, and so did many of my sacrifices.

How to keep that momentum going?

Recently, I learned about an online program called 750words.com. What’s great about 750words.com is that, like NaNo, it tracks your daily word counts. Unlike NaNo, the daily goal is more realistic for every day writers – only 750 words. Additionally, you write directly into the program and the program tracks not only your word counts, but how quickly you reach your word count, the tone of your writing, common topics, commonly used words, etc. Not only are the stats fun, but knowing that I’m being timed keeps me from wandering to other websites or just plain wandering.

In keeping with the recent trends in mobile gaming, you can also earn badges for things like reaching your word count several days in a row or reaching your word counts in a timely fashion. Plus, there is a community surrounding the site, so you can follow other writers, like you would with NaNo. And every month offers members the chance to participate in a monthly challenge where you are challenged to reach your word goal every day of the month. Winners are added to the Wall of Amazingness whereas losers find themselves on the Wall of Shame and remain there until successfully winning a month challenge.

The one negative is that you have to write on the site. Whereas with NaNo you just entered in your new word count for the day, 750words determines your word count and typing speed based off of how much you write into the text box that is provided when you login for the day. You can always just copy and paste the text into your own word processor, or use the sites text exporter, but if you have a hard time focusing in an unfamiliar environment, this could pose a problem.

The site also archives your writing. While I have no problem with this and actually like the idea of having a backup sitting in cyberspace, I know this could makes some writers uncomfortable.

If you are looking for a way to get your writing momentum back, though, why not give 750words a try? The worst you’ll get out of it is an additional 750 words. The best you’ll get is a new time management/motivation tool. If you give it a try, or if you are already using 750words, what do you think of it as a writing tool?

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