I can't help but write about a new resource for writing. It's a tool that has motivated me to get writing. It's the "butt in chair" method for writing. Simply showing up and writing is the surest way to write. So, I have begun a journey of writing something every day. To help, I have been tracking it on 750Words.com. To be more accurate, the website has been tracking it. But not in a Big Brother way; in a playful, more helpful way. From the picture that I have inserted with this post, you can see a couple of the elements that the website tracks, specific to my writing every day. These are the stats from today, August 25th. The first thing I see is that I am a Patron. That means that I contributed $4.00 in the last 30 days to the site via PayPal. That's strictly voluntary; the site is free across the board. Secondly, I have written over 25,000 words this month and written each day of the month (all 25!). "Completed" means that I have written at least 750 words each day. You can write as many words as you like, but to "complete" a day, you need to write 750 or over. That's about three pages.
The third aspect I appreciate on this page of stats (there are many more, by the way; check them out at http://750words.com/entries/stats/245619) is the badges. Those are the cutesy, corny cartoon pictures in the middle. You are "awarded" badges every time you hit a milestone (e.g. writing 30 days in a row, something I have yet to do). Finally, to wrap up this little tour of 750Words.com, there is the writing progress on any given day. When did you start? How many interruptions did you encounter? It's all there. In a previous post entitled "Self-Importance and My Private Writing," I talked about the stats that track my "subconscious" as I write (http://www.soulofatlas.com/2010/08/self-importance-and-my-private-writing.html). And there's more. As always, I'm interested in your thoughts.