The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron has helped millions connect with their creativity, and it definitely made a difference in my life. One standout tool from the book is morning pages—writing three handwritten, stream-of-consciousness pages first thing in the morning. It’s a way to clear your mind and make space for creativity.
To help me write more consistently, I started using a site called 750 Words, which was inspired by Julia Cameron’s morning pages. 750 Words encourages you to write 750 words a day of whatever you choose. So far, I’ve written over 879,000 words on the site—some of it personal journaling, some of it rough drafts of stories for my memoir.
In addition to the words I write, what keeps me coming back are the silly, but fun, badges and stats. Participants are acknowledged based on how quickly they write, how focused they are, whether they write as an early bird or a night owl, and so many other factors. The site evaluates even what mood the writer appears to be in.
This tool won’t work for everyone, but if badges and progress tracking help you stay consistent, 750 Words might be worth a shot. There’s a free thirty-day trial, and after that, it’s only $5 a month, so you might want to try this tool to help you write more consistently.
How does 750 Words sound to you? Is it something that might help you write consistently? Do badges and rewards motivate and encourage you to achieve writing goals? What other things motivate you to write? How do you reward yourself for accomplishing a writing goal?
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Give us your thoughts on 750 Words, and tell us about how you motivate yourself to write in the comments section below.
But whether you need rewards to write or not, remember, the only way to do this wrong is to not do it at all! Until next time, happy writing, everybody.
Bought the book and journal last week at Barnes and Nobles and started writing last Monday a.m. Terri and talked about it and upon a decision made with Terri that I didn’t have to write 750 words but write about garbage stored within me each morning. Bought book, journal and began. It was unbelievable the negativity my pen found within me, first day one and a half-handwritten ‘whatever’s’ poured forth onto the paper. Boy, did I feel good. I had a two-day break when I went to family gathering at Lake Martin for the Fourth and the family had a… Read more »
I’m working on this…
Linda, think you would love it. If the 750-word agenda is bothering you, do as Terri and I have decided, ‘Some is better than none’ and some days you might even dump 800words. LOL JR
I own the book, but have never read it. Hum! Guess I have a good reason to now. Thanks Patricia for sharing this with us.
Hum! Julia your Blog is wonderful. You are such a good writer with many insights to pass on to others. Think what the Artist’s Way’s morning Dumping Grounds might add to repertoire. dear one. LOLJackieR
I have worked with The artist’s way and for years I wrote morning pages, discovering as I did so that getting that brain drain out of the way first thing seemed to help me through the rest of my day, whatever else was happening. As I’ve gotten older and my hands have become more arthritic, I find handwriting is more difficult and the morning pages have consequently gone by the wayside. I think you’ve mentioned 750 Words before, but for some reason it didn’t stick at the time. I’m not sure badges are enough motivation, but I’d really like to… Read more »
Terri, I’m loving it as you said I would. At our family gathering, July 4, I shared the book with other adults there, and I think activated my twenty-five-year-old Granddaughter that has so much to pass on to others in Journaling, but with Artist’s Way, she can dump a lot of unpleasant things in her out. She has a successful job now as an Event Planner, but some past actions, I could tell, bothers her.
Thanks again for your encouragement. Looking forward to getting back on track with our Zooms. Lots of Love, Laughs and most of Living.
I tried this out and found I am not a consistent 750 word/day writer. I am more of a binge writer. But it was a worthwhile exercise.
Hey David, you, Terri and I can share this at our next Buddy Zoom. When is it? I shared your Rain Ride Discussion Ride and Spy Kids (which both sons-in-law were familiar with and want to write that type of stories, They loved both ideas. Will share, When? Lol JackieR