To get better at writing, the first thing you have to do is read. The second thing, unsurprisingly, is to actually sit down and write. I am convinced why this is why it is so hard for most students (including my own experience here) to get that term paper finished at the end of the semester: because they haven’t gotten in the habit of writing all the time. Having a blog is a great way to do this, and I will be talking about that in another post–but what if you don’t want to publish your thoughts to the rest of the world? You could just keep a notebook, writing long hand, but maybe that’s not your thing. Well, this helpful little website, 750 Words, can help you get your write on every day.

The name of the website tells you what its all about: write 750 words, every day. It will help you become a better writer. When you log into the site, all you see is a toolbar and a flashing cursor. The date is written up there and you are ready to go. You just begin typing, and keep going until you hit 750 words. There is a little counter at the bottom, but otherwise it is just blank space for you to fill up with your words.

The site encourages you to be spontaneous, and not to worry about spelling, grammar, and all that other nonsense that humanists such as myself get caught up on. Just type away! It takes me a little over twenty minutes to bash out 750 words, depending on how inspired I am that day, or if I get hung up trying to find the right words.

Once you are finished, the app keeps track of the days that you finish writing and gives you statistics about the writing. I find it interesting to note, for example, that I usually get hung up around the 600 word mark, maybe meaning that is the point at which I run out of things to say about the current topic, and have to move on to another. You can earn badges based on how often you keep up your streak of writing every day, and some others for typing fast or slow. There is a bit of a social aspect to the site, insofar as you can see others who have been doing well, I guess for encouragement’s sake.

The most helpful feature, simple as it may be, is that you can set the app to send you daily reminders to go in and write, the “Daily Nudge” that I’ve posted above. I have it set so it sends me an email when I get into work in the morning. This is usually the time I check my email and catch up on things, so I can then go and type away at 750 words and get fodder for my writing for the day or for the blog (You can revisit what you type and then copy and paste it elsewhere, or print it out and I guess put it in a binder somewhere). Very convenient!

So go ahead and check out 750 Words, even if only for the bit of inspirational writing there on the front page. I definitely recommend this site for anyone who is struggling with writing every day such as myself. (In case you are wondering, the word count for this post is 566 words).