Choosing Your 2019 Pledge

[gywomod]

With GYWO 2019 Sign-Ups opening next week, which pledge you're choosing is hopefully on your mind. Instead of letting everyone stew in their personal hells, we thought we'd run down a few of the common things the mods tell panicked participants, and then offer the comments section as an opportunity for members and future members to talk to each other about their concerns and hopefully help each other come to a pledging decision!

If you're new to GYWO and have a question related to our membership requirements, general guidelines, monthly check-ins, or what words or activities count, please visit our website. More information about pledging for 2019 will be released on Dec 14.

As a reminder, the GYWO pledges are:

• Word Count Pledges track a specific number of words you write—75K (Light), 150K (Modest), 200K (Basic), 250K (Moderate), 300K (Difficult), 350K (Insane), and 500K (Ludicrous)
• Habit Pledges track a specific number of days you write—120 Days (Apprentice), 240 Days (Journeyman), and 350 Days (Master)

Word Count Pledge Vs Habit Pledge

• If tracking your word count is stressful or confusing, try one of the Habit Pledges. You’ll only need to keep track of the number of days you write, instead of all those fiddly words.
• If you want to emphasize the habit of your writing life—encouraging yourself to write x-number of days a month or a week—a Habit Pledge might make more sense. With a Word Count Pledge, it’s easier to write in sustained sprints to reach your goal, but a Habit Pledge forces you to write more days than you might with a Word Count Pledge.
• If you are planning to have a year that focuses on revising or on planning stories, a Habit Pledge might be right for you. The Habit Pledges allow you to count days you work on recorded creative writing activities beyond drafting or revising, including outlining, written brainstorming, and completing world building or character sheets. The website has more details about the Habit Pledges and further explains what writing activities count toward this pledge.
• You could, potentially, miss a Habit Pledge by running out of days in the year. The highest Habit Pledge allows missing up to 15 days, which doesn’t give much wiggle room for accomplishing the pledge later in the year. The Word Count Pledges offer more flexibility since you can catch up at (nearly) any time.
• If you’re already consistent (and happy) with your writing habit, choose a Word Count Pledge to continue to challenge yourself and grow your writing life.
• While you must pick one pledge for GYWO, you can unofficially keep track of a secondary pledge. Your secondary pledge may give you information about choosing a pledge for a future year!

Habit Pledges

• Choosing between Habit Pledges comes down to deciding how much you plan to write each month:
  
  • If you plan to write mostly on weekends, choose the 120 Day Pledge. That’s weekends + 16 days.
  • If you plan to write mostly on weekdays, choose the 240 Day Pledge. That’s weekdays – 20 days, giving you a few days off.
  • If you want to write every day, choose the 350 Day Pledge!
• If you haven’t tried writing daily before but want to, we recommend the 240 Day Pledge as a way to ease into a semi-daily writing habit before tackling the Master Pledge.

Word Count Pledges
First Time GYWO Word Count Pledge

• If you’ve never tracked your word count for the year, take a moment to assess how many words you think you’ve written in a past year. Consider things like whether or not you participate in NaNoWriMo (50K), how much you’ve published in the last year (self or traditionally published, fanfic, blog, etc), and how much you tend to revise your work (writing it entirely over or just editing lines).
• If meeting your goal is more motivating, choose a goal that matches a conservative estimate of how much you wrote in 2018.
• If you think you’ll lose interest if you meet your goal early, choose a goal that matches a liberal estimate of how much you wrote in 2018.
• There are no penalties for not meeting your word count, so don’t be afraid to choose one that you may not be able to meet!

Go Big on Word Counts

• If you wrote more than 50,000 words above your 2018 GYWO pledge level, choose the next pledge level up.* You've already "beaten" it once, so do it again officially.
• If having a big goal motivates you, choose the bigger goal you're between. There's no penalty for not meeting it, so if having the big carrot will push you to write, set yourself up with the most motivating goal.
• If you look ahead and see a lot of free time, a more relaxed year, or fewer obstacles between you and your writing time, choose the bigger goal you're between. Just keep an eye out for unexpected things that might take away that time!

*This advice is somewhat dubious if you are currently pledging 75K or 350K

Step Back on Word Counts

• If you wrote 50,000 words below your 2018 GYWO pledge level, consider the next pledge level down, if knowing that you will meet your pledge is more motivating to you.*
• If having a big goal intimidates you, choose the lesser goal you're between. It's great if you write above your pledge level, so if hitting your pledge early will keep you in a happy writing mood, set yourself up for success.
• If you look ahead and see a lot of travel, a major life change (moving house, changing jobs, getting married, having a child, etc), or another serious obstacle between you and your writing time, choose the lesser goal you're between. While life can be unpredictable, there are some things we can predict, so there's no reason to stress out about your word count on top of your real life.

*This advice is somewhat dubious if you are currently pledging 75K or 150K.

Keep Your Word Count Consistent

• If you're going to hit your 2018 GYWO pledge level within the month of December and it was a comfortable pace, keep it the same! The community goal is to keep you writing, so if your 2018 pledge level works for you, let it work for you in 2019.
• If you came close to hitting your 2018 pledge level or it was a challenge to make it, this might be the right pledge level to try again in 2019.

The best advice we have is to look at your schedule and figure out where writing fits into it. List out the projects, ficathons, and stories you might write next year and consider the word tallies or time involved. Really think about what's motivating for you—knowing you'll hit a goal or chasing down the finish line.

In the comments, let us know your pledging woes! Wonder how difficult another pledge is? Still need clarity on the pledge types? This is your opportunity to ask about pledges. After some discussion, hopefully you'll come away with a confident decision.

Note: Commenting to this post does not constitute pledging for 2019. Come back on Dec 14 and follow the instructions in the Pledges & Requirements post to make a pledge for 2019.

Comments

[theemdash]

For 2019 I'm thinking about signing up for the 250K pledge. This would be my first time going for a goal this high, so I'm nervous about committing.

I wrote over 230K in 2016 and 2017, which isn't far off the 250K pledge, and I'm planning for this year to be more about drafting than revision. BUT I'm also trying to focus more on rediscovering the joy of writing—getting lost in the drafting process, being silly with my words, embracing ideas I might abandon—and be less concerned with hitting daily word count goals. (However, I think that if I do those other things, I'll naturally write more words because writing will once again be fun and not just a checkmark on my to-do list.)

Also, for the past 3 years I've been a daily writer and have been trying to slowly increase the minimum number of words I write each day. Last year the minimum was 150, and next year I'd like for the minimum to be 250 words per day. I'd also like to write 1K a day more often, which overall seems to point me toward choosing a higher word count goal.

I don't have many projects planned for the year, but I know I will participate in NaNoWriMo 2019, I have two novels I want to develop, and I have at least two short stories I want to revise.

[entrenous88]

The 250K pledge seems like such a great fit for you! Maybe also knowing you need to write more words could be a way to encourage some of the other joyful approaches - you can certainly play around with words when you figure you might as well write more of them, or you could try out an idea you might have otherwise abandoned because why not plus it'll up your word count. Good luck!

[slightweasel]

I actually managed to finish my 200k pledge for 2018! Very exciting for me since I usually pledge 150k and write between 95k and 105k. But I'm torn between pledging 200k again vs. 150k for next year. On the one hand, 200k was quite successful this year, whereas my track record with 150k is all failure; buttttt, I'll be going back to work in the first quarter of 2019, and it would be easier (and more demotivating) to get behind on a 200k pledge than a 150k one.

Right now I'm leaning toward 150k, with the hopes that I can get a little ahead in the beginning of the year before going back to work. But we'll see.

[theemdash]

I had a similar thought this past year, which was why I pledge 150K. I knew that staying ahead would be more motivating and I had things going on during the first part of the year which meant I thought I might struggle with the 200K pace.

I think one of the most important things is to think about what's most motivating for you: staying ahead or chasing the carrot.

And congrats on completing 200K!!

[momebie]

I've really appreciated the inclusion of habit tracking, because counting the individual words stresses me out as someone who likes to write longhand. Counting individual words also makes me feel like I have to prioritize drafting over planning, which is silly. Planning and research are just as important as drafting. (You know, if you don't do ONLY that. >.>)

I think I might go for 240 again. I'm not going to reach that this year, but I have already surpassed 120 by a month or so, so dropping back just for the easy win isn't going to motivate me any more in this case. Also, I really am trying to build the habit, even though I am apparently bad at all habits that don't have sugar in them.

[theemdash]

I think 240 Days is a really good goal for you. And goals are just that goals. It's an ideal that you want to reach, which means that you might not on the first try, but keep trying and you'll get there.

[jenett]

I'm really dithering between 350K and 500K.

I did the habit pledge (240 days) this year, and it's been great for me (I've written all but one day, when I was so sick I couldn't sit up for 10 minutes at a time.) But I feel like I've got the habit now.

I did about 220K in 2017(before I found GYWO, and with very erratic writing scheduling), I'm at 405K so far in 2018.

I average between 1000 and 1200 words a day most months (though there are days with a couple of hundred, and days with several thousand, and November is noticeably higher because of NaNo) so the 1350ish needed to do 500K is a bit of a stretch day in day out.

But I also need to block out more time for editing and self-publishing. So, um, writing this out, I'm thinking I'll pledge 350K and then see how much beyond that I get, but I'm interested in other people's thoughts.

[entrenous88]

The 350K goal sounds great based on your current total, and you can always go over, like you mentioned.

[entrenous88]

I might try a habit goal for the first time. And now, very rambly thoughts on this...

I've done word count goals for several years now, and have typically met my goals.
So though that's definitely something that's gotten me to produce words, I wonder if having the habit goal would open up a different sort of challenge. Idk, just spice things up in terms of what I expect or hope for.

Also, though a tiny part of me still despairs of ever finishing the full draft of this original fiction novel I'm writing, realistically I actually think I will complete the full draft in the first half of this calendar year at latest. And so it might be good to be able to check off days for the habit challenge, if I'm revising and changing scenes around and thinking about broader arcs instead of adding on words.

ON the other hand, having the word count goal has always kept me writing steadily, and reporting my monthly total gives me a chance to calibrate where I'm at and focus to reach that goal in whatever time's left.

If I choose the habit goal, ugh - I want to say 350, because honestly, days off from writing tend to make me more antsy than not. But I would hate to feel discouraged if I run into a spate of days where I can't work for whatever reason and then fall very far short of the 350. This year I had a concussion, and it was probably two full weeks away from writing, and then some extra days where I would start up again and need a day off. Not that that will happen again necessarily, but, hmm.

240 days almost seems too easy, though perhaps it's appropriate? It just doesn't sound like a challenge I guess, which seems an essential part of the community and my goals.

...and now I think I should reorient back to the word count goal because it doesn't come with that built in issue for me, of wanting to choose the 350 but worrying that will prove discouraging should some interruption to writing/plotting/planning arise...

[peaked]

Why don't you pick two pledges? One official and one unofficial. You could always pick a word count goal as your official goal where it works as a safety net in case it doesn't work out, but do a habit goal as your driver and unofficial pledge. That way you're kind of testing if the habit goal works for you, and if it doesn't, you can easily fall back onto your word count goal.

[peaked]

Considering how many times I've signed up for the 150k pledge and the one time I won it (thanks to collaborative RP writing, not my individual projects), I am the closest I've ever been to my goal with 117k words so far. I know I'll most likely be aiming for this pledge again for next year, but if I happen to write the words I need in the next few weeks, I might bump up for the first time ever!

The habit pledges look so interesting to me, but I know my writing routine is really out of whack these days and I think a habit pledge may stress me out a bit more than a word count pledge. If I can only miss 15 days, I'm screwed. I think I missed well over that this year when it comes to writing. /o\

Considering how I did with Camp NaNo and NaNoWriMo, I think it's safe to conclude I am definitely more driven by the word count than the habit. Having a goal has helped me divide up how many words I expect myself to write a day (if I want to write every day). Taking my pledge a little more seriously with trying to give myself goals every month has really helped me learn how much I write per month and how I end up achieving that (and that includes a lot of stuff that needs way more pre-planning!)

I am definitely taking the bolded advice and am going to try and see what projects I can work on next year. This year was just a "let's try and get back into writing" year, and I've done it with the various challenges this challenge introduces. I think next year should be a little more serious and a touch more planned out! I'm kind of hoping I can bump up to 200k, but we'll see ... my goal is to see where my word count is on December 14 and go from there.

[theemdash]

It sounds like a challenge doesn't intimidate you and like you know how to manage yourself month to month, so I say if you feel ready for 200K, go for it!

[prisca]

This year I have had two pledges; one official habit pledge = 240 days and one unofficial pledge = 100K. I won't reach any of them, because writing was very difficult for me this year; there were three months where I've written only for 3 or 4 days. At least I'm back on a regular writing habit - since November 1 I didn't miss one day, but the word count is still way behind from my pledge.

I guess I will choose the habit pledge '240 days' again next year. I know I can do it if I don't fall back in a depressive phase again. Not sure about an unofficial word pledge, though, maybe I will set it aside for 2019, or choose 75K. For the moment it is much more important for me to write regularly again, even if there are only a few words.

[theemdash]

That's fantastic that you're back on a regular habit. Sometimes it's so hard to get on it and stay with it. Congrats for getting back to it. ♥

I think 240 Days is a great choice for trying to write regularly. Hopefully no depressive phases haunt any of us in 2019.

[olivermoss]

I think I am going to go for a light word count and only count words in completed/published works. If I make it, it will be a lot more than I did this year. But this year I did a lot more than last. (And I am not done yet.)

The habit tracker started out good for me, but I am bad at tracking things. I need to be able to figure out my count at the end of the month.

[theemdash]

If you're inconsistent with tracking, it can be very difficult to do GWYO, buuut, your point about counting your completed works does mean you have a clear record. Hmm, it sounds like a word count pledge is right for you.

[raxeira]

Having chosen the 350 day pledge for Habit this year, I think that next year I'l going to step it back to 240. While I'm proud of all the work I did this year and will likely hit the goal by the end of the month, it's been so stressful for me this year. Between working out Book Club and managing life, the 350 day commitment made me feel like I'd been backed into a corner. I made it work, but that meant that some days I was up past midnight writing, or I had to drag myself out of bed to get words down.

Next year I really want to cultivate a more valuable writing life. I want to have the option to take off when it's too hard to write, or take days off to read and just read. I think that it'll help me focus more on craft and quality, since I know that I can manage an every day practice already. I need to be more reflective, and less challenging, I think.

[theemdash]

Sometimes it's very wise to set a lower goal. This year I did the 150K challenge for that reason. Picking a GYWO pledge that meshes with your other goals and what you expect from the year is so important.

[gorgeousnerd]

I tried the habit pledge this year, but bad stuff in my personal life killed my writing time. I was thinking I would go back to word count because if my year is even half as bad next year as it was this year, I could theoretically make up for lost time in my quieter moments...but I kind of want to try the habit pledge again and really go for it this time. Guess I'll decide next week!

[theemdash]

Oh, that is a tough decision. Yeah, you can theoretically catch up on a word count pledge if you fall behind, but for the habit pledges if you run out of days, you run out of days! Can you make adjustments to your writing plans to be able to meet a habit pledge on days you can't sit down and devote to writing? Like, set a timer for 10 minutes in the morning and 10 in the evening to either write a little or outline a scene, basically prepare yourself for the next day you write?

[paragraphs]

Definitely going back to word count goal this year, and will be going for 250k for the first time.

This past year as a habit tracker was too much editing and not enough new stuff and it left me cranky. And forgetful.

I like the pressure of striving for word count!

[theemdash]

High fives for the first time 250K pledges!

I'm conflicted

[aricadavidson]

I'm conflicted between doing 200k again versus habit pledge. I finished early but my Novembers and Decembers are notoriously bad for writing so finishing the goal in 10 months is exactly what I'd like and consider the last two months bonus. This is why NaNo is bad for me. I find word counts to be intimidating to deal with though if I fall behind early, though I usually don't.

A friend did the habit and I find that somewhat appealing but I also like watching the numbers rise... I'll have to think about it.

Re: I'm conflicted

[theemdash]

You can still keep track of your word counts while doing a habit pledge, so you can still see the numbers rise while making a pledge that can last you year round.

[velithya]

I discovered this community last week & I think it might be very helpful in assisting me to write consistently through the year. I'm thinking about a word count goal but I'm not sure how to appropriately select something that's going to challenge me without feeling too crushing.

I used to be quite a prolific writer. I haven't written in a few years (personal circumstance & a grueling classload) but I got back into it for Nano this year and managed 15k words, starting on 22nd Nov (the earliest start date I could manage). That works out to 1.6k words a day but I definitely don't think it's realistic to expect that I could write that much every day!!

When I'm working also I work for usually 12, sometimes up to 14 hours a day so daily writing would be impossible and even writing on weekends would be less likely as I would be trying to cram in all my weekly tasks (& relaxing time!!) into those two days. I anticipate working at least six months of next year. & while I'd like to try and keep up writing through those working months, in practice I'm not sure about whether or not it'll be possible.

I feel like I should aim for something like 15 - 20k per non-working month with 1 - 5k per working month as an estimate just to start, which would leave me somewhere between 96 - 150k per year, so I'm thinking about trying the 150k goal since there's no penalty for missing if you shoot for the moon.

IDK, does that sound realistic/reasonable? I know that the best goals are SMART goals and I want something that's going to inspire me to reach it!

[theemdash]

You pretty much described the mission statement of this community—assisting people to write consistently through the year—so you're in the right place. Welcome!

The 150K goal sounds pretty good for meeting your needs. It sounds like you'll for sure surpass 75K, so 150K can do more to increase your writing habit over the year. We also have challenges, word wars, and other activities that can help you get your words out when you're feeling stuck or need extra support, so making the transition from former-writer to current-writer will be easier too.

I absolutely believe you can do it!

[innitmarvelous_og]

After finishing 1 million words in four years, I am thinking about doing what I did this year by sticking with the habit pledge for 2019. I'd love to hit 1.5 million next year but not sure that's in the cards because I feel like I need to have some freedom to relax a little (Did I mention in 2017 I wrote every day that year?) and the habit pledge is PERFECT for that!

Now if I go with habit, I will be setting my own personal word count goal of maybe like 100K to 150K, so yeah I will be doing more than just planning.

We'll see.

P.S. The wind may get knocked out of my sails by Avengers 4... my verse lives on regardless what happens to Tony Stark in the movie but I may be smarting for awhile as I love him so much!

[theemdash]

Sounds like you're making the perfect choice for you. And if Tony has a rough time in Avengers 4, maybe write some happy, fluffy, nice things for Tony. ;)

[meridian_rose]

After exceeding 200k last year I signed up for 250k, but I'm still just a little shy of 10k :/ This year has been rough.
I don't know if I'd feel comfortable using the 75k limit so if I sign up I guess it would be the 150k, which is still magnitudes off what I've achieved this year.
I've done gywo for a number of years so I'm reluctant not to sign up but I need to think more on it.
Thanks for running the community :)

[theemdash]

It sounds like you've had a really rough year. If you expect it to continue, I think you'd be okay to sign up for 75K. I understand wanting to aim higher, but if you think the lower goal would be more motivating to get you up and writing despite everything else going on in your life, I say do it. ♥

[icywind]

Hrm. I'm honestly quite torn what to do for next year.

With working full time and having to bus commute I've struggled to get a good writing habit down. And that, coupled with the fact that I have one major story that I know will mean more editing that writing at least a month or two lends me to think that maybe it would behoove me to try out a habit pledge officially this year (and unofficially still keep a numbers pledge).

My failure to hit my light goal this year means I'm still not going to shoot for anything above light if I do go for a word count goal. I like having the numbers to shoot for especially when I try to take part in things like Camp Nano and Big Bangs where word count is super important. But my mind keeps going back to a habit pledge...

If I would do a habit I honestly would almost have to shoot for the 240. This year was terrible but I will still end up hitting 120 days of writing overall. 240...now that sounds like more of a challenge. I think, if I would do the math, I got close to if I didn't in fact hit it in 2017, which was a very good year for me and something to strive for again.

hrm...

[theemdash]

Reading that it sounds like the 240 Days is perfect for you. Something of a challenge, but better fitting with your current responsibilities. And, you can still make word count goals month-to-month but not have to rely on them all year over. I like it!

[diali]

Yeah I have no idea what to do next year.

I’m at roughly ~945k for this year and should hit my million-word goal unless the sky falls down or my hands fall off, and all I know is that I never want to write this much ever again.

(It sounds like a great idea on paper! It really does!! Oh wow, a million words in a year, how impressive!! That must have taken a lot of time!! YEAH, IT DID. I am so exhausted I can’t even describe it. I keep making jokes about hibernating next month but seriously it’s all I want to do. Wake me when December ends.)

Okay now that I’ve gotten that out of the way: I do actually still want to write next year, just... less. A lot less. My goal next year is to focus on quality, not quantity — I want to focus on revision, line editing, and all those other things I’m bad at. A habit goal isn’t going to do anything for me; I already write every day and I’m more motivated by wordcount goals anyway. I also need to do a boatload of worldbuilding and I want to take a stab at this text adventure I’ve had rolling around in my head for a few years. Plus I’ll inevitably do all three Nanowrimos next year, so that’s 150k right there.

??? Idk. Maybe 300-350k? After a year of 75-100k months, the idea of only having to write 20-25k a month is extremely appealing. Although it might make me lazy, because I can do that in a week. Half a week, even. Maybe I’ll start out January with another short-story-a-day thing to keep me writing every day, hmm.

[theemdash]

I mean, even if you went for the 500K goal, you'd still be writing a lot less than this year! WHEW!

Since you already can earmark 150K for 2019 over just 3 months and are comfortable writing every day, I would encourage you to choose 350K over 300K. That leaves you writing a little more than 22K per month the other 9 months, which is still a HUGE break from 2018.

[annofowlshire]

This year I did the 240D Habit Goal, which I should just hit. I feel like I did a lot of spinning, though, rather than any completed projects. That was okay for this year (had a baby, it was kind of life changing). But now that I'm adjusting to the new normal, I want to spin less next year.

I'm... thinking the same thing but not entirely convinced. I'm doing long term planning on a project (probably a novel), which does involve getting words out, but I'm not particularly interested in the number of them. I hope to do some drafting, but I'm unsure of how much to expect. I keep saying I want to do some short stories, but never actually do it. (Or they turn into novels.) 120D isn't enough push. 350D is more than I want to do any year XD

I'm not sure I want to go back to word count, but that's the other option.

So I'll probably do 240D again unless someone has better suggestions? XD

[theemdash]

240D sounds like it might be best if you're planning a lot of planning for the year.

The other option might be to choose 150K or 75K, so you have a low word count that fits better with planning/revising and relieves the stress of needing to constantly draft.

[fadedwings]

This is my second year here and I again will not meet my goal. I’m more okay with that this year than I was last year, and I almost quit fewer times too :) Last year my goal was 300k, and I did about half that and this year my goal is 200k and I’m only a little over 100k. I have a lot of anxiety and depression issues along with chronic pain and I can’t write when I’m really having trouble with those.

This year some bad life stuff happened and I stopped writing for a while. I did come back to it, so that’s good.

I’m thinking of either going for only 75k this year or trying a habit goal.

I write a lot of shorter works, drabbles and ficlets, so it might work better for me (except for the fact you can’t catch up if you run out of days.) On the other hand even with the problems I’ve had this year I did at least some writing on 176 days so far. So I’d probably need to pick the 240, because 120 would be too easy. But I’m not sure if 240 is too much to go for.

So, I’m still kind of on the fence about that. I don’t do well with too much pressure, it tends to make me want to quit.

[theemdash]

I think 75K or 240 Days sounds right for you.

If you want to have the "safety net" of being able to catch up later in the year, the 75K seems like the safer bet.

If you think you need a little pressure to get motivated and think you can use that pressure to propel you to write another 70-ish days, go for the 240 Days. Not having the word count goal might encourage you to write anything rather than struggle to hit a goal. You can always keep track of your word count personally to see if you hit the 75K.

And good for you for not quitting!! That takes real perseverance to have anxiety, depression, chronic pain, AND bad life stuff and still make the choice to keep working toward your writing goals.

[mirrored_illusions]

This is my first year here and I signed up on a whim only a few days before the deadline. Then I spent the next month or so wondering if I'd lost my mind. I tried my hand at 75K and didn't expect to meet my goal since I've never written regularly or even all that much, but as of the November check-in, I'm just shy of 100K!

Since reaching my word count goal in August I've half-seriously had a second goal to reach 150K this year, but I've conceded that that won't happen. So I've been thinking about signing up for 150K for 2019 or if I should take the safe route and go for 75K again...

Choices, choices...

[theemdash]

If you made it to 100K without knowing you could do it, I think you can make it to 150K while putting in the real effort. As long as you don't anticipate anything major cropping up to take over your life, I think 150K is a safe route, too.

[bluealbertaskys]

As much as I’m not usually a quitter on anything I’m thinking about taking a “gap” year from the community for next year.

I thought originally that it was the word count goals I was struggling with but having tried the habit pledge this year I think it’s just me.

I know it’s partly because I struggle to remember to check in, for various reasons, and on the rare occasions I do remember to check in I’ve often forgotten how much I’ve done.

So I think I’m going to take a break from the Community next year and see how I do without having to hit an official target.

I reckon it will only be for one year though so expect to see me sneaking in in 2020 to try again 😊.

[theemdash]

Sometimes a gap year is exactly what's needed. I've signed up every year, but there was at least one year in which I signed up knowing there was no way I was going to hit my goal or even try too hard to make it. Do what you need to do—I can tell you that barring a complete disaster, GYWO will be here in 2020. ;)

[forestgreen]

I'm super happy with what the Habit Pledge did for me this year. I'm 12 days shy of reaching my 240 day pledge and it was perfect for me. It worked in ways the wordcount did not do, and I'm so happy you introduced this change in 2018.

On days when in the past I would not otherwise have written, due to exhaustion or lack of creative juice, I could tell myself, do some editing for 30 minutes and then you've at least done something. That tricked my brain into actually doing more, and I managed to finish stuff. In the past, I had trouble finishing, because editing only counted for new words, and some times (especially in the final stages) you spent hours reading only to change or add little, or cut more than you added. This lead to me not wanting to edit and then not finishing the projects I started and losing motivation.

With the habit pledge I no longer had that problem and I've managed to create some writing habits that work for me well. I'm very happy with my results this year.

I will pledge for the habit goal again, also for the 240 day pledge: the right combination between commitment and flexibility for me. This is the first years, when I've known immediately what would be the right pledge.

[theemdash]

That's fantastic! Thanks for sharing how helpful the Habit Pledge has been. Could I quote part of this comment for the website testimonials on our home page?

[ofmonstrouswords]

I think I'm definitely going with a habit pledge for 2019.

For 2018 I did 75K word count and set a personal goal to write every day. I succeeded in that until the end of August, and then school started and...woof. But still, I've written over 260 days this year, with a streak of 242 days, and my word count is ~116K.

So I'm going to pledge 240D. I've reached it once; it's likely I can reach it again. (And by now I know better than to try to really challenge myself with a higher pledge.)

Especially as the new year will have me starting a new job and probably moving house, I think switching from word count to habit is the best idea for me.

[theemdash]

That absolutely sounds like the right thing for you. And I love that you tracked the other pledge type for 2018 so you have a starting point for making your decision!

[graveexcitement]

well, this year i did the 120 days habit pledge, and i'm not going to fulfill it (mathematically impossible at this point, though it wasn't in november.)

currently wondering whether to try 120days again or try the 75k pledge. i mean, it's not like i would have fulfilled a 75k pledge if i'd chosen that this year (currently sitting at ~40k words)

hmm. on the one hand, i'm still trying to build the writing habit on a day to day basis, so the habit pledge might be helpful for that. on the other hand, the wordcount pledge would help motivate me to type my writing up (i often handwrite first drafts) so i could get an exact wordcount, and probably suits my natural style a little more (bursts of writing followed by periods of no writing.)

also, to my instincts, 75k words just seems like more of a solid, meaningful goal compared to 120 days, which i know is logically a little silly because writing more regularly than i do now, but...

either way, i definitely want to write more than i did this year, and participate in some of the gywo activities/challenges this time.

[theemdash]

From what you're saying, it sounds like 75K might fit your current writing habits more. And if you write 75K in 2019, you might be in a better place to try 120 Days later. You've already written more than halfway to 75K without consciously trying to, so I think it's an achievable goal for you.

[roadmagician]

I discovered this community after a friend of mine mentioned how writing shorter pieces instead of longer ones had helped her finish things and become more consistent.

I participate in Nano most years but my writing the rest of the year is sporadic. Perhaps a goal of 1 short story a week or month could help me increase my output and form a habit? How would I go about translating this into an achievable Habit or Wordcount goal?

I do like the idea of being accountable for my progress, despite being a bit intimidated tbh.

[theemdash]

I would take a look at the average length of stories you might write, consider how much rewriting you do, and then start adding it up to see if a word count pledge makes sense.

For example, my average short story length is about 6,000 words and I tend to rewrite A LOT, so writing one story a month would probably be about 12,000 words each month. That's very close to the 150K pledge pace (which is about 12.5K per month), so with that plan I would sign up for the 150K Word Count Pledge.

If my short stories weren't quite as long, and I thought it might be more beneficial for me to commit to working on a short story for at least 10 days every month (figuring in 10 days I would finish a short story), I'd sign up for the 120 Day Habit Pledge.

Does that help for your own translation?