Choosing Your GYWO 2022 Pledge

[gywomod]

With GYWO 2022 Pledges opening next week, which pledge to choose is hopefully on your mind. Instead of letting everyone stew in their personal hells, we’re running down a few of the common things the mods tell panicked participants, and then offering 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 2022 will be released the week of Dec 13.

Word Count Pledge Vs Habit Pledge
Deciding between a Word Count Pledge or Habit Pledge can be a difficult decision. Here are some things to consider as you make your choice:

• If you want to emphasize the habit of your writing life—encouraging you to sit down to write more often—a Habit Pledge is built to support that. 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 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 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. Our 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 most challenging 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.
• If you've completed a Word Count Pledge multiple times, but don't think you can hit the next highest Word Count Pledge, consider working on your writing habit this year with a Habit Pledge.
• 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've participated previously and 120 Days was too easy, but 240 Days was too hard, try the new 180 Day Pledge to land right in between!
• If you haven’t tried writing daily before but want to, we recommend the 180 Day Pledge as a way to ease into a semi-daily writing habit before tackling a more challenging pledge.

Word Count Pledges
First Time with a 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 the 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 2021.
• 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 2021.
• There are no penalties for not meeting your pledge, so don’t be afraid to choose a pledge you may not be able to meet!

If you’ve done GYWO before but aren’t certain which goal you want, you’ve likely narrowed it down to two goals. Here’s our advice for choosing between two word count goals…

Go Big on Word Counts

• If you wrote 50,000 words or more above your 2021 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 your goal, 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, 350K, or 500K

Step Back on Word Counts

• If you wrote 50,000 words below your 2021 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 non-writing projects, 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 (which we all know, thanks), 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, 150K, or 500K.

Keep Your Word Count Consistent

• If you're going to hit your 2021 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 2021 pledge level works for you, let it work for you in 2022.
• If you came close to hitting your 2021 pledge level or it was a challenge to make it, this might be the right pledge level to try again in 2022.

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.

As a reminder, your GYWO pledge is locked in for the full year.
You cannot change pledges mid-year.
If you hit your goal early, you're still part of the same pledge group.
So choose a goal to sustain you ALL year.


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. After some discussion, hopefully you'll come away with a confident decision.

Note: Commenting to this post does not constitute pledging for 2022. Come back next week and follow the instructions in the Pledges & Requirements post to make a pledge for 2022.

Comments

[theemdash]

I've been sort of torn on my 2022 pledge because while I'll hit 250K this year, it's a slog most of the year to get there. I think I've talked myself into it, though:

I've got a steady writing gig that should produce 80K words.
I'm planning to draft most of a novel, so roughly 100K words.
Regular blogging should account for about 30K words.
Which leaves me with 40K remaining, which isn't that much considering I also write posts for GYWO, fanfic, and various other things.

[annofowlshire]

To repeat your own advice back to you—will you be more motivated by the push or more motivated to complete and then carry on?

[vriddy]

"If you came close to hitting your 2021 pledge level or it was a challenge to make it, this might be the right pledge level to try again in 2022." is a very interesting point. I picked 250K in 2021 and will probably miss it by 30k words or so.

Right now I'm temped to go for 200k because there were lockdowns this year and I don't think I'll have the same amount of time to write early in the year in 2022, and I want to give myself the space to try new things which always means writing slower. Especially if I try to work on longer projects, which use up more of my stamina.

On the other hand it could be fun to aim for 250k words every year until I "finally meet it dammit" 😂 But realistically, if I look at my monthly totals since it's been possible to see people again, I haven't met the required monthly goal once, so... 200k is likely to be the more reasonable, actually achievable pledge for me.

Even if I utterly love the blue role on discord for the 250k pledge 💙😂

[theemdash]

I think it comes down to whether hitting the pledge would be more motivating. Would the pressure of being behind help you or stress you out? (Which can change year to year!)


On the mod side: MOST of the colors are changing next year to make space in the rainbow for the new pledges. (You can see the new colors on the front page of the website.) But, um, the 250K blue is staying. Which is wholly unrelated to any moderators in charge of approving designs also pledging 250K words. >.>

[racheloddment]

I'm very excited about the new 180 day pledge! I'll be at about 160 days this year, so 180 is perfect to push myself a little bit further. Maybe eventually I'll make it up to 240 😂

[thissugarcane]

It's probably not a popular take, but I hit my pledge in the spring, and consistently being "ahead" was more motivating than previous years where I fell behind or just kept up. So the satisfaction of being over one's goal can be a decent motivator too.

[theemdash]

I had that same experience one year when I unexpectedly made my goal in the summer! So, yes, sometimes hitting early is more motivating.

HOWEVER, as a mod, I would love to encourage people consistently hitting in Spring to aim for completing their goal over the Summer. Still early, and you'll still be ahead all that time, but it's a better match to what you're actually producing.

Thinking out loud

[annofowlshire]

Returning to GYWO after a year off (although I’ve changed my username again, LOL). Have new pledges been added? Or was that in 2021?

Anyway, much to my surprise for a year I was planning to “take off from writing,” I’ve started working in narrative for gamedev as my FT job. Scripts tend to be less word count heavy (but challenging in their own way), and looking at my monthly output this year, I’d guestimate I was ranging approx 7k words a month of polished, implementable scripts (and maybe up to 12k a month if one takes into account that I also write client-facing location, character, casting call, storyline overview, FMV scripts, and a variety of other narrative documents.)

So let’s call that 100k as an average for this year. EXCEPT that we recently did a team expansion, and I went from one woman doing All Things Narrative to leading a team of 3 (including me). I’m still writing a lot, but I’m not the only one (and I’m doing a lot of non-writing but still narrative-related tasks) and I’m not yet sure how that impacts me on a raw word count level.

Arg. Anyway. I feel that 75k isn’t a challenge given that just doing my job would theoretically account for that. 150k feels like it might be much, although that goes into the OTHER stuff I want to be doing this year.

2021 was really getting acquainted with this new medium and I wasn’t able to seriously delve into side projects because I’m fairly monogamous about my projects and I was tackling a lot of new skills and inputs as well. However, someday this project/contract will end and I’ve found I like doing this and so I want to write some interactive fiction samples to use as portfolio pieces for when that time comes and I’m shopping for a new studio client. Is that another 75k worth to get me to 150k? I’m not sure, but I’m nothing if not ambitious?

It all feels very light when I was usually doing the 350k pledge in the past, but that was novels. And although I don’t feel scripts are any less difficult, when you crunch the raw word count they don’t feel nearly as impressive.

tl;dr I’ll probably do 150k, but I’m having inadequate feelings about it and I’d be happy to have feedback and/or support. The habit pledges won’t work for me because 240 days is literally just showing up for my job and 350 days is unrealistic for my life.

Re: Thinking out loud

[theemdash]

WELCOME BACK!! *hugs*

New pledges were added this year! We finally had the backend resources to support a couple new additions and both of these have been desperately needed in their respective slots. I'm so happy to be able to add them.


Moving on to you, though...

From all that, it sounds like you want a challenge, not just a number you absolutely know you can hit (75K), so that makes the 150K pledge the fairly obvious choice. The other nice thing is it should give you a little push to stay on your goal of writing interactive fiction samples on the side, and might also account for any on-the-job training exercises you might need to write to develop more skills.

150K seems like a good choice for you next year.

[muscle_wizard]

I've been thinking a lot about which pledge to go with next year! I took the same pledge (Habit 240) the last two years and tbh I'm glad I did because it really gave me a sense of relief with my situation this year.

Last year I went over and wrote 300 days, crushing it and making me feel elated that the discipline I was working on had paid off with the support and encouragement from the community. This year I will not be meeting my pledge and tbh, that was a conscious decision on my part because of shifting focus on my health and preparing for a busy spring coming my way. In October I asked if not meeting my pledge would feel like a failure and I said, "No." After a break, I went back to writing and finished up all my other writing obligations -- leaving only my projects in my lap. Taking my time with them has been enjoyable, and I'll be happy with whatever number I end up with because I'm doing my best.

All that said, switching focus to a Word Count goal will help me out a lot with the crazy start to next year! I'm eying anywhere between 200k - 300k because that's where I've been on average the last few years. Still attempting to practice the ever tricky "just write don't edit" mentality lol but I have hope.

[annofowlshire]

I love the habit pledges in theory, but have found word count pledges more motivating toward my goals.

Do you have a sense of what kind of projects and their associated (estimated) word counts you want to work on next year? That’s always helped me figure out my goal.

[sheenianni]

I'm torn between the 75k word pledge and the 120 day pledge... This will be my fourth or fifth year of doing GYWO and I've never succeeded with either (though the past two years probably shouldn't count as I almost completely put my writing on a back-burner).

I think I'll try the word pledge again - it's about 6,300 words per month, which is 1-3 chapters/short stories. It seems more doable than ten writing days a month - I can always hope to make up for "not enough progress" with a writing burst (if only).

[theemdash]

It's much easier to make up a word count deficit later in the year than it is a day deficit. As long as counting words won't stress you out, it sounds like a good match!

[badly_knitted]

I'm torn. I know I can manage 200k easily, but I also know that's committing to 548 words a day at the start of the year (it goes down as time passes) and I don't want to feel constrained when I';d also like to do more crafting, so I'm dithering between sticking to 200k or dropping to 150k. I hate making decisions, someone tell me what to do!

[annofowlshire]

It’s legit of you to decide that you want to spend more of next year focused on another hobby. In that case, I would choose the lower goal unless 200k was “easy” in the way that you shoot past it so far normally that you could still achieve without compromising on your desire to spend more time crafting (and making yourself miserable trying to do both at full tilt).

[newsbypostcard]

Last year I aimed for 500k and hit 407k, this year I aimed for 500k and will probably hit 450k, next year I'll aim for 500k and... hopefully hit it? The trend is in the right direction. But honestly just the goal itself is motivating. I'm always happy if I break 400k anyway!

[theemdash]

I LOVE IT.

[bjornwilde]

I set myself a goal of only counting original work and not online RPG for my habit goal; the 240 days. Which worked for about 9 months then I just fizzled out.

Not sure what I mean to do for my goal next year, but it is something I'll need to consider. I think it might be best if I stick to a schedule like I only have to write 5 days of the week.

[theemdash]

I made that switch after I made my goal only because of RP one year. It was tough the next couple of years, but I don't regret it. (And now my writing life is much stronger!)

The 240D sounds like it might be good for you, but if you want to keep those stricter rules on yourself but also provide some more wiggle room, you might like the 180D?

[peaked]

I ended up surprising myself and writing 150k+ over my word count pledge for the first time ever. I'm considering taking 350k next year (which is so strange to me because I always found 200k to be the best goal for me for personal reasons).

Even though this year was technically different to any other year, I felt busier than I've ever been in my professional life. It did help that I was wfh, but as I wrote in the evening way after work was over (and have written in the evenings after going out), I think I have a routine settled even if I had to trudge back into the office. I definitely think because I've focused on getting into a writing rhythm and getting a routine down that I can reach a higher word count next year. (The only thing that work can do is get busier, which I know I can handle—writing has become my little wind-down and treat after work.) I have a lot of writing projects I want to focus on. I definitely have the content for a Herculean effort.

It's just so scary! But I've been aiming for 200k for a few years now and I think it's time for a change of scenery. I considered going to 250k, but I think I'll either go 300k or 350k. Even though blue/purple are two of my favourite colours, those greens look nice, too.

[theemdash]

Congrats on having such a productive year! Yeah, it really sounds like you're up for a bigger challenge, and that even the 250K isn't as much of a challenge as you need. If you think life can continue like this, achieving that 350K goal "officially" would be a nice feather in your cap...

[ladyjax]

I'm giving this more thought this time around. I made my habit pledge this year but mostly by the skin of my teeth. A lot of times, I felt like I was just spinning my wheels and not writing anything of merit (in my estimation)

It also doesn't help that I've worked from home since last March and trying to keep all of that separated from the rest of my life is hard. And like others, I picked up hobbies, etc. to keep myself going.

However, as I write this, I'm asking myself what I want to get out of it and also am I enjoying it. I haven't felt joy in my writing in a while and switching things up may help me rediscover what I've been missing in myself and what I produce.

All this to say, I'm looking at word pledges and seeing what I want to make of that.

[theemdash]

Oof, it's so tough to feel like you're spinning your wheels on writing and not producing anything "worthwhile." (I have been there so, so many times.)

If does sound like you need a change a pace, and counting words instead of days could do that. Based on what you're describing, I'd recommend going a little conservative on a word count goal, just to take pressure off that spinning feeling. (I know I have that feeling most often when I'm struggling to hit a word count goal.)

[topaz_eyes]

My first year I aimed for 75K and made it to 60.7K (107 days). My 2nd year I aimed for 75K, reached it in late August (147 days), and finished the year with 115K (217 days). This year I just finished the 75K pledge a few days ago (135 days), and expect to finish somewhere around 80K (days tbd). I've been eyeing the 150K pledge, which in theory is only double the daily expected count (from 206 to 412 words/day). In practice, it means I'd have to double that pace again to keep up, because I can't write every day. On the days I do manage to write I've averaged about 550 words/day. I've met the monthly pace for the 150K pledge a few times, usually during the mid-summer marathon, but it's not sustainable for me long term. So, looks like 75K again, even though it feels too low.

(Unfortunately I'm more motivated by word counts than days worked.)

[theemdash]

Honestly, that sounds like 75K is your sweet spot. Maybe set a stretch goal for yourself to aim for 100K to start building stamina? I know I did that to get myself feeling more comfortable as I waffled between 200K and 250K for a few years.

[elaiel]

I wasn't even halfway to my target this year due to health issues, close family illness and bereavements, work stress and now moving house. I'm kind of wondering whether to drop down a level to make it feel more achievable. But then, I'll be in the new house in a few days, I'm not coping with a sick parent any more and next year looks like it'll be a much less stressful year all round. But dropping down a level also feels kind of like giving in, but I know it's be more achievable. Still not sure.

[theemdash]

Dropping down a level is not "giving in." It's giving yourself a break, being kind, and accepting that after an extra stressful year, you need something simpler. It's okay to choose a goal that will be more manageable and will make you happier.

As long as you'll still feel motivated in your writing path if you exceed your pledge, I see no reason to not cut yourself a break.

[literarycrafter]

75K again for me for definite.

I haven’t hit it once yet I don’t think 🤔 (or maybe once, but if I did that was definitely a fluke).

This year I would have been close, but when November rolled around I decided I was too busy with work to want to do NaNoWriMo too - which would have boosted my word count exponentially.

My biggest problem is remembering to check-in (especially during the summer months when I a) don’t do much writing and b) forget I’ve used up the grace period you provide) and I’ve tried everything I can think of to remind myself but nothing works.

[theemdash]

Have you checked through our list of reminders? We've got a lot of opportunities to help you remember to check-in.

• Every Check-In Post to DW is tagged with the !monthly check-in tag. If you track that tag, you'll get a notification when the post goes up. (We recommend selecting the option that emails the post to you.)
• You can follow our Check-in Schedule Google Calendar.
• You can check-in through the link that appears in our monthly email newsletter.
• You can check-in through the link that appears in the #announcements channel on GYWO Discord.
• You can check-in through the link that appears in the Members Only section of the website.
• You can follow a link from Twitter or Tumblr to the DW post, or use it as a reminder to go to one of the other places where a direct link is posted.
• You can request to be excused by contacting the moderators via the Membership Management form. (Which gets linked many places, including the newsletter and every Kick-Off and Check-In.)

Also, I only have record of this username participating once. Did you previously participate in GYWO under a different username? We like to match up records whenever possible.

[chelseagirl]

I'm still distressed by the new term "Greenhorn" for 120 days. My job is very stop-start and can be all-consuming for periods of time. I can't necessarily write as regularly as I might want to. But I have a novel out from a small press, a story just out in an anthology, a dozen academic pieces in journals and edited collections, and 77 stories on AO3. And I just won a scholarship from the local chapter of Mystery Writers of America. Apprentice didn't seem too bad, but Greenhorn for some reason is really demotivating, considering what I've actually accomplished. But I'm just going to miss the 120 this year so it feels foolhardy to pledge 180 and fail at that, too.

[gywomod]

Sorry to hear you're feeling demotivated. You certainly seem to be rocking your writing life with all your accomplishments!

For us at GYWO, the titles of the pledges do not refer to the writer, but to the enormity of the challenge taken on in the context of the rest of GYWO. For example a "Light" 75K challenge as opposed to a "Ludicrous" 1M challenge doesn't mean that 75K is "light" for the writers taking it on, just that it is "light" in comparison to the other pledge goals.

We’re all working on our craft at the speed that best suits us. Rock the pledge that works for you, and congrats on that scholarship!

[bjornwilde]

I think I will stick with the 240D but allow one or two days of the week for RPG content to count. Add it little more flexibility to my goal. And I think I need to keep in mind that I can work on more than one original project and even a sentence is forward progress.

I think I might still be in that state where daydreaming on the project is more fun than writing on the project. :D

[theemdash]

Isn't daydreaming about a project almost always more fun? ;)

[the_islander]

I'm super undecided which pledge to pick this time. I've been participating since 2016 and never once managed to hit the 75k target, but I got really close/over 70% in both 2018 and 2019 (and hit the 120 days habit target). Last year and this year were a total mess in more ways than just one (lots of health + work/financial stuff on top of the pandemic)* and now I'm super unsure what to expect for 2022.

I'll definitely not aim higher than 75k because I know I'll likely have more health stuff upcoming (and possibly a move), but I'm wondering whether it wouldn't be a good idea to go for a habit pledge instead of a word count one. Most of the writing I do - and most of the writing I know I'll do in 2022 - is non-fiction (book reviews for my blog, academic articles, and my PhD thesis) and for all of those more time spent writing doesn't always translate to a higher word count. Plus, I suspect it would help both my blogging and my thesis work if I focused more on my writing habit than on the amount written? I think?

(I've felt like writing more creatively again in the last couple of weeks but I don't trust that urge just yet; the pandemic has done terrible things to my ability to commit to creative writing/let my imagination run wild)


*(I spent three weeks in hospital in November for a planned surgery I didn't even know I'd have to have when I pledged in January; it's the first year I didn't even attempt NaNoWriMo since about 2009 and even though it was the right decision, it still annoys me.)

Thoughts?

[theemdash]

It sounds like you'd more easily hit a habit pledge than a word count one, so it comes down to which you think would be more motivating—being on pace or ahead most of the year, or pushing yourself to complete a more difficult challenge.

Depending upon how many articles you'll be writing and the length of your thesis, you might find that you've got enough to his the 75K goal. Maybe list out the word counts of your expected projects and see where that takes you. If you're way under 75K, you'll for sure have an answer.

[matsushima]

I went ahead and signed up for the 180 Day Pledge. I hit my 120 days in the fall, and I'll be doing both thesis semesters in 2022 (critical thesis in Spring 2022/creative thesis in Fall 2022), so, honestly, I'll probably hit more than 180 days, but I like to have a pledge level I'm more-or-less guaranteed to meet so I don't get discouraged.

[kizzia]

So I will (if nothing goes wrong between now and the end of December) hit the 350 habit pledge I signed for this year but I won’t be picking the same for next year - the pressure of the pledge combined with life throwing rocks (never mind lemons) meant that I found it almost overwhelming. Plus when I look at what I was actually writing for about 40% of those days I can see they were words for the sake of the target, not words I wanted to write and whilst I don’t believe any writing is ever truly wasted I see the effort behind each sentence and not in a good way. I don’t want writing to end up being something I do grudgingly when it’s meant to be a positive part of my life. So I’ve pledged for the 240 habit for 2022 which I hope will give me enough space to reclaim the joy whilst also still being a challenge!

[lokiofsassgaard]

Well, this looks fun. I've stumbled on this community a few times in the past, but never during sign ups.

I got about 800k up on AO3 this year, which doesn't count original fiction and stuff that got posted to my purgatory account. 80k a month feels like it'll be a good challenge.

[theemdash]

Love that attitude, and glad you caught us during pledging! Always love seeing more Marvel folks around.