500-Word Daily Challenge — Help! Help Me Keep My Resolution, Please!

I’ve made a resolution to KEEP WRITING DAILY, whether my writing output, article, story or post ever gets posted or not. I’ve set a goal of a minimum of 500 words per day. Easy peasy, right?

500 words a day = @ 1,500 words a month = 182,500 words for 2012.

Think we can do this? Oh, yeah!! By the way, that yearly count equals the size of two or three books!!! So just think how much a little bit adds up over time.

And surely, with all those words and ideas written down, you’re going to have a lot of great content to post to all those blogs, websites, FB pages, and article directories you need to push all your other 2012 business goals to completion!!!

Please join in this 500-Word Daily Challenge with me. I need YOU to help me keep my goal. We could each check back in and post our progress. No pressure. If we miss our mark sometimes, we’ll help each other make up the time/words lost and help keep each other on track to reach our goals.

And if someone reaches the total 2012 yearly word goal long before the end of the year… well that would be just awesome, now wouldn’t it?

Please, pretty please, join me in this 500-Word Daily Challenge. I need YOUR help. In return, I’ll help you meet your writing output goals, too.

Deal? All suggestions, comments, etc. are VERY welcome here.

Hi @atlantarobin

I’m a web developer so I’m not about to promise 500 words a day unless it’s in code:)  What I suggest to my clients to help them come up with ideas is to setting ups some Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts

You should definitely have an alert with your business name, or personal name if that’s your gig. (That way you’ll know when someone is talking about you, and you don’t have to rely on the ole itching behind the ears effect.)  Not sure what you blog about, but you should set up alerts that are relevant. 

Google Reader http://www.google.com/reader/ is also very handy. There you can find and keep track of information and topics your interested in. 

 The idea is to be informed when something in your industry is being discussed so you can present your own take, information or whatever, AND do it when it’s trending and not old news.

Good Luck!

@atlantarobin

OK I’m sure there are bloggers out their that would love this kind of support network. Let’s see who posts next….

RE: Google AlertsCheck out http://support.google.com/alerts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=175927

Here are a few examples. Try them in a Google search until your whittle down to where you see yourself come up.  …Your name does seem to be quite popular!

“Robin Carlisle” -site:somesite.com
“Robin Carlisle” -minister -africa +blogger

@atlantarobin Maybe anyone who participates can share their posts for the challenge in this thread and make it the largest thread on the forum.  :)

As far as I go, I probably meet that quota just through my freelance writing.  I don’t write every day, but most of my posts top out around 1,000 words.  Today I’m writing one that needs to end up around 5,000, so wish me luck!

OK, I started the following thread in each forum because some people only belong to one club and may not see it if I just post to the Blogging Club.

Take the 2012 Daily Link Challenge
& Post Links to Your NEW Content Here!

Perhaps that’s a more motivating challenge. For everyone, not just writers. For those who don’t like to write, they can still post a link to their new creation, video, etc.

Now yall please go post a link to your latest works, whatever they may be. Kristi, you best get that story finished and get your link posted there, too. Chop, chop! And I’ve got to go get busy and get my blog up so I can post links, too.

Whatcha think?

Robin

I love this challenge.  This may be a fantastic way to get in the habit of writing as well as getting feedback on my blogging / writing as well.  Thanks  @atlantarobin

@johnpulley @digdigitalgroup @kristi-hines @juleswebb

Howdy, you guys. I made a big boo-boo and wanted to let yall know.

Apparently it’s against Club rules to post the same post in more than one Club. I didn’t realize. Michael let me know a few minutes ago and they removed the duplicate posts from the other two clubs. Perhaps I should have just posted an announcement in the other two clubs letting them know about the link challenge and telling them to come to the Blogging Club to see the link challenge forum and post their links to their new content.

Kristi, would that be the way to handle that? I’m fine with it either way. My intent was just to get the word out.

Good news is the new content link challenge post is still in its forum in this Blogging Club. So, whenever you have new content, please be sure and go post those links.

Happy Blogging and Networking!

Robin Carlisle

@stefaniefrank @johnpulley

Stefanie and John Pulley, great you two. I was about to just bite my lip and do this alone. OK, then. We’re going to write every day. I’ve got to get my blog up so I can post there. Too much going on over the holidays to get that done. I’ll make sure that’s done by the weekend.

And I’ll get today’s 500 words done tonight. I’ll keep you posted.

And to John Garcia, good luck with your blog’s debut. How exciting. I hope I feel that good about mine.

@kristi-hines @digdigitalgroup

@atlantarobin I think we’re running into a lot of duplicate posters trying to game the point system, so sometimes it’s hard for the moderators to tell when something has a legit purpose vs. the other.  This forum is definitely the best fit for it though, so it’s a good thing they kept the thread here.  :)

And thanks about the article – just finished it last night.  Ironically, it was a 6 piece article, and I made it to 6,000 words when I finished the 5th piece of it.  :)

Can I just be a sideline cheerleader? I have done a writing challenge but need to take a break. Maybe one of you would know of the program that makes you stay on task. You can choose easy, medium or hard settings. If it is set on easy and you stop typing, the screen flashes…on hard and you stop typing it starts erasing your work! I wish I could remember it. @atlantarobin @kristi-hines @johnpulley @stefaniefrank @digdigitalgroup @juleswebb Maybe you will inspire me to get back on the keyboard!

I will continue researching it. I spent hours going back through my fackbook status updates trying to find it. aaarrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh @atlantarobin

@Robin Carlisle 

Great idea. I already write every day because I put out a weekly local newspaper and am working on books and other projects. Unfortunately, my output is up and down.

Prior to writing and publishing the newspaper,  I was a freelance journalist for more than 30 years which meant keeping production up or tightening the belt. For many years, I came up with ideas, researched, interviewed folks, edited and wrote anywhere from 10-20 articles per week (averaging about 10,000 words for publication). Off and on, I worked on my own projects in addition. 

This year I resolved to write at least 5,000 words per day. (Please keep in mind my daily output is generally in the 2,000 to 5,000 range anyway – I just wanted to bump it up to a consistently high level).

In addition, I’m in the process of putting up a website for an e-edition of the paper and to take care of all the information that doesn’t fit into our print edition. 

Maybe, my sub-goal could be to dedicate at least 500 words per day to my own creative writing. Yes, that’s what I’ll do. So, I’m in. 

Thanks for coming up with this. I’m looking forward to learning and sharing in this club as I increase my media savvy. I have lots of ideas (my husband says I have a ‘popcorn’ brain) and I can see what the outcome should be, but I need to fill in the middle with the technical stuff. No budget to outsource those tasks yet, so I’m learning to do it on my own. Sloooooowly, and taking much too much time for my taste.

I just keep saying to myself ‘baby steps’. 

Glad to be here.  

Jessica 

@johnpulley @jessica @kristi-hines @stefaniefrank @digdigitalgroup @juleswebb

Okey, dokey, Mr. Pulley, you caught us all red-handed and NOT reporting in our 500-daily word output. I know I personally have been putting out more than 5,000 words a day, just tippy-tappy-typing away on all kinds of writing projects, mostly NOT for pieces for sale or for my blog. And I haven’t been writing my normal 500-words a day on paid iWriter assignments either. No, all my writing energy has been focused on getting my two new sites up and running, but not on writing posts for the sites themselves. Just logistical stuff and asking lots of questions, that kind of thing.

So, today I recommit to each of you that I WILL write those 500 words again, but now have some catching up to do. So here’s what I propose…

Bare with me on this as it’s just a brainstorm right now. Everyday, I’ll come back here to post these things to help me mark the trail and the milestones along our way:

• Today’s date
• Number of days since January 1, 2012
• Number of days remaining in the year
• How many words I owe myself and our little writer’s club to date
• How many words I wrote, posted, and left a link to today.
• My cumulative total of words on my account, whether positive or negative. Meaning I either need to write more to catch up or either I’m on track and ahead of my goals.
• The article title of what I wrote/posted/linked to today.

So watcha think? Too much? Not enough? Helpful or not? Please, pretty please, I would so love this help in staying accountable to my goals. Any other suggestions or comments would be very welcome. Let’s all keep talking here as I think we could really help and support each other on this.

And Jules, I know you said you’re more of a techy so may not want to play this game with us here, but I would love to be able to call on your expertise on occasion if you’re willing. Some of us have already mentioned that the techy stuff can get in our way sometimes, so I know we’d all appreciate knowing there’s someone out there we could call on for those kinds of things. Your helping me with the Google Alerts thangy was so nice of you and has been a boon to helping me better sort through invaluable info I had been missing because of the hassle involved. You made things easy peasy and I so thank you for that.

OK, yall. Please forgive me for throwing so many words your way at once. Just wanted to see what you thought and entice you to keep our little magnificent seven group together working on our individual goals this year.

So watcha think?

@atlantarobin
Crazy buzy fingers!!  Ok, 52 weeks = 52 strong subjects.  Within each week is blog posts on current affairs and spin off’s of your strong weekly subject.

 Have you created a writing calendar?  Trying to come up with fresh stuff everyday would drive me over the edge…I want to read your blog!!!  Hope this becomes a meaningful process and not just an exercise in word count.  Go for it!