Hello, fam!

Earlier this week, the Sestra messaged me a link to a writing community of sorts. I read the words Get Your Words Out 2021: Writing Decathlon and my mind began a-stirring. When I had a chance to do a deep dive the following day, I was surprised to learn that it had been around for 12 years. Just goes to show how far-reaching the interwebs can be. There’s a community for and about anything. Bits and bytes for everyone.

I found myself perusing the site and I was immediately intrigued because this was right up my alley in terms of writing accountability, motivation, community and goals for this year and beyond. The community is free to join and the deadline for making your 2021 pledge is January 18, so I had to share this with you now.

What’s the pledge for, you ask? There are two pledge types: Word Count and Habit, each with multiple options. It’s certainly diverse enough to provide the opportunity to make a realistic goal for yourself. There’s plenty of information on the site but I’ve taken a couple screencaps for quick reference. Here are the breakdowns:

For those of you who feel that these word counts are daunting, like a NaNoWriMo meets Fast and Furious, I hear you.

I was glad–read: relieved–to see the Habit Pledge option. For me, that seemed to be more of a realistic and reasonable first go at this challenge. Of course, when I initially read the options, I considered the Master level. However, in lieu of gun-jumping or leaping before I looked, I decided to go for the Apprentice level. Approximately 10 days a month was doable, actionable. And when, not if, I exceeded the goal of writing 120 days in a year, I could gauge my goals for next year.

What I like about the Habit Pledge is that it can help me maintain the writing goals I restarted for last year’s NaNoWriMo. I don’t have to think of the quantity of my writing but establish the quality of a consistent writing routine. The main purpose of this writing community is to increase a writer’s productivity and output, so I appreciate that they’re giving us every possible chance at success.

Sign ups run until January 18, 2021 and you have the option to change your pledge up until that point. You’re only allowed to choose one pledge and after the cut-off date, that’s the pledge you’ve got until the year’s challenge is over. While, there is technically no penalty if you don’t reach your goals, having such a large community of almost 2,000 writers in the same boat as you is encouraging. Also, they said you can have a second unofficial goal. So, you can track your wordcounts with your habits and vice versa, in order to see what pledge is a more fitting challenge for you next time around.

I’m cautiously optimistic about my participation in this collective. However, I’m fully excited at the concept and intent behind what they’re doing here. It’s a beautiful thing.

I hope you join me this year. So much has happened on a global scale, I know writing can be a therapeutic and purposeful endeavour. Let’s come together to Get Your Words Out!

Stay creative, stay weird, be kind to yourself and others.

Until next time,

T out.