I saw this morning that 750 Words is on its way to becoming a pay site. I'm already paying a monthly donation (one that's slightly larger than what the site's going to cost), so it won't have much of an effect on me, but I do wonder how it's generally going to change the landscape around here.
It would be nice to finally be able to download all my writing in some format for archival purposes, although I don't know exactly what that format would be. Plus, there's always the argument that I could be doing what I'm doing on this site without using the site at all, but without the site I don't believe I would've gotten this far. I need a support system, even if it's just an automated one. If I'm just throwing a bunch of words into a document somewhere it's harder for me to see the value of it, and besides I've grown addicted to seeing my daily stats.
The main reason I've been considering downloading all my work here (regardless of whether it's offered as an option by the site), is that I'd like to be able to search through it all for specific references to events in the past, and I'd also like to have the security of knowing that I have my work backed up in a more permanent form than just having it on this site's servers somewhere, the future of websites being as ephemeral a thing as it is. Having my own copy would also make it easier to transfer these notes to future generations someday, somehow. I'd never considered myself the kind of person to have a journal before (other than my few abortive attempts over the years), and 750 Words has changed that for me. (There are other things I don't usually consider myself to be that I constantly have to keep reminding myself about, such as being an adult, a married man, and a person with facial hair)
I sometimes wonder how long I'll continue writing these entries, and whether I'll just lose my momentum or become too busy for them one of these days. Momentum certainly doesn't seem to be a problem for me these days---my entries usually flow out in less than twenty minutes, especially when I'm not writing with the intent of posting my work on a blog.
I hope the new pricing plan works out for Buster, the guy who runs 750 Words. I'm sure there must be a price for hosting such huge quantities of text, and the repository just keeps growing day by day. I myself have been using the site for just over a year now, and I'm approaching 200,000 words just by myself. I'm even happy with some of those words!
In other news, I'm thinking of submitting the beginning of my revised manuscript to a grant program for emerging New York City writers. The deadline is the 15th, and I still have some polishing to do before then, but I at least have finally managed to wrestle Scrivener into compiling my chapters into a format that I'm happy with. Granted, my vampire story has no illusions of high art, but I think it's fairly solid so far, and the latest feedback I've gotten from my wife (herself a difficult judge to please, especially with regard to writing) has made me feel even better about it. I have room to fit in one more chapter, which is a new one that I haven't finished writing yet. (The story is complete, but I'm adding additional episodes along the way to flesh it out more and expand its world) I may also send a copy to my parents when I'm done, since they've been coming after me for ages to see some of these tens of thousands of words I pour onto pages every November (though it's hard to say just how many of the remaining words were in the first draft I wrote three years ago).
I'm in a good place right now. My marriage is blissful, my work is steady, the winter hasn't been as cold as some, my marathon training's continuing apace, and, most importantly, I haven't let all that contentment make me lazy in other aspects of my life. I have a good feeling about this year so far, and this is in February---a notoriously difficult month to stay positive during. We'll see how things play out in the months to come...
