The Writing Coach is an optional coach for authors. You set a weekly goal of writing days, and it cheers on what you write.
It never scolds. There are no "missed" days and no red marks, and a week that ends under your goal is followed by a fresh start.
If you don't see the Writing Coach yet, it may not be available on your account.
Where you'll see it
- Your writing week, on your Home page: a dot for each day this week, a short message, and Continue your story.
- A short message after you save, on your first save of the day and when you get close to your goal or reach it. This appears on the web only.
- A reminder, if you'd like one, at a time you choose.
- Your weeks, on the Writing Coach settings page.
Your goal covers every project you write in, not just one. Only you can see your goal and progress.
Start the coach
- From your Home page: choose Set a weekly goal on the "Want a gentle nudge to keep writing?" card. The card shows once you have a project. Not now hides it on this device.
- From Settings: open Settings › Writing Coach and choose Start the Writing Coach. In the app, use the Writing Coach row in Settings.
Pick a goal from 1 to 7 days a week. Three is recommended. Choose one that feels doable: rest days are part of writing too. If you start partway through a week, the days you've already written count straight away.
You can change your goal at any time from Edit goal on your Home page, or from the settings page. The new goal applies to this week. Past weeks keep the goal they had.
What counts as a writing day
- Any save counts. A writing day is any day you save a block, in any of your projects. Editing, cutting and rewriting count, not just adding words.
- Days follow your time zone. A day runs from midnight to midnight in the time zone on your account (Settings › Account). Weeks start on Monday at midnight.
- Words added and words cut are both counted. A rewrite that keeps the same length still makes it a writing day. Deleting a whole block doesn't count as cutting words.
- Writing happens on the web. The app shows your progress, and Continue your story opens your project, but it has no editor yet.
Your writing streak and the activity heatmap on your profile use the same days. The coach doesn't change either of them.
Reminders
Turn on Send me a gentle reminder in the Writing Coach settings to get a short notification inviting you back to your story. It never mentions streaks or goals at risk.
- It arrives at 7 PM in your time zone, unless you choose another Reminder time.
- It doesn't come on the day you start the coach, on a day you've already written, or once you've met this week's goal.
- You get at most one a day, even if you change the time after one has arrived.
Reminders also need notifications turned on in Settings › Notifications. If they're off, no reminder is sent, not even to your notifications list.
Tapping a reminder takes you back to your writing: on the web, to the block you saved last; in the app, to that project.
To stop reminders, turn the reminder switch off and keep the coach.
Your weeks
Your weeks, on the settings page, charts your past weeks: writing days as bars, with a marker for the goal you had that week, and the words you added. Weeks that met their goal are highlighted. Other weeks are shown in a neutral color, with nothing marked as missed.
A week appears after it ends, on Monday at midnight. The chart shows 12 weeks on a wide screen and 6 on a phone, and the same numbers are in a table for screen readers.
Turn it off
Choose Turn off the Writing Coach. Your goal and reminder settings are kept, so you can pick up again whenever you like.