MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS

Because Get Your Words Out is based on Dreamwidth, you must either sign up with a DW account or OpenID.

If you do not usually check Dreamwidth, consider tracking the community so posts will be sent to your email, or plan to visit the posts linked in our monthly newsletter. You can also participate in our GYWO Discord server (though you’ll be missing the amazing writing craft and industry posts.) One of the most rewarding aspects of GYWO is the community experience, so don’t miss out!

In addition to signing up with a Dreamwidth or OpenID, you must meet 3 participation requirements to stay an active member throughout the year.

CHECK-IN
All members must participate in the monthly check-ins. Each month, members provide their current year-to-date (YTD) totals to the moderators. Your YTD word count or day count should never decrease. The YTD reflects all the words you wrote during the year (even if you later edit them out), or all the days you worked on writing during the year. You will only ever be required to provide numbers; sharing what is written is completely optional.

If you know you will be unavailable during the time frame for an upcoming check-in, you can request to be excused by completing the Membership Management Form available on the Members Only page or on the Dreamwidth community. A link to the form is also available at the bottom of each Check-In and Kick Off post and in the newsletter.

Following the May and September Check-Ins, the moderators will preform a Membership Clean Up to remove any lapsed accounts.
- After the May Check-in, if you have missed 4 check-ins, you will be removed from the community. If you check-in for May, we’ll consider your account active and not remove it.
- After the September Check-in, all members who have missed 6 check-ins will be removed.
A count of missed check-ins will be available on the Pledge Progress spreadsheet all members have access to.
WRITE SOMETHING
The whole purpose of this community is to develop and maintain your writing life by writing. So, write something!

All words and time counted toward your pledge progress over the year must be your own work. Use of generative AI or passing off the work of a collaborator as your own is against the spirit of Get Your Words Out.
Be Kind
Be nice to each other. It’s a pretty simple ask, but in a community as large as GYWO there are sure to be personality conflicts and disagreements. All that we ask is that you respect each other, take a breath when needed, and respond with kindness instead of yuckiness.

If you ever have a conflict, clash, or disagreement that requires moderator intervention, the moderators are there to assist, support, and resolve.

For more information about check-ins, membership changes, community, what words count, and what writing activities count please read through our website.