Sharing the Link Love–July 31, 2009
Nice to see you again! Join in the discussion!Time for the group hug! Links to share. Litigation seems to be the hot topic this time. Enjoy!
Tech Tip–Makes Friends With Your Blog
Today’s tech tip focuses on an area that we’ve probably all have stumbled through at some point in our blogging career–what to do with a broken blog.
Free blog sites such as Wordpress.com and Blogger.com make is so easy for Internet users to blog. Their interfaces appeal to those not wanting to dive into XHTML or CSS. One can create, without learning the code part. Now that’s a good thing, and it’s a bad thing.
Sooner or later, you will get a great idea of which you want to blog. You have the vision. Then it happens. You don’t know how it happened, but something broke. Your blog is acting weird. If you’ve been blogging for any amount of time, you probably can relate. Something happened.
When this has happened to me in the past, I frantically searched the forums for help. Because I didn’t have the technical background then, I knew that I wasn’t conveying my issue clearly. I probably added a lot to my frustration by my ignorance. Saying “it’s broke” and asking for help is like going to the doctor and saying “I don’t feel good” and expecting a miracle cure. More information, please.
My advice to all bloggers is this:
Even if you don’t want to get into coding, at least familiarize yourself with what code is and what it does.
Lo’ and behold, you may be able to fix your own problem. If not, you will know how to ask for help in the forums. You may be able to figure out where the problem is so you can better ask for and get the help you need. If you’re using a free site, the tech support department won’t be there. To fix issues, you need to reach out to the community. Simplifying the process will save you time and aggravation. Here are some sites to learn the basics.
Writing Tip–Exercising Your Writing Muscle
Today’s writing tip is about honing your craft. Your writing muscle is much different from your physical muscles. If you follow off your regular schedule, it takes time to return to your previous fitness level.
Depending on your source, if you stop exercising for two weeks after a regular regime, it’ll take about that amount of time for your body to get back to where it was. The best way to stay in shape is to keep up the exercising schedule. So, it is with writing.
It is not as important to do the same type of writing as it is to just write. Write every day. No matter if you’re writing a blog or composing a novel, you experience the same challenges of searching for a word, feeling at a loss for an idea, struggling with the perfect copy. Those are precisely the type of skills you need to keep yourself in practice.
You want to instinctively know how to research. Whether you’re writing non-fiction or fiction, research is part of the game. You want to write efficiently and make the best use of your time. You want to write tight and interesting.
A lot of your time after completing your work is spent on the tough stuff like editing and proofing. Keeping a blog keeps you involved with your craft and on the essential skills.
Sharing the Link Love
Twitter and social media in the news. AP tries to makes things clear. Enjoy!
Tech Tip–Keeping the Blog Posts Coming
Tech Tip Tuesday addresses the need to keeping your blog viable. Your blog is an important marketing tool for writers. Readers anxious for more writing from their favorite authors can stay in touch by subscribing to a writer’s feed. Keeping your blog viable and current, therefore, is a smart business strategy.
Everyone has their own method. What I’m about to propose is the way that works for me. I write five blogs, soon to be six. Needless to say, the workload can be heavy, but using a simple planning strategy helps me stay on top of my game.
1. Get a blank monthly calendar.
I use a portrait calendar template from Google Docs. It’s always available. I don’t have to worry about finding the document on my hard drive.
2. Add themes for your daily posts, if you use them.
Each of my blogs has its own themed days, like Tech Tip Tuesday for this blog. I add the theme name on the top of each day’s square. My plan for blogging is laid out.
3. Print out the calendar for the month.
I’m a visual person. I like to see the calendar in front of me. Besides, occasional power outages in my area have made me keenly aware of the fact of how dependent I’m on my computer.
4. Plan my posts.
On the printed calendar, I’ll pencil in some post ideas. I’ll go back through any notes or bookmarks I’ve set during the week. Then, as I write and publish a post, I’ll highlight the day. For posts that I’m being paid for, I’ll highlight the day in green. This way, I have a quick visual of what I’ve written, the trends of my writing, and a quick glance of topics I’ve covered. Not only does it keep me organized, but of itself is an idea generator.
Planning my posts has helped me a great deal in delivering my content. Seeing how consistent my writing is also is a great motivator.
Writing Tip–How To Begin Your Writing Day
Today’s writing tip is about starting your writing day on a good note. Sometimes, that first word is the hardest. The idea that sounded so good last night, just don’t seem to fly today. A good way to begin your writing is not to write, but rather to read.
Hemingway, according to some, would end his writing day in the middle of a scene. The next day, he would pick up the thread and go to it. For me, I like the momentum. I’d be more inclined to finish the scene rather than breaking it up. Instead, I begin my day reading over what I’ve written the previous day.
If I was in the flurry of a writing wave, I can review my work for the glaring errors. I don’t spend time so much on detail at this point. I’m looking for obvious spelling and grammar mistakes. Oops! Did I misspell my main character’s name again? I’ll correct these and move on.
The point of reading my previous work is to get that ball moving again. I can easily grasp the emotion of the moment. From there, I can move forward. The reading gives me the push I sometimes need.
If the words don’t want to come, take a moment to review your success the last writing day. The fodder you need to move on is right in front of your face.
Dressing Up Your Characters
Creating characters, I think, is one of the most enjoyable tasks when writing a new novel. I enjoy the whole process, from naming them to dressing them. Give me my credit card and load up the Zappos site and I’m shopping! So much can be revealed about a character through clothing. It’s another aspect of the show, don’t tell process.
A woman who always wears skirts vs. shorts says a lot about that woman. Likewise, a man who always is seen in Hawaiian shirts conveys a different message. Taking care to select the appropriate clothing for your character can help round out your character and give him a personality. You can also look at less obvious ways to show your character’s personality.
A character who wears clothing too tight could be saying how he doesn’t want to admit a weight problem. Another character with holey jeans and worn shoes could be someone who likes comfort–or doesn’t have the cash to buy new clothes. Likewise, a character that wears a watch and one that doesn’t can be very different people. A woman with a Coach purse but shabby clothes has a story too.
While developing a backstory reveals much about a character, equally so dressing your characters for their part can add dimension to your work.
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