11 Ways to Improve Your Blog

As part of the 31 Days to Build Better Blog challenge (at The Secret Is In The Sauce), I've been analysing my blog and comparing it with successful bloggers from my niche (blogs on writing). I want to share some of my findings with you!

ELEMENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL BLOG FOR WRITERS

1. Design - Less is more. Simple layouts without the clutter (oh oh, I can see I need a clean-up!). Orange and hot pink are not as easy on the eye as white.
2. Size Matters - Those super wide blogs are hard to read, column width should be easy and quick, you should be able to read the post without scrolling your eyes left and right.
3. Content - Posts are always topic related and usually helpful to the reader.
4. Regularity - Posts are frequent and usually short. Some post daily but most update their blogs at least 3 times a week.
5. Followers - The blogs/websites that impressed me did not use Google Friends or Network Blogs, they used RSS Feeds. Check out ProBlogger's What is RSS? to know more. 
6. Free Content - Many successful bloggers have free downloads, e-books, widgets or other enticements on their sites.
7. Blogger vs Wordpress - I see debates about ease of use vs professional image, but the blogs that impressed me were hosted on their own sites (e.g. www.thecreativepenn.com).
8. Monetizing - I found the best sites free from advertising or at least kept it minimalistic (perhaps a group of sponsors' badges to the sides). I'm not sure about taking away the Amazon link - I keep it to share books that I like with my readers, but I assume most will purchase through their own links anyway.
9. Promotions - The high-traffic sites are promoted through Twitter and Facebook and receive many retweets (probably because they're helpful articles and worth sharing).
10. Imagery - The blogs I enjoyed used relevant images, this makes the page easier on the eye than a lot of text.
11. Multi-media - A lot of the best blogs I found also offered podcasts or videoclips on their site. This would, of course, mean more work.

As you can see, I need to review a few aspects of my blog. Is there anything here you think you'll try for your blog?

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13 BEST RESOURCES FOR WRITERS

Take in too much advice or data and you absorb none. Now, you can be like me and buy every single book on writing that you come across, or, you can just try my favourites. These are my all-time-most-helpful resources for creating a manuscript and knowing what to do with it.

CHARMAINE'S 13 BEST RESOURCES FOR WRITERS:

1. Scrivener Scrivener seduced me. I love going into the program for each WIP I'm working on. I can have 'index cards' up on the corkboard screen, outline my plot, keep research files and photos handy and write scenes in any order. I can also convert my text and load it onto my Kindle (which then reads the novel back to me).


2. NaNoWriMo Held over the month of November each year and the idea is that you start and finish a 50,000 word novel (minimum) in that month. Last year I finished the first draft for The Costume Maker, a fantasy tale about a group of teenagers transported to an alternate world by an angry Gypsy. It's a great way to enforce a deadline!

3. Manuscript Makeover Elizabeth Lyon's guide is both practical and thorough. It's helpful for revision or when you get stuck in your manuscript. The book covers 'power positions', modelling (take a descriptive passage that impresses you and try to imitate the syntax and emotion of the sentences) and riff-writing as powerful techniques, but contains much more.

4. Les Edgerton on Writing One of the best FREE resources you'll ever find on the craft of writing. Scroll through the archives and read Edgerton's articles, brilliant. I also loved Edgerton's book:  Hooked


5. The Creative Penn Joanna Penn provides great advice for building your online presence and creating a platform for yourself as a writer. There are articles, podcasts and free downloads.

6. Beth Barany's Free Archetypes Chart I posted this link when talked about Building Characters with Jung's Archetypes. The chart includes character profiles, motivations, mottos and desires. Adaptable to any story!


7. Screenwriting For Hollywood by Michael Hauge This audiobook is like attending a full class on story structure. I got it from iTunes, but it is also on audiobook sites. Team it with  Michael Hauge's 6 Stage Plot, it's a free pdf file you can download!

8. Writers' Festivals You'll need to work out which ones are convenient for you to attend, but this year I'm going to book myself into The Brisbane Writers' Festival (join me?).


9. Inspired Novel: Creative Hypnosis Maggie Dubris In my post on Stories from the Subconscious, I trialled this audiobook from iTunes. I've used it many times since then and am now a huge fan of hypnosis before bedtime. I ALWAYS have imaginative dreams when I try it and always remember them the next morning. The title and picture link will take you to a sample of this audiobook.

10. How To Revise Your Novel Holly Lisle's online course takes you through weekly steps to perfecting your editing routine. I had no idea about editing before this course, but after learning what to look for in characters, pace, setting, plot, etc, I am sweeping through Dog Show Detective with just one revision/rewrite. Just one. And you get to play with index cards - what could be more fun?

11. The Elements of Style Usually I avoid American grammar books, because Australia follows English Grammar - but this book is great. I'm an English teacher and this is the first grammar book I've found easy to read.  Or, read it free online: http://www.bartleby.com/141/

12. Writing Excuses

This is my favourite podcast. Short, fun and helpful. You can also find them on iTunes.

13. Pen and Notebook

At the end of the day, this is all we really need.

Phew! It was hard picking my favourites, there were many that 'almost' made it. What is your favourite resource for writing, one of these, or, something else?

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The Evolution of a Blog

Time to Evolve

I love my blog. You start off blogging out of curiosity, to build your online platform or to showcase your work. But something happens, you 'meet' other bloggers, create a community and start to bond with... your blog. I began by blogging my stories, memoirs, and random thoughts, but as I progressed in my desire to learn more about the craft of writing, I found information on the topic that I wanted to share. This has now become the main focus of my blog.

Only, I didn't know it.

I've posted previously on the importance of an online presence for authors in P is for Promote and Platform! an targeting your blog for a specific audience in Effective Websites for Authors, but I hadn't noticed the shift in my blogging intention. Now I've come across a FANTASTIC site that is hosting a blog challenge:

SITS Girls Community will be using the ProBlogger method to improve your blog in 31days!

If you haven't heard of ProBlogger (gasp), he's the guru of the blogging world. You should definitely check out his blog: http://www.problogger.net/.

The first challenge was to create an elevator pitch for your blog. How could you succinctly describe your blog and make it appealing to the right audience? This was my attempt:

Wagging Tales is a motivating environment for writers of fiction, exploring and sharing writing tips, experiences, and resources. I'd love to see you there.

Now I feel I've locked in my focus for my blog. I love researching and learning about the craft of writing and I love nothing more than sharing the information I discover with you - my blog friends. This is the direction I wish to continue with my blog.

Interested in taking up the blog challenge? Go join the SITS Girls community, I can't wait to see where this takes us!

PS - Oooh! Getting close to 200 followers - I'll be hosting another big giveaway when I reach that mark!

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Your Writing Style

I've seen this cool link circling around the writers' blogasphere and had to share it. This application will analyse text from your manuscript and tell you which famous writer you write like. I first spotted it at Writing Outdoor Adventures with Terry Lynn Johnson.

I put in a chapter from The Warracknabeal Kids and got a bit of a surprise. The response?

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Okay, I've read Joyce, but only because I HAD to (for Uni). I found it an inaccessible text and too self-praising and showy for my taste. I'm now going to check through my manuscript to make sure it's not too obscure.

I put in a chapter for Dog Show Detective and got:

I write like
David Foster Wallace

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Who??? From this, I learned I need to read from a wider pool.

A little dismayed, I tried last year's NaNoWriMo novel: The Costume Maker. This time I hit the jackpot!

I write like
Charles Dickens

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

These apps are fun, but you can learn about your writing this way. I've picked up that my writing style changes with each manuscript, and I think I'd like to be more consistent. I try to write with humour, and, I hope by the results, I'm achieving that objective.

Try out your manuscript - let me know who you write like!

http://iwl.me/

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Using Audiobooks to Study Pace

The road trip is over. I've had a great time in Brisbane with the girls, but I'm happy to be home. 

I loved listening to audiobooks during my drive. On the way up, it was Charlaine Harris' Real Murders, the first book in the Aurora Teagarden mystery series. 

This book was fun! Very Agatha Christie style, but with a fresh, modern approach. The MC is a member of a 'Real Murders' club. The club members review famous murder cases... until they start turning up dead in a copycat dedication to the original murders.

Audiobooks are a great way to study the pace of a writer's novel. If things slow down too much, it's difficult to skim, as you can in reading, so you notice the pace more. Harris kept bodies, clues and romantic interludes popping up at a good regular pace, increasing the conflict and tension towards the climax of the story. I've learned from this author to interweave your secondary storyline to help adjust and support the pace of your predominant plot.

One way to check the pace of your narrative is to write every scene on an index card and lay them all out in order. Try mixing up the order, does it improve the pace? (a tip I learned from How to Revise Your Novel)

Every scene MUST contain conflict, but some cary less impact than others. For example: In a murder mystery, the protagonist might also be having trouble at work and is worried they will be fired, those conflicts could help move the story  forward, but are less thrilling than the scenes where the protagonist stumbles on yet another corpse. The storyline about the workplace problems will be secondary and the murders primary (although, you could be clever and have the main story about a character finding their place in the workforce against a backdrop of murders - but let's focus on the obvious plot for now). Make sure the murder plot conflicts start to build towards the climax (where your protagonist will come face to face with the killer).

Another way to check your pace: Make a recording or yourself reading your manuscript, or, have someone read it to you. You'll hear where things slow down or get too rushed.

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Creative Motivations

While in Brisbane, I managed to find a cute Mary Ryan's bookstore in Milton. Not surprisingly, I found many bookstores, but this one boasted the best array of letter-writing stationery I've seen:

There were rows and rows of these beautiful packs!

I chose this delicious set to motivate me to write more letters to my family and friends:

I like pretty notebooks when I write too, I buy many different designs to suit each project and fill them up quickly. Pretty pens help me too (but they have to also roll nicely across the page). In theory, I should write just as easily with a cheap exercise book and a biro - but my muse needs to be bribed.

What stimulates your creativity?

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Dichotomy is Garlic Bread on Jelly

Think the roller coaster will make you sick?

Check out Matilda's lunch!

 

Today I was provided a clear example of dichotomy. It was not from literature. Clarity came via my daughter's lunch.

Took the kids to Movieworld on the Goldcoast. They had a great day, going on rides, seeing shows, and, I had a great day - sitting under a tree with a book. For lunch, I took them to the buffet restaurant. They love to fill their plates with foods of their choice. Matilda's desert was particularly interesting: Garlic bread and jelly.

You gonna eat that Matilda?

I thought this might be a good opportunity to repost about dichotomy as a writing device:

Dichotomy is a writing device popular in fiction (it is the process of grouping themes or characters into binary oppositional groups). In order for opposites to reveal as dichotomies they must belong to one of the two opposing groups and never cross over. These days most writers using a dichotomy will have it strong to begin with but then start to blur the boundaries, showing that themes are rarely 'black and white'. Some popular uses are to show the dichotomy of:

• good and evil
• rich and poor
• human and alien
• life and death

In Warracknabeal Kids I will have a protagonist (12yr. old boy) begin with assumptions of the dichotomy of right and wrong. These will be supported by his father's view that the law decides and by the church's view that the soul decides. As the narrative progresses the boy will see the conflicts of defining right and wrong by actions, outcomes or intentions. The purpose of this is to support my novel's premise: Sometimes it takes a wrong action to make things right.

And, how did the garlic bread on jelly go down?

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