Blogs That Roar: 3 Tips for Powerful Writing

I have been tagged by both Opal Tribble at Addicted to Writing and Misti Sandefur at Life of a Writer for the Roar for Powerful Words meme.

The post originating this award at Shameless Lions Writing Circle says recipients are to…

… accompany the image with three things they believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful.

That certainly falls into the category of tags I respond to – giving writing advice is an important part of this blog. Other recipients of this award have given some excellent tips.

Here are three things I believe are necessary for good and powerful writing:

1. Turn off your internal editor when writing your first draft. Many writers who try to get it right the first time end up getting stuck on the first chapter or the first page. Dump your ideas into the manuscript with no concern about whether what you’re writing is good or not. Get your inspired ideas down on paper, and you’ll have plenty of opportunity to polish them later.
2. Edit, revise, rewrite … edit, revise, rewrite … edit, revise, rewrite … as many times as necessary. Your original ideas may have been inspired, but, if you’re like most of us, you’ll have to polish and refine over and over again to turn your inspired ideas into powerful words.
3. Show, don’t tell. Use strong verbs, active voice, and descriptive details to tell your story or make your point. “His brown hair brushed the top of the door as he strode into the den” is more powerful than “He was so tall he almost didn’t fit through the door when he came into the room.”

What are three things you consider essential to powerful writing? I’m tagging anyone who would like to share their tips. Leave a comment with your tips or with a link to a post on your own blog. I’ll update this post to add a link to anyone who responds to the tag.

[tags]blogs that roar, writing tips[/tags]

Self-Publishing Podcast from Authors on the Net

Phil Davis of Authors on the Net recently interviewed me about self-publishing.

This podcast covers the first five chapters of the Self-Publishing Primer about the different publishing options authors have. Come back next week when we will continue the discussion.

If you’re an author and haven’t joined Authors on the Net, check it out. You’ll find great information and a growing author community to help publish and promote your book.

[tags]self-publishing, Authors on the Net[/tags]

BLOGAPALOOZA! What I Learned From 2007

Robert Hruzek’s latest What I Learned From … group writing project is BLOGAPALOOZA! What I Learned From 2007. Rather than posting entries on their own blogs, participants e-mailed them to Robert, and he posted them at Middle Zone Musings.

You’ll find a collection of fascinating entries, each featuring one post for every month the participant blogged in 2007. I got my entry in just in the nick of time, and it was a real challenge to select a single post for each month.

Enjoy some great posts in the year in review!

[tags]What I Learned From[/tags]

Can you remember … or imagine … life without spell check or life with a manual typewriter?

Recently, a client sent me a document to edit that was filled with spelling errors that should have been caught by spell check. I sent my client a note offering to help her new assistant turn on automatic spell checking.

A few days later, I was working on a new document for the same client. I typed a word and realized I had misspelled it … but there was no squiggly red line under the word. Was it right? No, it looked wrong, but Word said it was correct when I manually checked the spelling. So I looked the word up in the dictionary, and it was wrong. Maybe there something wrong for the listing of that word in Word’s dictionary. So I typed another misspelled word … and another … and another. Word said all were correct. I typed gibberish. Word said it was correct. I opened all the other Office programs and typed the same gibberish and spell check put squiggly red lines under every “word.”

Thus began a three-hour process of researching and experimenting to correct the problem. I read Word help and checked all the settings. I logged into the Microsoft forums and tried the numerous suggestions for spell check problems. I changed settings and edited the registry and rebooted the computer after each change. Word still told me my gibberish was correctly spelled.

Finally, I came across a message that sometimes a “bad” add-in can cause a problem with spell-check. So I decided to disable add-ins one at a time, then see if spell-check worked. When I opened Add-ins and looked at the drop down menu to manage add-ins, I saw a selection for Disabled Add-ins. I opened Disabled Add-ins and discovered spell check was disabled! Word said the add-in was disabled because it caused a serious problem the last time it was used. I don’t recall any “serious problems” with Word – and I’m not likely to forget “serious problems” – but whatever happened, the problem is solved!

Spell check can be easily misused and abused. I continually see words that are spelled correctly but are the wrong word for the context because the writer accepted Word’s spelling suggestion. However, I know much time it can save and how much it can improve accuracy if used correctly.

That thought led to the memory of the typewriter. There wouldn’t be nearly as many writers as there are today if we still used manual (or even electric) typewriters.

Several years ago, I transcribed my mother-in-law’s life story from tape recordings she made. I had helped my mother with her story (which I’ll talk about in a few months in a series on writing memoirs and family histories), and my husband and I had encouraged my mother-in-law to write her own life story. She finally agreed to talk into a recorder if I would transcribe the recordings.

After I typed the manuscript, we took it to her to edit, especially to be sure I spelled unfamiliar names and places correctly. She asked how I wanted her to mark the changes. When I told her to just mark the manuscript pages, she said, “Oh, I don’t want you to have to re-type the whole page for a small error!”

She had used the same manual typewriter since her college days in the 1920s. She had never used a computer and was amazed when I told her I could make the corrections on the computer and print out a new manuscript.

Jack picked her up and brought her to my office to spend the afternoon while I was making the corrections. Cut and paste amazed her. She kept saying, “I would have had to re-type the whole thing to move things around like that.”

That experience gave me a new appreciation for the computer and word processing. It also gave me a wonderful visit with my mother-in-law and lovely memories years after she is no longer with us.

[tags]spell check, computer problem[/tags]

Resources for Students and Educators … and Maybe the Rest of Us, Too

An aspiring teen writer asked me about resources for young writers in response to my post about the EPIC New Voices writing competition. If you know of any resources for student writers that I haven’t mentioned here or in previous posts, please leave a comment. I like to encourage aspiring writers and to share useful resources like this one:

Librarian Chick offers a collection of links to educational resources and reference sites for those with big brains and small pocketbooks.

The site has hundreds of links in a couple dozen categories, including Books/Audio Books, Dictionary/Thesaurus, Home Library, Reference/Research, and Notes/Forms/Writing. One of the sites included in the writing category is Young Writers Society – forums, chats, blogs, and more for writers ages 13 to 25.

While the resources are all appropriate for students, there are plenty of valuable links for writers – and nonwriters – of all ages.

Related Posts:
Resources for Young Writers
Deadline Nears for Writing Competition for Middle School and High School Students
Blogs by and for Writers

[tags]teen writers, writing resources[/tags]

Tips for Better Blogging

Mig at Pamil Vision’s eWritings tagged me for

The Blogging Better Meme by Sueblimely

The idea of this meme is to:

Help us stop and think about how we could become better bloggers and what we need to do to achieve this.
Share our blogging knowledge and experience.
Please answer these questions in relation to your blogging (in as little or as much detail as you wish):-

The most important thing I have learned over the last year.
What I would like to achieve within the next year.
What I wish to learn more about.
How could I be more productive?
One new thing I plan to try.
The blogging tip(s) I have found the most useful.
The 4 (or more) people I am passing this on to. (please include someone quite new to blogging if you can – to help them along by introducing them to your own readers and giving them some backlinks).
Here are my answers. You can use this to give yourself ideas, approach the meme in a completely different way and add or change the questions to suit what you would like to know. You can even choose not to take part at all if you are not keen on memes.

I’m participating in this meme because at this time of year, I’m looking back at what I’ve learned and looking forward at what’s ahead.

1. The most important thing I have learned over the last year: Blogging is more about sharing and learning than about teaching. When I started blogging, I thought I would write about my experiences and the knowledge I’ve gained from those experiences and my readers would learn from me. I’ve discovered that I share my experiences and thoughts and learn from my readers. I’m delighted with the community that has grown here. I’ll never be an A-list blogger with hordes of followers, but I’m very happy to be part of a small community of friends.
2. What I would like to achieve within the next year: a) Continue to build the community here. b) Write a series of posts on a specific topic each month.
3. What I wish to learn more about: More resources, plugins, and tools to make blogging more fun and efficient.
4. How could I be more productive? Be more selective in the blogs I read … but that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun!
5. One new thing I plan to try: No specific plans, but I’ll try new plugins and tools as the opportunity arises.
6. The blogging tip(s) I have found the most useful: Invite your readers to become part of the conversation by asking open-ended questions and inviting comments.

Opal Tribble at Addicted to Writing and Tammy L. Hensel at Dedicated Writer haven’t been blogging long have new blogs, and I’d like to hear their plans for their new blogs. Anyone else who would like to participate, consider yourself tagged!

Related Posts:
A Milestone: Post 300
What Do You Think of Weekly/Monthly Roundups, Themes, and Link Love Posts?
A Humorous Look at My Pet Blogging Peeves
Blogging Metaphor: Blogging is a Large City with Hundreds of Small Neighborhoods

[tags]blogging, meme[/tags]

Rejection: Keep Looking for the Right Address

Writers hate rejection. Here’s a bit of wisdom from author Barbara Kingsolver on what that rejection letter really means:

This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don’t consider it rejected. Consider that you’ve addressed it ‘to the editor who can appreciate my work’ and it has simply come back stamped ‘not at this address.’ Just keep looking for the right address.

Related Posts:

Every “No” Is Just One Step Closer to a “Yes”
Rejection: Your baby is ugly!
What I Learned from Rejection

[tags]rejection, writing[/tags]

Beginning the Year with Thanks

I’m not sure whether to thank or blame Lisa Gates at Design Your Writing Life for A Gratitude “MeMe” for “YouYou.”

On one hand, this post has taken more time and effort to compile than any other single post I’ve ever written. Lisa said it would be a challenge to do it manually, but I didn’t realize what a challenge until I spent hours at a time for several days copying and pasting from WordPress into a spreadsheet to compile the list. In fact, I intended to post this before the end of the year, but it’s taken this long to put the post together.

On the other hand, what a treat is has been to review a year’s worth of comments, remember great conversations, and think of commenters who have become good friends.

In the past year, 324 commenters have left more than a thousand comments on 230 posts. I have replied to every one, bringing the total number of comments to more than 2000. In addition to replying, I always visit the blog of every commenter who includes a link and end up subscribing to many of the blogs I visit.

More than the numbers impressed me as I went back through every comment in the last year. Some were short comments agreeing with something I said. Others were longer discourses that advanced the conversation by answering a question, providing more information, or sharing new insights. A few were lengthy explanations of why I was wrong, but all were respectful and thoughtful. I am awed and humbled by the amazing conversations we’ve had. Thank you to each commenter for your contributions to this blog in 2007. I look forward to your continued participation in the coming year.

About a third of the commenters left multiple comments. While I appreciate each comment, there are a few individuals who have to be singled out for being so much a part of this blog.

Top Contributors (50+ comments):
Mihaela (Mig) Lica, Pamil Visions’ E-Writings (60 comments)
Laura, Writing Thoughts (57 comments)
Yvonne Russell, Grow Your Writing Business (54 comments)
Jeanne Dininni, Writer’s Notes (51 comments)

Major Contributors (20 to 40 comments):
Matt Keegan, The Article Writer
Helen Ginger, Straight from Hel
Joanna Young, Confident Writing

Outstanding Contributors (10 to 20 comments):
Jack J Ammann Jr aka Mr. Lillie, Jack Ammann
Robert Hruzek, Middle Zone Musings
Lisa Vella, Getting it Write for You
Michi, Content Done Better
Thomma Lyn, Tennessee Text Wrestling
Michele Tune, Writing the Cyber Highway
Misti Sandefur, Life of a Writer
Mike Olbinski, A Mike Life
Hummie, Hummie’s World

Significant Contributors (2 to 10 comments):
Merry Jelinek, Mom and More
Karen Putz, A Deaf Mom Shares Her World
Writing Nag
Edith Brown, Jeteak Press Writer Blog
Sam Chan, Acquire Wisdom and Live with Passion
Stephen Hopson, Adversity University
Alcohol Rehabilitation, Drug Rehab Center
Alicia, Writing Spark
Theda K., Crayon Writer
Angela Williams Duea, Pearl Writing
Bryan, One Man’s Goal
David, Blog Raters
Mary Emma Allen, Home Biz Notes
Brad Shorr, Word Sell, Inc.
Cade, Write to Right
Jasia, Creative Gene
Jeane Michelle Culp, Binding Ink
Liz Strauss, Successful Blog
Lori Widmer, Words on the Page
wordvixen, Quest to Write
A Mom and More
Angela/The Gack Ink Girls, Gack Ink
Char, Essential Keystrokes
chrisblogging.com, ChrisBlogging
Code4Gold
Denise, Freelancing Journey
doris chua, Home Office Women
Fr. Jerry Sherbourne, Fr. Jerry’s Jottings
Georganna Hancock, A Writer’s Edge
Jenny, Up the Hill Gang
Julia Temlyn, Mrs. Write Right, Word Therapist (aka writer-editor)
Jyn Smith
Lara Kulpa, Anubis Marketing
Lisa, Work at Home Mom Revolution
Mike DeWitt, Spooky Action
Mike Seth, Hammer & Duct Tape
Pfunk, Pfunk’s Foolsophy
Phil Davis, How to Publish a Book
Ponn Sabra, Empower Women Now
raz godelnik, Eco-Libris
Sharon Hurley Hall, Get Paid to Write Online
Sheila, Go Visit Hawaii
website copywriter, Webmaster Labor
Amy Derby, Write from Home
AnitoKid, The AnitoKid on Billiards|Philippine Sports
Beth G. Sanders, bgsblog
Breezie, Shooting the Breeze with Breezie
Carpentry Jobs
Chamonix, Chalet 1802
cooliojones, My New Hustle
CyberCelt, Endangered Spaces
Dave RH, The Ancient Standard
David, Cooking, Recipes, and Kitchen Tools
David Airey
Deb, Punctuality Rules
Dorothy Thompson, Pump up Your Online Book Promotion
Ed, Dingmo
Evelyn, Productive Pen
GnomeyNewt, Blue Jar
Heather, Desperately Seeking Sanity
Jason A. Clark, Inner 88
Jerseygirl89, Dirty Little Secret
Jobs in Israel, Job Mob
Kate Baggott, Babylune
Linden man, Chinoy Ray
Liz, My year of getting published
Louiss, Blogging Secret
Manchild, When Least Expected
Mark, Mark (Unemployed)
MDB, Million Dollar Blog
Newspaper Printers, Archant Print
Paula Mooney, Paula Neal Mooney
Priscilla Palmer, Priscilla Palmer.com
Rabat Travel, Morocco Emotions
rob, robinsongo
Robyn, Brain Based Biz
Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa das, Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa
Sincerity
Solomon
Sue, I Breathe; Therefore I Write
surjit, Gurushabad
Sylvia C., Sylvia’s Insight
Tammi, Drawing on Words
Thisbe, Discount Spies
Timothy Lim, Singapore Chiropractic
Vic, bu.bulicio.us
Vikk, Down the Writer’s Path
Yang Yang, Stumble Upon Yang

Important Contributors (1 comment):
@Stephen, Productivity in Context
Ace, IM Panama
Adam_Y, Flow Field Unity
Alex, Personal Finance Views in the UK
Alex, Science of Identity
Alice
Alina Popescu, Words of a Broken Mirror
Amana Mission Publishing Ink, Amana Mission Publishing Ink
Andrew, F&C Directory
Angela, Serien-IM Blog
Annie, If Only I Could Learn ‘How to Write,’ Right!
Annie, Super Fast Reader
Anupreet
AOV Philippines Outsourcing Service
At Home Mom
Aureliusz Kalliokoski, Iscribbler
Bape, Bapestas.net
The Barrow-Wight, Raven’s Barrow
Barry Cox – Scottsdale Homes, Relocate to AZ Homes
bellevelma, Running with Books
Benjamin, Benjamin On WOWNDADI
Bob, Every, Every Minute
Brenda G. Wooley, One Kentucky Writer
Cameron, The Tech Scoop
Car Titans, CarTitans.com
Carol Webb
Cass, Cass Knits
Catherine, the Redhead, A Week in the Life of a Redhead
Cathy Marley
Charles Sheehan-Miles
Cheap HDTV
Cherie Lee
Children oil portraits, Guaranteed Portraits
Chris, Leadership in Action
Chris Moore
Church of Integrity
Cindy, Kaleidoscope
Clock Man
constructicle boy
Court, Court’s Internet Marketing School
cm
Comfy – Educational toys, Comfyland
Cricket Videos
Cyberpartygal, She Rambles On
Dan, Rent Bits
Dana, The Writer’s Blog by Dana Pri nce
Darlene, Tough Questions Great Answers
Dave
Dave, Go Backpacking
David, OnTheWebEd
David Bowles, Writing the Westward Sagas
davis, In the Arms of God
dcr, dcr blogs
Deborah Gamble, Uncommon Notions
Denise, Freelance Writing
Denise, Tired of Working? Take a Break
Diana Brandmeyer, Next in Dianaland
Diogenes, Fine Art of Blogging
Dirk, Fun Paradise City
djahna, Sure 2 Profit
Jen/domestika, Domestik Goddess
Don, Affiliate Watcher
DRM remover
Dubai, Update Dubai
Dylan, Link It For Me
Emma, It’s Write Now
Environmental News Service, Environmental Graffiti
Eve, WordPress Reworked
Every Square Inch
everysquareinch.blogspot.com
Everything Anything and Nothing
Fashion Directory
Felix Ker
Forrest Croce
Franck Silvestre, Make Money with Affiliate Programs
Free Online Coupons
Funny Picture Woman
Gaming servers
Glenda Watson Hyatt, Do It Myself Blog
green tea benefits, Tea Scoop
Hank, hoodiaweightloss
Harmony, Writer in the Making
headshot photographer los angles
Heather, A Creative Journal
Holly, Woman Tribune
Hoto
Howard, Mead on Manhattan
isabella mori, Change Therapy
Ivan, Zona Cerebral
J, Workout Review
Jackie, Practical Wisdom
Jacky, Vermont 251 Club
James, Digital Key
Jan, Circular Communication
Janie
Jason , Stock Market Investors
JasonJ, Ask Jason
Jay, Between Looking and Seeing
JC, rnb Dirt
Jeff, Jeff Hendricks on Design
Jenn Mattern, All Freelance Writing
Jennifer, Tree Hugging Family
Jeremy Hobbs, Consumer’s Corner
John, Business Opportunities and Ideas
John Kremer, BookMarket.com
John Wilberforce, Hit Flip
John Wolf, Author
Joint Venture Partner
JoLynn Braley, The Fit Shack
Jos, NoDirectOn
Jose Tudor, Tried It Myself
Joyce Bowling, Kentucky the Mountains I Call Home
June
kalpesh, Implanting Ideas
Kamal, Why Must Visit Malaysia
Karen Alaniz, Write Now
Kate, Electric Venom
Kay Ross
KCLau, KC Lau’s Money Tips
Kersson
Kevin, Fuel My Blog
Kristie, Christianity.com
Kwiz, Women Walking in Wisdom’s Footsteps
ladysown
Lakshmi Mareddy, Chilligava
Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer
Layouts, My Space Now
Lazy Boy
legbamel, One Step Forward
Linda Haden
Linda Cano
Linda R. Moore, Raven’s Roads
Lisa Gates, Design Your Writing Life
Lisa Saper-Bloom
Liza, Top Tutorials
Lori Rosmus
Lowell Crabb, Acceleration of Money
Lucid, Spiritual Suggestions
Malignition
Malok, Sold by Jennifer
Manila Mom
Martha Hilliard
Mary Evelyn Lewis, Virtual Wordsmith
matt
Matt, Cheap Air Soft Guns
Matt Jones, Random Acts of Verbiage
Matthew, Blog about Your Blog
Matthew Cornell, Matthew’s Idea Blog
Max, UK Cottage Rental
Melanie, Thrifty and Creative
Michael, Mobile Phone Geek
Michael Werner, Dream Jobs Dialog
Michelle Gartner, Smart Not Cheap
Miller Caldwell
Mirko, Designer Daily
Mister EDgAr
Moultrie Creek
Moving Master
moxy, Blogocola
Mr Pasadena Lasik Surgery
Nico Lorenz T. Panlican, Life Essentials
Okinawa, HDR Japan
On Web Check
Ouch!
Patricia
Patti McQuillen, Gaslight Writers
pelf, pelf-ism is contagious
perros, Sobre Perros
Peter, Hit Meister
Peter, tarife’s xanga site
PeterK, High Salary Careers
Pips, Pips Net Future Trends
PODs Print staff, 3-D Printers and Printing Technology
Randa Clay
Randy, The Garden of the King
Renae, Morning Coffee
Rick Cockrum, Shards of Consciousness
Rinsem
Robb, I Need One of Those
Robin Bayne
Robin Yap, Yap 3.0
Ron, Into the Bit
ru4real, Are You for Real?
sami m, Birch Bolete
Sarakastic, Fibromyalgia Experiment
satellite tv
Sauna
Scott, The Directory Dude
SEO Ninji, Search Engine Optimization
Simon, Yeepage
Sophisticated Writer, Confessions of a Sophisticated Writer
Sports Videos, Dekhona
Steve, 123 Look2Me
Steve Hayes, Notes from Underground
Steven Snell, Vandelay Design
subconscious mind, Erupting Mind
Summer, Summer’s Nook
Sunset Pearl
Susan Hetrick, Advice from the Blender
Susan J, The Urban Muse
Suzanne Wells, Moms in Business
svend
SYH, Women Mumbles
Takeoff Zone
therapydoc, Everyone Needs Therapy
Travelinoma
Troy Worman, Process Geek
Two Write Hands
UtahCateringMan, Culinary Crafts
Vahsek, Jack of Some [sic} Trades, Master of Stupidity
Virginia, Katalusis
Virtual Impax
wagi
Web Design Business, FocusMinded.com
web dev, Make a Website
Wedding Cake Lady
Wholesale Cameras, Safety Tech Spy
Wii Fit
WildwoodNJ
Yuwanda, How to Start a Successful Freelance Writing Career
Xavier, TechNov Blog

Disclaimer and advance apology: Although I tried to be accurate, I’m sure there are mistakes in the list. If I left you off or made an error in your listing, please accept my advance apology and post a correction in a comment below.

Note that if whatever was listed as the commenter’s name was the same as the name of the blog, I listed and linked to the blog without repeating the name.

If there is no link for a listing, 1) the commenter doesn’t have a blog; 2) the link was removed from the comment because I found the site offensive (there are only a couple of those); or 3) the link led to a parked domain. I did not check each link, but I clicked on ones that I didn’t recognize the site name from the URL. If the link led to a parked domain, I removed the link as the site no longer exists. If I knew of a URL change since the comment was left, I linked to the current blog.

I also want to thank those who read and reviewed the manuscript of my forthcoming novel, Dream or Destiny. Others offered to read; however, either I already had enough volunteers or they were unable to finish because of schedule conflicts. I appreciate those offers as well.

Special thanks to the following who took the time to read and review the manuscript. Your comments, edits, and insights will make the book stronger, and for that I am grateful.
Diana Lesire Brandmeyer, Next in Dianaland
Helen Ginger, Straight from Hel
Mihaela (Mig) Lica, Pamil Visions’ E-Writings
Misti Sandefur, Life of a Writer
Tammi Reynolds, Drawing on Words

Thank you all for a fabulous 2007! I’m looking forward to an even better 2008.

Happy 75th Birthday to Jack!

                   

 

Happy 75th birthday to Jack, my husband of 40+ years! 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, he really is 75, and yes, that really is a recent photo – taken less than a year ago.

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