Tag: blogging

5 Ways To Revive Your Blog

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Blogging1 Comment

A blog is many things to a writer: journal, mile marker, community, platform, and even a daily proof that you are in fact a writer. I’ve struggled to keep up with the expectations I had for my blog for several reasons. When I sit back and think of the main reason it is because I have not made it a priority.

Time has always been my main complaint because I have so little of it and I like to work on my novel when I find that small window of opportunity. But that complaint is just an excuse. So, I thought, what would I have to do to revive my blog? How can I stay connected to the community I value and share the things I have learned while still keeping that sacred time of novel writing safe? Here are five ideas.

Renovate
Renovate

1. With limited time to spend, spend limited time on it. What do I mean? Sometimes it takes an hour to put together a well thought out blog. For this week I am going to spend only twenty minutes a day on a blog.

2. Go out. I spend too much time on my own blog. Blogging is supposed to be about community. Visit other blogs comment and like, simple as that. It will generate traffic and generate ideas.

3. My blog is two years old and I was bored with it. Sort of like having the same haircut for a decade.  Give your blog a facelift. New theme, new widgets and there you go. A new you er, blog. That’s something to be excited about.

4. Rhythm. Writing is all about it. Work on a novel or article for an hour each month and you will loose the taste for it. The same with your blog. Write once a week, twice a week or whatever works. You will get into a groove and your readers will too.

5. Make a commitment. Like any relationship, goal, job or house, when you get off track or too busy to maintain it, it can fall apart. You have to give it proper time. If it is a priority and it matters, you have to buck up and recommit.

I hope this helps you reignite the blog you once loved. Keep it simple and realistic and you’ll be on you way.

Cheers,
Bob

Making Plans

On By Robert EvenhouseIn My Novel6 Comments

It’s been a month or so since I’ve written my blog. It’s been a few more since I’ve blogged consistently. This hiatus has been an intentional one, though I have missed my writing comrades scattered across the globe.

What I’ve Been Up To

I dropped my blog for a couple of reasons. First, I was allotting all of my writing time to my blog and commenting while I was in the middle of a dramatic overhaul of my novel. This required nearly all of my writing effort and writing time. I am pleased to report that it is finished and I am doing a final grammar scrub. I hope to have it to an acquisitions editor by my thirtieth birthday on May 19th.

Also, I have written a few short stories and submitted one of them. I’ve been inspired by reading several of Ray Bradbury’s articles on writing collected in Zen in the Art of Writing. They are wonderful. I would recommend them to any writer.

My Plans

I planned on picking a new theme/platform for the blog relaunch but it’s proven difficult to find one I like. I hope to do this soon.

Over the next year, I plan to cycle my novel through a few Literary Agents and hope for some feedback.

Also, I would like to get a short story finished every two weeks and submitted to journals or websites. I plan on submitting to multiple places from literary journals to flash fiction to sci-fi/fantasy. As a writer it is good to stretch yourself and I hope to do that.

Goals
That’s a lot of goals

I want to keep my writing goals realistic as I tend to be someone with way too many plans and not enough time. If only I could figure out how to survive on an hour or so of sleep. If you have figured that out, please let me know.

All of these goals are going to be up in the air come July as we welcome a new addition to the family. My son is due at the end of July!

Overall, it has been an exciting year for writing. I look forward to more submissions and rejections.

How about you?

Have you met your writing goals?

Are you using your writing time wisely?

Cheers,

Bob

Part Time Novel Lite

On By Robert EvenhouseIn The Writing Process6 Comments

So, my goal to wake early and write each day has been somewhat successful. It has depended upon whether my young daughter wakes up at 2am or not. It is a little harder to get out of bed in the morning when you’ve had two naps of two and a half hours, but I’ve done it, some of the time. Now that she is sleeping better, I have the desire to dig in and attain tangible progress on the writing front.

I wrote about the Breathe writing Conference several posts back. I was incredibly encouraged afterward and had a ton of writing energy but so little sleep that I did not have an opportunity to seize the day. Now, it might be premature but I think I will be able to string together a consistent writing time. And I don’t want to waste it.

Now it comes to it. I have decided to back down my blog to three days a week. Yesterday was an anomaly but I plan to post on Monday Wednesday and Friday. I realized that my goal is to be a novelist and to publish short stories. I turn Thirty next May and I want to be in the submission stage of writing, not just have a collection of blog posts, as much fun as they are.

Here are the writing goals I hope to accomplish by giving up blogging two days a week:

  1. Submit two short stories between now and Thanksgiving.
  2. Have the next draft of my novel to readers by the end of the New Year.
  3. Get a short story published next year.
  4. Seek representation for my novel after the New Year.

My challenge to you readers is remember your goals and your writing dreams and do something about them this week.

Cheers,

Bob

 

 

 

 

Blogging 101: Maintaining Readership

On By Robert EvenhouseIn Blogging8 Comments

Unlike writing, blogging can be a science. If you follow certain rules and maintain a certain rhythm of posting, the blogger can be successful. However, once you are established in the blogosphere, and your friends no longer check your FaceBook page to see if you have posted anything new, the beginning blogger might lose some steam. I know I did.

So, how do you maintain this platform? How do you maintain and acquire new readership? (Obviously this post is for novice bloggers. However, it is always good for the veteran to brush up on the basics). Here are three reason your readers might be running.

The Trithemis Aurora is a ...zzzzzz
The Trithemis Aurora is a …zzzzzz

1. You Don’t Keep to Your Theme– This is the simplest reason bloggers lose traffic. If you are a blogger, writing about say, hockey, be sure to include it in each post. You can share a little anecdotal back story of how you sharpened your skates on the pond behind your parents’ house when you were three. However, if you inked a heart-wrenching story about a certain species of dragonfly and how they were going extinct, it might sound a bit off like a stray note at a concert. Your hockey readers might flee for something a bit more on topic.

2. You Don’t Post Rhythmically– What does this mean? This means that no matter how often you blog, be sure to have fresh content at the same time. I see writers who update their blogs monthly, daily, or every second Tuesday of the month. However you do it, find a schedule — and stick to it. You can stray a bit from time to time, but 99% of the time, do what your readers expect so they know when to visit your blog for new content.

3. You Stop Interacting – The most successful blogs create little communities. The readers know what to expect (theme), they know when you are going to post (rhythm). They want to know about your topic, but they want to share their bit too. And it could be an invaluable bit. A new book, a unique way to sew a pair of trousers, whatever. You might learn something from them, and that is the point isn’t it? Learning, growing, making your blog a tight little band of misfits who all enjoy, or are all striving toward, the same thing.

These are three simple things. Do you know of other tips that would help a blogger gain or maintain readership? Please share below! If you have posted something similar on your blog, please feel free to include the link below in the comments section.

Cheers,

Bob

Are You A Writer or A Blogger?

On By Robert EvenhouseIn The Writing Life6 Comments

Sit down for a moment writer. Pour your tea or coffee if you must, but let’s take some time to reflect.

Survey the last week. Think about the time you spent writing. Whether this has been a productive week for blogging or working on your book, or journaling, it does matter. But I challenge you place that time in three categories: Book, Blog, Personal.

Okay. Now, think about this question: What do you spend the most time on?

I find that a lot of times how we spend our time is who we are. But, in our mind we pretend we are something else. I know I do. If I take this survey of my writing time I see that I spend more time working on my blog and less time working on my novel. Albeit, the fun part of the novel is over. Now it is editing, writing proposal pieces, and gathering names for agencies and agents.

I write this blog post to recommit to my novel. To give it not thought, but time.  After all, what is a writer’s platform if he has nothing to share from it?

Write this weekend my friends.

Cheers,

Bob