Women who make America: Two really good videos

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Does Blogging make you a better writer?

Excerpts about blogging from writers who blog
"I'm a writer by profession and it's totally clear to me that since I started blogging, the amount I write has increased exponentially, my daily interactions with the views of others have never been so frequent, the diversity of voices I engage with is far higher than in the pre-Internet age - and all this has helped me become more modest as a thinker, more open to error, less fixated on what I do know, and more respectful of what I don't."  (Andrew Sullivan, writer)

“Writing a blog can be a lot like writing a book; overwhelming at first, in need of structure and flow, and at times very personal. However, a blog is a living, breathing form of writing. Your "story" evolves and changes over days/months/years. You have the ability to connect and interact with your readers. And, the best part, if you missed a grammar error you can go back and correct it!” (Krista Rhea, writer)

A number of editors on staff at Writer's Digest have their own personal blogs and when we started out we were in the exact same place as a lot of you are right now:

 "I am still in the planning stages of my blog. It has been overwhelming to say the least."  (Vicie Moore, writer)

"I'm stuck with my blog. Don't know which direction to go"  (Sharita Gopal, writer)


My take on this
I totally agree with this. Although, I’d been writing most of my life, I actually did not start writing seriously until I began blogging. Blogging forces you to improve your writing skill, work out the kinks in your style of writing, and find your voice. Interacting with comments may help your mode of expression, but seeing your writing in a particular format and reading it back to see if it makes sense is invaluable to a writer.

I probably would not have written my first memoir if it weren't for my blogging. I began writing stories on a writer's site. At the urgency of many many readers on that site, I started organizing them into chapters.  I started having to deal with time lines and transitions (one chapter to the next). Then I found I had to have some sort of story line and plot. to hold them all together. I began studying fictive techniques to enhance the stories. I spent hours learning how to infuse my stories with life. I learned so much about writing during that time.

When I completed the memoir, I let it sit for months. I dug it out one day and was amazed to see how far I had come in my ability to handle large works. I completely re-wrote the manuscript. My writing had improved so much over those years that I started a new memoir using a different, more skilled approach and style. I still intend to publish the first book, but truly believe the second one will be far superior. It's true what successful writers say: "You must write every day and often to improve."


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Tips for attracting readers to your blog

I was recently asked what bloggers can do to attract readers to their blogs. I came up with the following, based mostly on my experience over the past three or four years that I've been blogging. I'm sure there are many more tips that work well. Bloggers need to be creative with the way they market their blog, and keep an eye and ear open to ideas from other successful bloggers.

One of the best things anyone can do is to post frequently and regularly. I'm not good at that, because I have 5 blogs (which might have been a mistake to begin with, especially after emersing myself in a novel length memoir.) But I try to post interesting material, let people know about it, put links on all the social networking sites, and make comments on other blogs (Very Important!).

I also add pictures and videos, use SEO and tags, join groups, events, blog hops, etc., and interact with other bloggers. Having guest bloggers, doing author and book reviews, and interviews is also helpful. You can pick up new followers from those who follow other authors and bloggers.

I have an on-line friend, Brenda, who is very good at attracting attention to her blog. Among other things, she posts intriguing remarks to pique interest, comes up with clever events and questions for feedback, and writes well. Another excellent blogger is Kelly who spends valuable time on line interacting on a personal level within the social community and supporting other writers and bloggers. This will help to build her  platform.

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Ever heard of faux Christmas shopping?

While perusing Face Book this morning I came across this post by an on-line writer friend. It says it all…..about Christmas shopping, I mean, especially for most men.  Seems like the girls can handle it a little better but, honestly, it gets to me so much I do it all on-line. Sorry, retail businesses.  I know this is killing you, but it’s all about staying alive. Check out John Stapleton's observation

"Today, I discovered something worse than Christmas shopping...faux-Christmas shopping- its with all the same shit except you browse, compare retail sales prices to online deals, and you really don't get anything done. You still get all the highlights, with rude customer service, rabid people that lack all sense of shame, and wanna-be Tony Montana drivers that act like they hit a big pile of Peruvian snow before they decided to play MarioKart in the parking lot.

Oh yeah...tis the season to be jolly! Now where's my drank????"


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Putting Books on My Christmas List

 Book Blogger Holiday Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog She-Writers and Happy Holidays. Do come in an take a look around. I hope you enjoy your visit.

Again this year, I will be giving some of my closest friends and relatives books for Christmas gifts. Most of them are avid readers and appreciate a thoughtful choice for their library. I decided to give my two emergent writer friends, Stephen King’s On Writing, a wonderful book that should be in every writer’s library. Although it’s been around for a while, it’s the kind of book you can re-read and enjoy time and time again. It is so funny, honest, and downright enjoyable…nothing stuffy about Mr. King. I know both recipients will be delighted.

For those interested in culinary endeavors, I've chosen Rachel Ray's new cookbook, My Year in Meals, written with her husband, John Cusimano. It's filled with recipes cooked while the camera was rolling in her own kitchen.  It also includes personal stories, notes about her travels, and wonderful photos of her creations.

The third book I'm giving is also a cookbook. It's a beautiful little book based on the new TV show The Chew, hosted by 5 award winning cooks, two of them Iron chefs.  The book, filled with colorful photos of food and great recipes,  is titled The Chew, Food, Life, Fun and is I believe a perfect selection for my 14 year old grand daughter who loves to cook.

Championing Women Writers

According to Belinda Jack of Oxford University, author of the upcoming The Woman Reader, no literary force has done so much to change the world – nor continues to do so – than the historic team of women novelists and their eager, overwhelmingly female readers.

Snobbism about women’s fiction “goes back a long way,”  Jack tells us in her new book.  And before snobbism stretch millennia of active suppression during which women were prohibited from writing almost anything. “Public speech and harlotry were very closely associated,” Jack said in an interview, describing the very narrow range and reading and writing permissible to women up until the 19th century.

Some psychologists and neurologists trace the origin of the fiction gap to women’s demonstrably superior capacity for empathy, which is thought to enable them to occupy the minds of fictional characters with greater ease than men. And profit: New theories of literature see an evolutionary advantage in the ability to infer the motives of others, a talent that sharpens with reading fiction – and would seem to depend mainly on women to function.

Jack explains women’s historical affinity for the novel in terms of its role as a liberating force. Trapped in a domestic space that forbade self-expression, women traditionally turned to novels “to see more of the world,” according to her. “The amount of life that could be seen at first-hand was limited, and so seeing it at second-hand through reading was attractive,” she said.

Reading novels was in itself an act of subversion, and themes evolved to suit the enterprise. “A lot of the novels that many women would say were the greatest novels do explore unconventional patterns of female behaviour and female life,” Jack said, adding that history is repeating itself today among women in Muslim countries who risk severe punishment in order to read imported novels by, for and about liberated women in the West.

Meanwhile, back home, the Internet regularly launches new literary careers without interference from any gender filter that might once have operated in traditional publishing houses. It made 27-year-old Amanda Hocking, a lonely outcast from the U.S. Upper Midwest, a millionaire with her 99-cent tales of paranormal romance. It shocked and appalled British clerics by making former British call girl and blogger Belle de Jour a national sensation. (article by John Barber,The Globe and Mail, Sept. 06 2012) 

* * * *

On the writer's website SheWrites.com, hundreds of women writers are coming together to support each other in their their writing and the publishing of their  novels, memoirs, articles, essays, and blogs. It is a safe haven for discussion, exploration and testing....a place where they are free to create and express their thoughts through words, no matter how bold or timid...a place to exchange helpful and interesting information and ideas with an atmosphere of  healthy balance between support and gentle criticism..............Nancy

The following She Writes women writers
 and authors discuss their latest projects on their blogs 
or websites. Visit their blogs and comment. 

Nov. 25: Nancy Hinchliff  http://www.amemorabletimeofmylife.blogspot.com/  " I have started a new memoir which focuses on my crazy family...."
  

Nov. 26: Julia Hanna http://mystories.sweetbeariesart.com/2012/11/26/my-next-big-thing-a-writing-blog-hop/ "I am working on a novel which I can best describe as contemporary fiction that re-envisions the traditional romance novel. It is about how a woman can be happy for the rest of her life even if she does not get married. Being an old maid is not some reprehensible thing."

Nov. 29: Thelma Zerkelbach http://www.widowsphere.blogspot.com/
Thelma will talk about her new memoir Stumbling Through The Dark

Nov 30:    Marcia Meier www.marciameier.com/
" I plan to talk about my completed memoir, Sweeping Down the Sky"

Dec. 3rd: Carol Clouse:  http://www.carolclouse.com/
"My project focuses on Native American philosophy in conjunction with sustainability in Architecture."

Dec. 4th: Susan Bearman:  http://2kop.blogspot.com/

"I wrote and self-published a picture book called the Animal Store Alphabet Book 
(http://alphabetanimal.com) based on my husband's pet shop. My illustrator and I 
launched a successful $10,000 Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing and 
distribution of the book and companion products (coloring book, poster, canvas 
prints and book bag)."

Dec. 5th: Valerie Neiman http://valerienieman.blogspot.com/
Valerie will talk about her  new book, Backwater, a taut crime novel and coming-of-age story, as a teenage girl struggles for her identity – and her life – against the backdrop of her cousin’s murder.

Dec. 7th:  June OHara www.juneohara.com
"I'm finishing up a humorous memoir about being a psychotherapist and having my own breakdowns, neuroses and humorous life circumstances."



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A really creative video

I am not posting this video to talk you into joining Facebook; although, if you're a writer and building your platform it might be a good idea. I just thought this was one of the most creative videos I've seen in a while and wanted to share it with you. Take a look.................


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