Posts
Acreage - October 2010
You might like to see my latest articles in Acreage Magazine...truly a magazine for a rural lifestyle!
This is one way to drive traffic to a blog site. Linking to other sites. In this case, I'm linking to some of my own articles under the name Kathleen Birmingham so that I can see if it directs traffic to my blog.
The only way to determine this is to try it, test, test, test, and then evaluate the results of the testing.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Blogging - What's all the Fuss About?
Sure, I'm on board with the blogging phenomenon, I'm writing here, aren't I?
The real trick is to figure out what the point of blogging is. Initially, I wanted to share my ideas on writing in general in this blog, but I'm realizing that blogs need to be more personal. They have to have a personality as unique as your own.
To this end, I'm following a brand new blogger. She started her blogging site about two weeks ago. She had a really neat name chosen years ago because she thought at that time she might make a business out of it. The blog is called Auntie Kit and Cousins. Cute name. Brings to mind family, homespun feelings, country, apple pie, and a big warm kitchen where everyone gathers.
Her life isn't quite that, but because her life is missing some of those elements, she decided to blog about things that gave her great pleasure once upon a time, and in this way she wants to continue to find pleasure in her daily living. It's a good lesson, that we can often overlook wonderful things that are happening to us just because life circumstances have changed dramatically.
She had a name and an idea. Her first blog was about sharing the story behind the name about a group of people she met over a common idea and ideal, and how that impacted her life. The name grew out of that experience, but it became more than just that experience. The experiences almost grew because of the name.
Interestingly enough, Auntie Kit decided to get the domain name from Go Daddy. She didn't have a defined business idea yet, but the concept was there, and concept is absolutely everything in marketing. She believed so much in the idea all those years ago that she purchased the domain name and continues to pay for it even though she has not created a website based on it yet.
The first blog is just that, a foray into the unknown cyber world of blogging. You never know who is going to read it. Actually, unless you tell someone about it, for the most part, it won't be read. Some blogs go entirely unread. Others get only a few hits a day and can sometimes go weeks without any hits, especially if there are no new updates.
My next posting will talk about that...how to direct traffic to your blogsite. But FIRST! Creating the personality of the blog is essential. That's the next blog...traffic will be one or two after that.
The real trick is to figure out what the point of blogging is. Initially, I wanted to share my ideas on writing in general in this blog, but I'm realizing that blogs need to be more personal. They have to have a personality as unique as your own.
To this end, I'm following a brand new blogger. She started her blogging site about two weeks ago. She had a really neat name chosen years ago because she thought at that time she might make a business out of it. The blog is called Auntie Kit and Cousins. Cute name. Brings to mind family, homespun feelings, country, apple pie, and a big warm kitchen where everyone gathers.
Her life isn't quite that, but because her life is missing some of those elements, she decided to blog about things that gave her great pleasure once upon a time, and in this way she wants to continue to find pleasure in her daily living. It's a good lesson, that we can often overlook wonderful things that are happening to us just because life circumstances have changed dramatically.
She had a name and an idea. Her first blog was about sharing the story behind the name about a group of people she met over a common idea and ideal, and how that impacted her life. The name grew out of that experience, but it became more than just that experience. The experiences almost grew because of the name.
Interestingly enough, Auntie Kit decided to get the domain name from Go Daddy. She didn't have a defined business idea yet, but the concept was there, and concept is absolutely everything in marketing. She believed so much in the idea all those years ago that she purchased the domain name and continues to pay for it even though she has not created a website based on it yet.
The first blog is just that, a foray into the unknown cyber world of blogging. You never know who is going to read it. Actually, unless you tell someone about it, for the most part, it won't be read. Some blogs go entirely unread. Others get only a few hits a day and can sometimes go weeks without any hits, especially if there are no new updates.
My next posting will talk about that...how to direct traffic to your blogsite. But FIRST! Creating the personality of the blog is essential. That's the next blog...traffic will be one or two after that.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Nostalgia
"Nostalgia is the disease which causes us to miss the truly great days in front of us for the idealized ones behind us."
-D. Megill
I just read this quote, and it got me to wondering...is nostalgia really bad?
Trust me, I thought about this for quite some time, and I have to say the quote has its merits. But I, for one, really do like nostalgia. It helps to forget past hurts, and remember past joys. Is that such a bad thing?
I've recently been going through a difficult time. We moved 18 months ago from a rural home in the middle of a beautiful area to a beautiful house in the midst of the 5th largest metropolitan area in the U.S. I'm suffering from culture shock, loss of friends and a way of life I grew to love.
Since I've been here, I've focused mostly on working and the other day I looked in the mirror and saw my father, who literally worked himself to death because he just couldn't get enough done. He did make time for fun, but the rest of the time, he worked.
I'm losing sleep because of work, I'm not as fun (according to my kids) because of work, and I am moody (according to my husband). I blame work.
The problem is, I LOVE my work.
So, maybe that's not the real problem.
I think the real problem is that I miss some of the things I used to do to "feed" myself. Things I haven't started in my new life because I don't have friends and companions who have similar interests, and just "make" me do things.
Nostalgia. n. 1. A bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past. 2. The condition of being homesick; homesickness ...
It's true, then. I'm missing people, things, and situations from my past. That is NOT bad. It reminds me that I need to reincorporate things that were important to me. In order to return to my former self, I have to return to some of those activities, and nostalgia helped me to realize it.
I'll still be working long hours, probably deep into the night. But, I'm also focused on the changes I need to make to find a happiness that I thought was lost.
No, nostalgia is NOT a bad thing.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Medical Journaling
Writing things down can save you huge headaches. You make a list before you go to the grocery store, you write down what you want to take on vacation or that week-long back-packing trip. Without a visual reminder, we tend to forget little things that end up being very important.
Writing about your health does the same thing. All too often I hear about people who have some sort of weird, mysterious illness. They don't remember when it started, they don't know what makes it better, or what makes it worse. They go to the doctor, expecting to be cured in a single visit with a single prescription, and when they continue to suffer, or their condition gets worse, they blame their doctor.
What a shame! Granted, doctors go to school for a long time to learn about medicine and how to heal illness. But no doctor knows everything, has seen everything, can read minds, can scry into the future, and they certainly can't look back into our past unless we give them some way to see into it.
This is where a medical journal comes in handy.
Let's say you notice that when you eat out at a certain restaurant, you end up with the trots. Just about every time. This happened to me, and I was pretty upset because it was a pizza place and I LOVE their pizza. I tried to figure out what could be the problem. Was it the sauce? I tried pizza without sauce. Was it the crust? I tried just eating the toppings off the pizza and filling up on salad. The next time I settled for a sub.
It seemed that no matter what I ate off their menu, I had a big problem when I got home.
I decided to be more scientific about it. I took a small notebook with me (you see, I didn't want to stop eating there because I really did love the place). I would write down everything I touched, everything I did, even to the point of noting where I sat.
After a couple of visits, it finally hit me. At that time in my life I had recently stopped drinking soda. I didn't need the sugar, and I certainly didn't need the caffeine. However, whenever we went to this particular pizza place, we'd get a pitcher of soda for the family and I would treat myself to a glass.
I was reacting to the sugar in the soda.
Imagine my delight when I discovered that I didn't have to stop eating at our favorite pizza place. I just had to switch to iced tea or water. (no diet drinks for me...I won't even start with what those chemicals can do to you...)
Without taking detailed notes about the situation, I would never have figured out that a small change would allow me to continue to enjoy our monthly outing at the pizza parlor.
This experience made me realize that whenever people have an ailment that they can't seem to figure out, take notes about it. Copious notes! Your doctor will be really relieved that you can provide such a detailed history about your condition without trying to rely on an imperfect memory.
The next time you have a problem that doesn't seem to want to respond to a course of treatment, journal about it. Many times you will discover something that seemed really insignificant, but can make a huge difference in the outcome!
Write on!
Writing about your health does the same thing. All too often I hear about people who have some sort of weird, mysterious illness. They don't remember when it started, they don't know what makes it better, or what makes it worse. They go to the doctor, expecting to be cured in a single visit with a single prescription, and when they continue to suffer, or their condition gets worse, they blame their doctor.
What a shame! Granted, doctors go to school for a long time to learn about medicine and how to heal illness. But no doctor knows everything, has seen everything, can read minds, can scry into the future, and they certainly can't look back into our past unless we give them some way to see into it.
This is where a medical journal comes in handy.
Let's say you notice that when you eat out at a certain restaurant, you end up with the trots. Just about every time. This happened to me, and I was pretty upset because it was a pizza place and I LOVE their pizza. I tried to figure out what could be the problem. Was it the sauce? I tried pizza without sauce. Was it the crust? I tried just eating the toppings off the pizza and filling up on salad. The next time I settled for a sub.
It seemed that no matter what I ate off their menu, I had a big problem when I got home.
I decided to be more scientific about it. I took a small notebook with me (you see, I didn't want to stop eating there because I really did love the place). I would write down everything I touched, everything I did, even to the point of noting where I sat.
After a couple of visits, it finally hit me. At that time in my life I had recently stopped drinking soda. I didn't need the sugar, and I certainly didn't need the caffeine. However, whenever we went to this particular pizza place, we'd get a pitcher of soda for the family and I would treat myself to a glass.
I was reacting to the sugar in the soda.
Imagine my delight when I discovered that I didn't have to stop eating at our favorite pizza place. I just had to switch to iced tea or water. (no diet drinks for me...I won't even start with what those chemicals can do to you...)
Without taking detailed notes about the situation, I would never have figured out that a small change would allow me to continue to enjoy our monthly outing at the pizza parlor.
This experience made me realize that whenever people have an ailment that they can't seem to figure out, take notes about it. Copious notes! Your doctor will be really relieved that you can provide such a detailed history about your condition without trying to rely on an imperfect memory.
The next time you have a problem that doesn't seem to want to respond to a course of treatment, journal about it. Many times you will discover something that seemed really insignificant, but can make a huge difference in the outcome!
Write on!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Stick With It
Writing can be a love/hate relationship.
Sometimes you love it...and other times it becomes your master, you dream about it, you have nightmares about it, you discover you have written pages and pages of material that has absolutely nothing to do with your current project. These moments can be discouraging because you really are working hard, you've got your butt in the chair, you're producing material, and yet it isn't what you want.
What do you do then?
Put the material that you feel has nothing to do with your current project and stick it in a file folder, label it, and put it away for a week or more. This will accomplish two things:
Unfortunately, that doesn't handle the problem that what you're writing on now still needs to move forward. Refocus. Start asking yourself some questions. What does your reader need to know right now? Rather than being egocentric and writing only to please yourself, try getting into your reader's head. What does he/she want/need to know? How can you move them along in the process?
This is where you jump back into your project and move ahead.
By getting into your readers' heads, you'll become a much better writer overall. I don't care if you write for magazines, if you're a copywriter, or if you specialize in web copy...by understanding the purpose of your writing and knowing your audience, you're going to become a much better writer.
Trust me on this...stick with it. Writing comes easily at times and at other times it is work.
Most of the time, when it's work...it's because you haven't gotten into the head of your reader.
Go on, you know what to do now...WRITE!
To your writing success,
Kathleen
Sometimes you love it...and other times it becomes your master, you dream about it, you have nightmares about it, you discover you have written pages and pages of material that has absolutely nothing to do with your current project. These moments can be discouraging because you really are working hard, you've got your butt in the chair, you're producing material, and yet it isn't what you want.
What do you do then?
Put the material that you feel has nothing to do with your current project and stick it in a file folder, label it, and put it away for a week or more. This will accomplish two things:
- It will acknowledge to yourself that you value what you have done and your mind will be at rest.
- You will now have material that may be good for another project at some point in the future.
Unfortunately, that doesn't handle the problem that what you're writing on now still needs to move forward. Refocus. Start asking yourself some questions. What does your reader need to know right now? Rather than being egocentric and writing only to please yourself, try getting into your reader's head. What does he/she want/need to know? How can you move them along in the process?
This is where you jump back into your project and move ahead.
By getting into your readers' heads, you'll become a much better writer overall. I don't care if you write for magazines, if you're a copywriter, or if you specialize in web copy...by understanding the purpose of your writing and knowing your audience, you're going to become a much better writer.
Trust me on this...stick with it. Writing comes easily at times and at other times it is work.
Most of the time, when it's work...it's because you haven't gotten into the head of your reader.
Go on, you know what to do now...WRITE!
To your writing success,
Kathleen
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Renewal
Isn't it interesting how different seasons of the year become a time of renewal? For me, September is my time of greatest renewal. Perhaps it was because I loved school and in those days school started the day after Labor Day.
I love the smell of paper and pencils, of glue and erasers. To me, these are the tools of creativity and when they are brand new, their potential is limitless.
Whenever I get stuck on something, I find a way to renew myself. Sometimes, a project that takes longer than expected can feel old, musty, overworked, sometimes even useless. However, most of the time I can't really afford to just toss it in the trash can. I have to figure out a way to renew the project so that it feels new, so that I can recapture that feeling of excitement that got me started on it in the first place.
Recently, I have been working on a book with a doctor in Australia. Initially, we expected the book to only take us two months to write. At first, we made significant progress. Then, as we ran into some roadblocks, one or the other of us had to attend to other matters, and the book began to languish.
In order to refocus and reinvigorate myself for the project, I decided to just change the formatting of the book, putting it into a book template so that I could see what it might look like in its final form. Just seeing the book in that way changed my feeling about the project significantly. Once again I felt that old enthusiasm for the project begin to bubble up. The audience was one step closer to getting information that would ease their suffering.
Taking time to renew can mean the difference between life and death of a project.
What do you do to renew yourself?
To your writing success,
Kathleen
I love the smell of paper and pencils, of glue and erasers. To me, these are the tools of creativity and when they are brand new, their potential is limitless.
Whenever I get stuck on something, I find a way to renew myself. Sometimes, a project that takes longer than expected can feel old, musty, overworked, sometimes even useless. However, most of the time I can't really afford to just toss it in the trash can. I have to figure out a way to renew the project so that it feels new, so that I can recapture that feeling of excitement that got me started on it in the first place.
Recently, I have been working on a book with a doctor in Australia. Initially, we expected the book to only take us two months to write. At first, we made significant progress. Then, as we ran into some roadblocks, one or the other of us had to attend to other matters, and the book began to languish.
In order to refocus and reinvigorate myself for the project, I decided to just change the formatting of the book, putting it into a book template so that I could see what it might look like in its final form. Just seeing the book in that way changed my feeling about the project significantly. Once again I felt that old enthusiasm for the project begin to bubble up. The audience was one step closer to getting information that would ease their suffering.
Taking time to renew can mean the difference between life and death of a project.
What do you do to renew yourself?
To your writing success,
Kathleen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)