Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Art and Writing

Writing in advance.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

In my draft section of my blogging account sit many drafts.

Many, many, many drafts.

I really should finish them. They are fine ideas. I just never bothered to finish them. If I were to finish all the drafts I'd started in all my blogs, I'd have an additional 300 posts of content to work with.

Whew!

One reason I don't go back and finish the drafts is because the moment that they were pertinent to whatever I was thinking or doing or desiring to share has long since passed and the topic doesn't seem as pressing anymore. It would behoove me to finish the drafts, ready to go, so that when I found myself stuck or in a dry spell, I at least had material that could be published that was written when I was hot on the topic. To go back and try to resurrect interest for some of the posts is like eating sand.

I've never eaten sand.

Well actually, yes. At the beach. Big waves. Terrible things.

Anyway, back to writing in a timely manner. Check out this post on developing good blog writing habits.

I don't have the ability to write and set them to post automatically. That would be very nice, though it feels a little like cheating. Part of my shtick whilst blogging is that what ends up on this site is fairly fresh, not too moldy, and written/published as close to the moment as possible. I'd like to think it sets me apart from the local newspaper, which arrives a day late and causes me to miss out on all the cultural events that they seem to see fit to announce the day of.

I could, however, start stockpiling some writing for those sandy days.

Labels: blogging, writing

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More on blogging.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

I've come across a couple of sites that might be of interest to those who want to take their blogging "seriously" as opposed to hobby-ist or flippant blogger.

First, the nine habits of highly effective bloggers:

Blog on a consistent basis.
Putting in a 100 percent effort on your niche.
Setting your sights far ahead.
Reading fellow successful blogger's blog.
Tagging on other blogs.
Interacting with the crowd.
Leave comments for others.
Joining communities and participating in events.
Write with confidence.

Second, to off-set that, are the common mistakes of a new blogger. This post is from the blog AdesBlog.com, which is filled with posts highlighting articles and websites that are of use to bloggers. What mistakes should you avoid, as a new blogger?

Display RSS chiklet too early.
Display too many ads.
Start the blog on free blogging platforms.
Design your own theme. (My early designs were...rough. It takes practice.)
Not posting own ideas. (Though political blogs, even popular ones, often are a link-fest or re-hash.)
Posting irregularly.

Another related blog post is this one, from CashQuests.com: Five mistakes from the past.

Another useful post from the AdesBlog is about getting more comments on each post. As the article rightly points out, users can't see the stats or any of the things going on in the background. All a blog reader has to go by, as far as the legitimacy or popularity of a blog, is the number of comments. As a blogger, you want comments. So, how do you get more comments? You:

Be active in your own comment threads.
Ask questions.
Spotlight commenters.
Leave something out. (A particularly intriguing idea I'd not considered.)
Return the favor.
Pick your favorite comment of the week. (An idea I'm thinking of implementing.)

And finally, a post on how to find new readers for your blog:

Define your target audience.
Find your target audience on other blogs or web sites.
Find your target audience on social media.
Find your target audience on forums.
Optimize your blog for new readers.
A one-month growth challenge. (Which includes guest blogging* on another blog, starting a social networking account and interacting, leaving 50 comments on other blogs, and more -- go read it to find out!)

The AdesBlog also has a post on growing your blog, some of which has a few overlapping ideas as already mentioned above, but also some interesting ideas:

Give something away. (I have lots of freebies on this site, lots of hits.)
Get connections to vote for you on social media.
Run a competition. (I've had contests, though not had impressive success yet.)
Write a free report. (I offer free art ideas and downloads, but not written something substantial -- good idea.)
Start a meme.
Guest post on a popular blog. (I did it once and it did, indeed, increase my hits and blog participation. It was not long-term, however.)
Buy a StumbleUpon campaign.
Comment on five popular blogs.
Send out links to your best content.
Join a forum in your niche.

One common thread through all of this? You'll need to spend some time online, not only familiarizing yourself with forums and blogs and content and unwritten "protocols", but you'll need to start taking part. It took me a while to cave to ads and social networking sites (and I can't say I'm thrilled about it), but if you want to be known and found online, you need to be out there doing a bit of work.

Links:

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*Is guest blogging a bad idea? Read here for more.

Labels: blogging

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Artists and web sites.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

When I first started LonePrairie.net, back in 1999, there weren't a lot of options for people who wanted a web site other than building their own. The internet changed a lot, though. At this point, anyone can have their own site for free.

In a sense.

Which leads me to artists having their own web sites. And blogs. My advice for any artist (or other person, for that matter) who wants their own site is to use some of these free blogging sites. This is anything but uncommon. To avoid having to include a "blogspot" or "wordpress" URL, purchasing a domain name and then forwarding it onto the blog is the easiest solution.

Case(s) in point:

The Nicaragua Resource Network - North Dakota is my latest use of just such a system. The old site, while perhaps a little better looking (the downside of this is the use of obvious blog templates, though you can modify them to a degree), did not have the ease I found necessary to constantly update. As NRN-ND gets more involved and the information needs and frequencey of news became more involved, I found being the webmaster a real drain.

Blogs, with their database way of working, should make this much, much easier. New content? Easy to put up, categorize, and accessible from any internet connection.

For artists or people selling things, a simple PayPal or Google Checkout account, uploaded images in each post, and a "buy now" button will do the trick.

My current personal preference is Wordpress.com. Lots of features, including static pages. I personally buy my domain names from GoDaddy.com just because...I do. They're cheap and have great customer service.

So:

Sign up for a free blog account (Wordpress.com).
Sign up for a PayPal/Google Checkout account.
Buy your domain name (GoDaddy.com)
Forward your domain name to your blog URL.

Done.

What the heck. Get some free business cards at VistaPrint.com with your new web site address and call it a day. Minimal investment and ease of use. It's a fine start. Maybe not the final answer if your business grows, but a good way to get online, at least.

Labels: blogging, internet, marketing

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Blogging and writing.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 2 comments link this post

Eric, over at the Fire Ant Gazette, is working on a presentation entitled "Five reasons writers should blog, and five reasons they shouldn't". He's posed some interesting questions to bloggers in regards to how blogging affects -- either good, bad, or both -- writing. I thought I'd share my thoughts here and give others a chance to read and/or respond on what they think.

Reasons blogging has helped my writing:

Blogging forces me to accurately observe events in ways that go beyond merely noticing, but into translating what I see into what it means. In other words, I know that I have to recapture it on my blog for readers who were not there and I need to do it in a way that is concise.
Speaking of concise, I see my writing becoming less wordy, though it still has a way to go. I, as a blog reader, don't like huge blocks of text and unwieldy writing, so I know that when I write for other such readers, I need to use words wisely. Most readers are coming in at so many blogs that they don't have time to sift through screens and screens of writing all the time. I've only got so much space and time to say what I'm going to say, and it makes me a leaner writer.
Bloggers don't blog in a vacuum. That is, we're reading other blogs, too. I've learned a lot about argumentation and debate and ways of presenting ideas in a way that is meant to instruct and not confuse, just by reading other blogs.
Blogging doesn't let me be lazy because my readers can interact and point out errors in reasoning, writing, and even (I hate to admit) grammar and spelling.
When other bloggers link to what I've written and carry my idea further or take it in a new direction, I enjoy seeing doors open up that I had not seen before.

Reasons blogging has hurt my writing:

Blogging has taken on certain forms, kind of like reporters get used to using the AP Stylebook. There is jargon, there are specific blogging techniques...I find that this sometimes carries over into other writing where it doesn't work. Much of blogging, such as placing a heavy weight on letting a link do the explaining (like a footnote or parenthetical statement in other writing) so that I can move on with my main message, is very much tied to the medium that blogging is.
I've actually, in some cases, become "too" concise and truncated in my writing, always writing for a blogging audience when, in other writing arenas, the audience doesn't need to "get in and get out" and actually wants a little more explanation or description.
Because I know that readers can, and will, comment on my writing, there are times when I write in a passive way so that I can find a back door out of any argument someone might have with what I'm writing. If I'm not careful, I don't write in declarative statements or with confidence, but weakly so no one can pin me down and I don't have any regrets later.
I spend so much time blogging bits and pieces of thoughts and of life that I don't sit down and write a short story or a long essay or article for other publications or projects. Blogging is addictive and can suck up time that could be used to exercise other writing muscles. Its instant gratification is very addictive.
It's easy to rely on other writers, through linking, and be lazy while feigning wittiness through sarcasm.

I'd recommend blogging to writers if:

They have the discipline to write in other ways, besides blogging.
If they have a thick skin and can take compliments and criticism.
They don't have hopes and dreams of writing the Great American Novel.
They can edit themselves.
They don't mind having their early work out there, like underwear on a clothesline, for everyone to see.
They don't fall into the trap of those bloggers who link to an article or source on the web and then post a quick comment on what they think about the topic of the article. It's a lazy kind of blogging, almost a forgivable plagiarism. At the very least, it's climbing onto someone else's statue and pointing out what's wrong or right with it; it is by no means the same as carving their own statue.

Labels: blogging, writing