Welcome to my June edition of the monthly #IWSG [Insecure Writers Support Group.]
When I think of my blog friends as I am doing a lot of today, this group is right up there as one of my favorites. As the name implies the people in this group are among the most supportive, the most informative and so friendly. If you are feeling a bit insecure with your writing or if you have some words of support to share please join us:
http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com
I am feeling a bit reflective today because this is my 400th blog post! I started blogging a year before my first book Bristol boyz Stomp was released. I have learned so much since writing my first post and I am looking forward to continuing to learning more.
I am still trying to catch up and meet some of my writing goals. I fell way behind due to two significant losses in my life. The good news is I have been waking up early, like 5 a.m. even on my days off, swearing I hear someone whispering in my ear to get up and write.
Because I am feeling secure in my writing this month I thought I would share with you some of the things that have worked, and not worked for me when it comes to blogging. I ask you to share anything that has worked or definitely not worked for you and your blog.
- The single biggest lesson I have learned in blogging and in life is that Kindness is the Key. If you need page views, go view pages, if you need comments go leave comments, if you need support go support another blogger and so on.
- As a writer I know in order to continue to improve my writing, the best thing I can do for myself and my craft is to read voraciously. Since I have committed to visiting, reading and commenting on at least 5 blog posts a day, my weekly word count has improved drastically. My blog stats have also improved.
- Key Words matter! I think this finally sunk in with me during the A-Z Challenge this year. I spent a lot of time choosing the key words for each post and it sure did pay off. Most of my posts were ranked in the top 5 on Google, 4 of them reaching #1.
- Coming from a newspaper background I love doing interviews. Sadly the interview posts I have done received the least comments, most of the time between 0-3, the least shares and the least page views. I want to support fellow writers and continue doing interviews. I need to come up with a fresh version. Any suggestions??
- Contests have not worked for me either. They don’t work on my Facebook page or on my blog.
- My writers group (IRL) friend Kelly Deeny: http://www.kellydeeny.com believes that all creative people can learn from one another [she has a great post up now for improving your writing.] I agree with her and decided to start a feature on my blog that will feature reviewing songwriters and new musicians. Since tweeting this idea about a month ago the music has been filling my inbox. My husband is enjoying the listening.
- Being consistent is another key. When it comes to consistency I struggle but I am determined to improve this over the summer.
I am looking forward to hearing your suggestions. Happy June and I wish you all sunshine and large word counts, this month!
Doreen
I would love to hang out with you here too:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bristol-boyzStomp/113804488656243
http://www.twitter.com/doreenb8
http://www.halfpastkissintime.com
http://www.katherinescorner.com
42 thoughts on “Blogging Common Sense, Post #400 and supporting the insecure #IWSG”
Congrats on the 400th post. It’s amazing how time flies by.
Those are some great lessons, and I love this community, too. I’ve learned it’s important to share knowledge with others.
Thank you Miranda. The time truly did fly.
I love that quote! And I agree about creative people being inspired by other creative people, no matter the medium. Congrats on your 400th post! 🙂
Madeline @ The Shellshank Redemption
Thank you Madeline. Kelly was brilliant when she called our group Creative Explorers. We have writer, singers, artists and more and the inspiration and support overflows.
Congratulations on post #400, Doreen! Thank you for sharing these blogging insights and for referencing my website. I’m so honored to know you and call you my friend. Happy writing!!
Ditto Kelly and THANK you, you are SO supportive!
Some great tips there, thanks for sharing!!
D.B. McNicol
Romance & Mystery…writing my life
Thank you Donna!
re your KEY WORD advice: so many of us–me anyway–get carried away trying to be clever and forget that we can catch more readers by letting them know exactly what they’re about to read, and why they should read it.
thanks for posting. I learned a lot from it.
I hate when people use keywords that have nothing to do with the post. I write a list as I’m writing now so I use only what I wrote about.
Hi Doreen! Wow! Congratulations on your 400th post. I’m somewhere at mid-200s and still going strong. My motto is “never give up!” so that has probably been the best suggestion I can offer other writers (especially any of us who have doubts or feel insecure!)
I also have found that the idea of helping others also helps ourselves. I call it reciprocity. It is so obvious to me that if we want support, we have to be supportive–and I’m happy to know others believe that too.
The only other “tip” I would add is that for me, by continuing to write and be open to feedback I have both gotten better at writing AND I’ve also gotten more confident. So keep writing! ~Kathy
Thank you Kathy! 400 sort of snuck up on me. Yes, yes and yes it does make us better writers. I have Don’t Quit over my office door:)
Wow great tips! As for your interview question, I understand. I rarely read author interviews unless I know the author and am already interested in them, so you are probably limiting your views in that way. But I recently did an interview that went well for me, and I think it was because the lady who ran it asked funny questions and had a gimmick of making (or nicely asking really) everyone who she interviewed to submit, along with the answers, a picture of them in a funny hat. So the combination of the picture and the really unusual questions was great. Not only more fun for me to answer, but I’m sure I got more views because of it. Maybe something to try?
Good luck! 🙂
I love the funny hat idea! Thank you for the inspiration, I just got a ton of funny ideas!
Congrats on 400 posts. I think you make a good point about putting out what you want to get back. A little effort makes a big difference.
mood
Moody Writing
It truly does make a difference and thank you so much!!
Congrats on 400 blog posts! And thanks for sharing the lessons you’ve learned.
Thank you, time sure does fly when you are learning and having fun!
Congratulations on reaching 400 posts! And a big thankyou for sharing your insights on blogging. I am new to the IWSG and am already feeling supported, not only by the comments I’ve received but what I am reading – and learning – from blogs like this one.
Thank you so much and a huge welcome to this awesome group! (((HUGS)))
Congratulations on your 400th blog post!
Great quote!
I believe that the energy we send out into the world comes back to meet us.
Thanks for sharing these insights.
Thank you Michelle. It sure does come back to us!
Doreen,
I love reading this post! I have wanted to write a book for years and I know what I want to write about. But my fear of not knowing how to go about it is stopping me. Any suggestions let me know. I’d be very interested in what you have to say.
I love how open and authentic you are in your writing. It shines through every single word. Good for you.
Awe Thank you Cathy! Yes, Yes, Yes you need to write that book. I always start with an outline. A paragraph or two on each chapter. I play with the order of the chapters until it seems like the story will flow and then I write a synopsis (What I imagine would be on the back cover.) Once I have those two done I work on the individual chapters, in no particular order. I may work on the last chapter today and the third tomorrow. I hope that helps.
Congrats on 400th! So sorry to hear about your losses. Great post and tips.
Thank you Tracy it has been one crazy sad year, but things are looking up.
Kindness IS key! And this community totally rocks when it comes to kindness and support.
It is and yes this group does rock the kindness!
Being part of the blogging community by commenting and visiting is my biggest recommendation, and you’ve already got that down. Interviews and book releases/cover reveals always get the lowest comments on my blog, but I think a lot of the time people just don’t have anything to say in response? So giving them something to provoke thought/comments is probably the way. Don’t ask me how to do that, though.
Thank you Shannon. I love reading blog posts. They are the perfect waiting room length:)
Hi Doreen .. it’s being slow but sure and building on one’s base – and you’ve made good points about being kind, regularly commenting elsewhere, and writing interesting content ..
Congratulations on 400 posts .. and your story could be short ones to start off with, or turn some of your blog posts into an ebook … good luck .. it will come and after the difficult year you’ve had .. at least you’re feeling more settled .. good luck – cheers Hilary
Thank you Hilary. It certainly does take time. Blogging is not for the impatient.
You have more posts than I do, so I don’t know if I can offer advice. I blog about aging, particularly how to support people in late life and how to use midlife to get better prepared for late life. However, I found that my posts about people beating the odds by living very long lives with few health problems (the statistical outliers) get more posts than the practical and realistic posts. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Karen.
You have twice as many posts as I do, so I’m not sure I can offer any extra advice. As you said, it worls out best if you intereact with other writers.
Man, I wish I could get up at 5 in the morning and write (or do anything, for that matter!)
Lol 5 a.m. pretty much sucks at first anyway. It feels good once the word count starts piling up.
I really really like how you phrased your first bullet point.
And congrats on 400 posts!
Thank you so much!
It is always good to be kind when posting. If it isn’t your cup of tea, you should just move on.
I starting reading here shortly before your book came out, how far you’ve come.
Awww Thank you and you have come pretty far yourself!!
Yeah, you definitely have to give to get in blogging. Congratulations on your 400th blog post. That’s awesome!
Thank you!!