CornerScribe

Archive for January, 2008

…when you don’t know what to write about.

We’ve all had those times when we’re feeling particularly uninspired. When I’m under stress, my creativity seems to dry up. Whether it’s fiction or blogging or something else, it’s tough to find that inspiration again.

Here are some tips you might find useful — I do.

Blogging 

1. Look back through your older posts. Expand on an idea you had earlier.
2. Explain how to do something.
3. Explain how not to do something.
4. Write a list of quick tips.
5. Look through your most popular posts and put up a list of them.
6. Write another post along the same subject as one of your most popular posts.
7. Read some other bloggers for inspiration.
8. Write a response to another blogger’s post in your own blog.
9. Address some reader question.
10. Write a post for new readers. I know I sometimes forget that my readers aren’t all long-timers. Give a quick intro to your blog, best posts, subscribing to RSS, etc.
11. Post a list of your favorite blogs to read.
12. Point out some good posts on other sites. Other bloggers will appreciate the links (and maybe reciprocate).
13. Talk about your traffic numbers and how things are going.
14. Go through your pictures directory and post something. Everyone likes pictures!
15. Get personal. Even if your blog is usually strictly on topic, write a quick note about what’s going on in your life.
16. Tell something funny that’s happened to you lately.
17. Talk about a blogging mistake you’ve made and what you learned from it.
18. Complain about something (or someone). Go on, you know it’ll make you feel better.
19. Tell your readers about your typical day.
20. Document an overheard conversation.

Fiction

1. Take a minor character and write a short story about him or her.
2. Use a person you know as a starting point for a character.
3. Borrow the first sentence or paragraph from your favorite novel. Continue on to write it as you want and ditch the borrowed material when you’re finished.
4. Take a story you like and summarize the plot in one sentence. (Ex. Romeo and Juliet becomes, Boy meets girl, families disapprove, lovers die.) Now, change an aspect of the plot and use it as a start for a story.
5. Stuck with your novel? Get in your character’s head for a day. What does his/her typical day look like? Where does he go, what does he eat, who are his friends?
6. Create a character whose personality doesn’t match her situation. For example, maybe a shy girl who dresses provocatively and parties a lot. Or an aggressive business man who’s afraid to ask out a woman he likes.
7. Check out the news, particularly the science pages, and write some ‘what-ifs’. What if I could get a robot to do my housework (be still my heart!)? What if cloned meat has some horrific side effect?
8. History buff? Try some more ‘what-ifs’. What if women didn’t have the right to vote? What if we had never fought in Vietnam? What if Neaderthals had survived in their own society alongside ours?
9. Write something different than you normally do. Write in a different genre, for a different group, etc.
10. Stuck in your novel? Brainstorm some endings, the more off-beat the better. Sometimes your ideas will turn the novel in just the direction it needs to go.

What creativity tricks do you use when you’re stuck? It happens to us all, so share!

Daily Blog Tips has run another contest, and here are my votes for the best posts. Head over and check out the whole list; there are some great posts there.

How to Print Blog Articles the Smart Way

8 Effective Ways to Increase RSS Readership

How to Add More Sidebar Text Widgets

Display User Welcome Message

Make Money with a Poor Man’s BANS

Clintpee is the winner of 250 ec. Clint, just let me know where to transfer the credits to.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

When it comes to writing, this is one that really pops out when you make a mistake. You add an apostrophe when you really meant plural, or you leave it out by mistake. It’s not as tough to get right as you might think; in fact, it’s downright easy.

Apostrophes are used to show ownership, not plural. (Yes, I hear some of you arguing already. I’ll get to that.)

So, if you’re talking about more than one, add an s. If you’re talking about ownership, you’ll need an apostrophe. Let’s look at some examples.

1. John owns four cars. (simple, right?)
2. None of John’s cars actually runs. (Ownership, the cars belong to John.)
3. The children’s playground is a mess. (The playground belongs to the children.)

At it’s most simple, showing possession is done by adding ’s. If a word doesn’t already end in s, make it possessive by adding ’s, whether it’s singular or plural. Here are some examples.

1. The cheerleader’s performance was almost perfect. (One cheerleader).
2. The book’s binding needs repair. (One book.)
3. The men’s basketball team has had its best year ever. (Men is plural, but it doesn’t end in s.)

But what if a word ends in s but isn’t plural? How do you make it possessive? You go ahead and add the ’s anyway. You can hear this one. You say “boss-es temper,” and “Charles-es wife” below, right? Let that help you remember to add the ’s.

1. His boss’s temper was legendary.
2. Charles’s wife insisted he take the promotion.

If a word is already plural and ends in s, then just add the apostrophe.

1. The cheerleaders’ performance was almost perfect. (The performance was by more than one cheerleader).
2. The sled dogs’ feet were in need of medical care after the race.
3. My brothers’ cars were totaled within days of each other. (More than one brother wrecked more than one car.)

Let’s review some times when you shouldn’t use the apostrophe.

1. Don’t use the apostrophe when all you mean is plural.
2. Don’t use the apostrophe with pronouns (theirs, yours, his, its, etc.)
3. Don’t confuse its and it’s.

Here’s the exception I alluded to earlier. There is one case when you do use the apostrophe for plurals. Use an apostrophe to show the plural of a lower case letter.

1. She’s learning her a, b, c’s.
2. You didn’t dot any of your i’s in this essay.

There’s an interesting discussion here about apostrophes used to show plurals, which goes to show that even the “experts” don’t agree on many of the finer points of grammar. In my opinion, err on the side of clarity. I’d write the following, even though some might argue that I’m breaking the “rules.”

1. You got three F’s on your report card. (F is upper case, but I think it’s easier to read with the apostrophe.)
2. You use too many and’s in your writing. (I think this is easier to read than ands.)

You can find justification for either way of doing it. Just pick one and be consistent.

Finally, what do you do with hyphenated words?

1. The mothers-in-law have a meeting night at church. (More than one mother-in-law, but no possession.)
2. My mother-in-law’s car is in the garage. (One mother-in-law, showing possession.)
3. The mothers-in-law’s meeting lasts about two hours. (Plural and possessive. While this is technically correct, I find it awkward. I’d rewrite to avoid it entirely.)

Summary

1. Add s to show plural
2. If a word does not already end in s, then add ’s to show possession. This applies whether the word is singular or plural.
3. If a word ends in s already and is plural, add only the apostrophe.
4. If a word ends in s already and is singular, add ’s to make it possessive.

Now is a good time to sit down and mark up your calendar for the upcoming year. Since many magazines and publishers want material months in advance, you need to plan ahead and note deadlines.

Are you planning on writing any holiday or seasonal material? Now is the time to think about markets and find their deadlines. You might be surprised to find that you’re almost certainly too late for Valentine’s Day for most pubs. Mother’s Day? Maybe, but it could be close.

Ralan is a great source for market info, both paying and non-paying.

The West Virginia Writer’s yearly contest is getting underway.  I’ve been told that some of these categories get rather sparse participation, so it might be a good way to get a win under your belt.

Here’s a simple Entrecard contest. Subscribe to my RSS feed and get a chance to win 200 Entrecard credits.

• Subscribe via e-mail and get 2 chances.
• Subscribe via RSS reader and get 1 chance. This one is on the honor system. You’ll need to leave your email in the comments to THIS POST so I can keep track of your entry.

The contest is open today (Jan 22) through Sunday (Jan 27).

I have to say that so far, I’m pleasantly surprised by Entrecard. You can check out my earlier posts about them here and here.

I’m still seeing a good traffic boost from Entrecard. Visitors are also commenting more, which is terrific. Of course, the extra page views will be a good thing for Project Wonderful as well, so the two should work well together.

As a thank you to all those visiting, here’s a list of my top ten card droppers. Keep coming back, and don’t forget to subscribe to my feed!

1. Yimto Affiliate Marketing Blog
2. Shop Dog Diaries
3. Computer Tech News
4. Vigorous Writing
5. My Weight Loss for Life
6. Turnip of Power
7. My Internet Marketing Adventures
8. Bebo Author
9. About Every Little Thing
10. My Sense and Sensibility

You’ve probably notice the Project Wonderful ad box in my sidebar. Project Wonderful allows you to auction off ad space on your site to the highest bidder, or bid or ad space. It uses an ebay style auction system that allows you to set maximum bids, so you don’t have to stay tied to the computer.

What I like so far

1. You have the option to approve (or reject) all advertisers. Although I’m set to not run anything NSFW (not safe for work), that didn’t stop something I considered very NSFW showing up as a bid.
2. You can automatically approve ads from sites you’ve already approved. That’s a big time saver.
3. You can control the placement and number of ads.
4. It gives small sites or those just getting in to advertising a way to sell some ads.

What I don’t like

1.  So far, the prices have been very low. I’m hoping that as the site builds a track record, the price will go up. As it is, it’s hardly worth the trouble.
2. In order to sell ads, I almost have to accept a lot that don’t have a lot of relevance to the site.
3. Project Wonderful uses their own code to estimate page views, which is much less than what my stats software calculates.
4. You can’t make some alterations to the ad block once bidding has started. So, things like placement and the number of ads can’t be easily changed.

I’ve been running it only a couple of days, so I’m still open. These are just my initial reactions, and I’ll keep you up to date as the month progresses.

One of my blogging goals, is to increase my RSS subscriptions this year. I’m hovering in the 20s, and have been for some time. That’s very low for the number of visitors and page views I’m seeing.

I’d like to see my subscriptions above 30 by the end of January. I know that’s more than 10 percent, but I think it’s very doable too.

Here’s where you come in. I’m asking my readers to go ahead and subscribe to my RSS feed. You can do a feed reader (like Google or Bloglines) or subscribe via e-mail.

Thanks!

If you’re like me, you read a lot of blogs and subscribe to even more feeds. Still, there are probably some blogs that you really love. These are the ones you wait for and look forward to. What if you want to do something to say thank you?

1. Say thank you. Leave a comment or write an email telling the blogger how much you enjoy his or her posts. If you write an email, tell them it’s okay to use it as a recommendation on their site.
2. Post a link on your own blog or site. You’ll recommend a great site to your readers, and you’ll drive some much appreciated traffic to a site you enjoy.
3. Subscribe to their RSS feed. Even sites with respectable traffic can still have abysmal RSS subscriber numbers (I’m one of them!). Since RSS subscriber numbers can affect whether you can advertise on your feed, these numbers are important.
4. Participate! Post comments on their site. If there’s a contest or poll, consider participating. If the blogger asks for feedback, give it. You’ll help build a strong community and show your appreciation.
5. If you’re willing to put in a little more time, write a review of the blog on your own site. Send the blogger the link when you’re finished.

If you’re willing to dip into your pockets, there are ways to support your favorite bloggers that can also help them pay the bills, and presumably keep on blogging.

1. If the blogger sells a book, product, etc., then consider buying it. If it’s not something you particularly want, perhaps you can offer it as a contest prize on your own site.
2. If you’re shopping for something and your blogger has an affiliate link to it, use their link. Amazon purchases are a perfect example. Instead of shopping directly at Amazon, use an affiliate link instead. The blogger will get a commission on your sale, and you don’t pay any extra.
3. Take time to check out the blogger’s ads. If you’re interested in the blog, then you might be interested in some of the sites that advertise there as well. I’m not telling you to start clicking willy-nilly, but you should consider clicking those you find interesting.
4. Buy advertising. If you have your own site, consider buying an ad on a site you enjoy. It benefits both of you!
5. Donate. If your blogger has a donate button or tip jar, consider dropping off a dollar or two. Even a small amount will show your appreciation.

Even if you’re using a free blogging platform, maintaining a blog is a huge investment in time. For most bloggers, it’s also somewhat of a financial investment as well. Take a few minutes and do something to show how much you appreciate the blogs you read.