(Photo thanks to London contemporary portrait photographer Antonina Mamzenko)
Next week, I’m off to Winchester Writers’ Conference for several days of seminars, workshops and assorted writing fun. Hurrah! 🙂
I’ll be blogging about what I learn, so stay tuned… (Grab the RSS feed if you don’t already have it.)
While I’m away, you might like to catch up with some of my guest posts from this month:
#1: How to Write Like No-One is Watching on Men With Pens
Sometimes, just putting words on the page can seem immensely hard: the writer’s equivalent of stage fright.
The post you write at 9am might be out there for all to see by 3pm. That ebook you’re frantically finishing off this week could be launched and on sale next Monday.No wonder you freeze up when you sit down to write.
#2: How to Finish What You Start: A Five-Step Plan for Writers on Write to Done
If you’re always starting new projects and never finishing them, this post should help!
No-one’s going to buy a half-written novel. No-one’s going to read a blog post that stops short after two paragraphs. So whether your writing aspirations involve hitting the New York Times bestseller list or living from the passive income from your ebooks, you need to finish what you start.
#3: Seven Ways to Build Up Your Writing Confidence on Daily Writing Tips
The emphasis here is on newer writers and quick, practical tips:
Most writers – even those who make a living from their craft – lack confidence at times. Writing is, after all, a daunting thing to do: you’re putting down your thoughts on the page and hoping that they’ll be worthy of someone else’s time and attention.
#4: Are You Making These Five Common Blogging Mistakes? on Daily Blog Tips
I read a lot of posts written by new bloggers – and a few mistakes crop up time and time again.
I’m going to go through a few all-too-common mistakes that bloggers make when posting. None of these are hard to fix. But, for your readers, they can be deal-breakers.
#5: How to Get Your Guest Posts Accepted Every Time on ProBlogger
It’d have been pretty embarrassing if this one had been rejected… 😉
It’s not black magic. It’s not about twisting arms, or offering bribes. It’s not even about name recognition—I was getting guest posts published when I was a total newbie in the blogosphere. It’s about writing a great, targeted post that stands a very high chance of acceptance.
#6: Are Your Personal Stories Turning Readers Off? on ProBlogger
We’re hardwired for story. Stories can grab us by the throat and pull us in. They can also, done badly, totally bore us.
The problem is, it’s easy to get personal stories wrong. And a blog that’s too “me me me” can be a total turn-off for readers. They might not even read a full post before getting bored and clicking away.
If there’s a topic you’d like to see me post about, drop me a comment below and I’ll see what I can do… 🙂
Thanks for the summary list – I’ll check them out and come back when you’re back. (Glad your “how to be accepted as a guest blogger” post was accepted!)
Michelle’s last blog post ..Mixed Media Artist Jenny Panda
Cheers Michelle! I was pretty glad that it was accepted too..!
Ali,
Thank You.
Such a lovely photo/image of you. You have a photogenic personality–brings out the best in you.
You, reading under a tree, a book in hand–in a wooded area, probably a forest. How poetic–how nice.
There is a smile on your face. You are enjoying the experience–it shows. Great work here.
Please share such photos/images. Such pictorials complement your blog posts, to be sure. Cheerio.
Aww, thanks Archan! The photographer, Antonina, works wonders with the camera… I’m not normally nearly so photogenic!
Thanks for sharing these Ali and good luck at the writer’s conference next week – can’t wait to read about what you learned there.
Hope you are having a good summer,
Alex
Thanks Alex! I’ll be blogging about it very soon…
Thanks for sharing Ali, I had only catched a few of these (since they were already in my RSS reader), and now have a chance to give them a read (or an Instapaper at least). I hope everything is working out smoothly with your courses!
Cheers,
Ruben
Ruben Berenguel @mostlymaths.net’s last blog post ..Eye of the Theorem
Thanks Ruben, glad you had a chance to catch up on some of them. I have trouble keeping track myself…!
Hi, Ali =) I enjoyed reading your posts including your guest posts in other websites. Your warm personality really shows as you interact with your readers. I hope to read more posts about writing inspirations. Your posts inspire me a lot to become a great writer someday. Thank you.
Thanks Shyxter! Really glad you enjoyed the posts and found them encouraging. Good luck with your own writing. 🙂