6 sites to Pep Up your Writer's Blog

Tell Me a Story - tips

Okay, as writers we can all do with a little help to pep up our websites and blogs. Writers want to write, not promote, but we all have to get stuck in, even though half the time we haven't a clue what we're doing.

I recently came across a few articles that offer help with traffic and blogs and thought you might find them useful as well.

1. Video: How to bring traffic with the help of elertgadget and Google Desktop
2. 6 Steps To A Killer Guest Post
3. 7 Important Steps for Perfect Blog Promotion
4. Faster Web Sites For Happier Visitors And Better Conversion Rates
5. Get 10X Traffic by Content Distribution Method
6. Promoting Your Blog Without Search Engines

Now we have no excuse for trimming our blogs and driving tons of traffic..... Well we can all live in hope can't we.

• Next post on Tell Me a Story

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Creative writing tips, conflict and tension
Book writing, 20 ways to polish that manuscript

Why writers should blog

Tell Me a Story - opinion

Anyone who's thinking of writing a book ought to write a blog. Whether you've completed your 'great work' or just thinking of starting, writing a blog is a good idea.

• But why waste time writing a blog when you could be doing productive work?

Well for starters, any writing is productive. Look on a blog as practice for the real thing. The more you're used to putting words together, the easier it becomes.

Web presence.

However, don't run away with the idea that you'll suddenly have dozens of fans just because you blog. It isn't that you'll even have regular followers at the start, but eventually you'll build up a 'presence' on the web. It's slow, it's time consuming, but over time it starts to happen.

Your name will gradually filter into the 'ether' and hopefully be remembered by some.... and I've read that a book - in fact any artifact - needs to be seen at least seven times before a prospective buyer becomes a firm purchaser.

So start early - your name is what you want sell .... not just a book.

If you DON'T blog.

1. If you DON'T blog, your name won't be known in the blogosphere.
2. If you DON'T blog, you can't possibly have a ready-made following.
3. If you DON'T blog, other writers who are bloggers won't know you exist.

If you DO blog.

1. If you DO blog, there's a chance that some editor or publisher will notice your work .... Okay, okay, I know it's a remote possiblity, but who'd want to miss an opportunity like that.
2. If you DO blog, readers will see how professional you are and have a chance to develop a relationship with you
3. If you DO blog, agents, editors, and publishers appreciate a writer who is ready to promote their own work, and the Internet is far and away the most efficient way to accomplish this.

All in all, I suppose it's rather like a lottery ticket. If you don't purchase you'll never win....

So, get stuck into that blog. At the very worst, a handful of people might start to recognize your name.... and at best - well you could just have a ready made readership waiting for that book.

• Next post on Tell Me a Story.

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Holidays in Alicante - the Hidden Spain
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Conserving Water - Your Must-Know Guide

To write, or not to write. That is the question.

Tell Me A Story

Incestuous relationships

Hi AJ, I’m looking for a bit of advice. I want to write a book. I know incestuous relationships are wrong, but will it be acceptable to write a story about it? I love creative writing. I want to write about a girl being in love with someone in the close family, but would the issue be too contentious - too emotive? I have an idea and wonder whether to continue and write it through, or should I just drop the whole thing before I get too far.
No such thing as normal

Hello André, glad you stopped by. Of course it'll be okay. It sounds as if it might be a good story line …. and there’s no such thing as 'normal'.
What I will say though, is that with this sort of issue make sure your creative writing is poignant. Be really emotive, wrench a few heartstrings and you'll be just fine. Go for it.
What you mustn't do is include the incestuous relationships just for the sake of shock. As long as it's sensitive then there's no problem. Make it natural, bring in the 'ah' factor, and your story could just be a winner.

• Next post on Tell Me a Story - A Wasted Day.

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End of post - To write, or not to write. That is the question.
,

Danielle Steel and her first blog

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Links on Tell Me a Story

• How To Describe - Mastering Descriptive Writing
• To Write A Story - 20 Ways To Write A Story Better
• Story Characters - 7 Cool Ways To Jump-Start Your Writing

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Danielle Steel.

I feel extremely privileged.

I've had the extraordinarily good fortune to make a comment, on the very first blog post by the celebrated author Danielle Steel.

It's been accepted and is now showing, but in general, comments are, provided they don't contravine decency. I've respected her forever and it’s unbelievable that I should have discovered her blog when it's so new. I thought at first there'd been no other comments, that I was the FIRST, but it was merely that Danielle hadn't accepted the earlier comments at that point.

Apprehensive.

It's strange to realise that Danielle was as apprehensive about her first blog post as the rest of us. None of us know what to say when we start out. We just feel our way into the blogosphere a bit at a time. It falls into place after a while, thank goodness, or I wouldn’t be doing this now.

At any rate, I hope you all join me in wishing Danielle all the best with her new blog.

• Next post on 'Tell Me A Story', Louisa McCormack.