My daughter recently asked, “So Mom, do you have tons of blog followers now?”
Hmm. If she defines “tons” as some, then yes. Whoo hoo! I have tons of followers.
The pressure to hook readers can be intense for new writers like me. I’m tempted to grab people on the street, drag them into a dark alley, and force them to sign up for my blog and newsletter.
“C’mon, it’s free. And I give gifts. What are you afraid of? Just sign up. DO IT.”
Since the police won’t let me use that technique anymore, it’s back to work. I need to
- Be diligent in writing
- Submit my work
- Stay active with the social media sites I use now.
So what’s the problem? When presented with new technology my fight or flight response kicks in. Learn how to create a podcast? Aaagh! Run! Escape to the safety of the refrigerator!
Picture courtesy of iosphere @freedigitalphotos.net
Does anybody else push dreaded tasks to the back-burner?
Hmm, I can’t do that now because it’s time to
Make a Starbucks run
Wash the car
Check on the sleeping children AGAIN
Cut the grass…with scissors.
My current lofty goals:
1) Stop chasing my tail like a Yorkie on crack and take advantage of free resources like YouTube. Sometimes their videos give clearer instructions than a company’s tutorials.
2) Better utilize my current social media sites, like posting interesting and relevant content to my Facebook author’s page.
Jeanie’s tutorial, “What to post on a professional page.”
A) A video of a two-headed lamb. Interesting, but not relevant. Leave it.
B) A video of a two-headed lamb writing poetry. Interesting and relevant. Post it.
In my last blog I promised to share
Jeanie’s Super-Secret Newbie No-No’s
Those are things that cause editors to shred your writing, drive to your home, and sprinkle the pages like confetti over your head. Which is inconvenient for them, and wastes a lot of gas. In the interest of conserving natural resources we learned:
Exclamation marks scream, “Newbie!”
Today’s secret is
Adverbs are our adversaries.
Using them tripped me up badly, royally, horribly, and exceedingly.
Our critique group leader read my first submission, stifled the urge to roll her eyes, and told me to search out every word ending in “ly.” A peck of them peppered the pages.
Here’s the fix: Use strong verbs
Example using Dreaded Adverb:John walked slowLY behind.
Better: John lagged behind.
Best: Leave John at home. He needs us to make a Starbuck’s run for him.
Platform building also includes face to face human interaction, which I love. So on June 28th I’ll be at Bible Truth Ministries church sharing my experiences with others who want to start their own writing journeys. You’re welcome to join us.