Category: Blogging

Intuition in writing/blogging

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ray bradbury intuition quote

TODAY’S QUOTE

“Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.” — Ray Bradbury

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In my personal opinion, this quote applies more to writing stories and poetry etc rather than blogging. Blogging is a rare combination of all genres of writing that need to be blended carefully.

If I am writing for a prompt ( which I mostly do) it’s good to have a basic idea of what I’m writing about ( intuition) but it then needs planning and strategy on how to use the prompt image or word to its best advantage. Another concern that I especially have while writing is that most of my posts should convey a positive message. For this to happen, I have to use my conscious brain to bring out the positivity in my post.

In the end, I’d summarize by saying that blogging specifically needs both intuition and conscious planning. But that just be my approach to writing blog posts. Others may just be intuitively writing posts, stories, and poems. We all do have different ways of doing things in life.

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Many thanks Dr Tanya for this thought provoking prompt.

Written for;Blogging Insights — New Format # 43 — Intuition, hosted by Tanya

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Reading list

Today, Dr Tanya has asked our opinion on this quote by George R R Martin

TODAY’S QUOTE:

“You need to read everything. Read fiction, non-fiction, magazines, newspapers. Read history, historical fiction, biography. Read mystery novels, fantasy, SF, horror, mainstream, literary classics, adventure, satire. Every writer has something to teach you, for good or ill. (And yes, you can learn from bad books as well as good ones — what not to do).”George R.R. Martin,

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I think if one wants to be a good writer, it always is a good idea to broaden one’s horizons. Reading from all genres and different types of authors gives a wide reading experience. This prepares us to write well-balanced stories. Poetry, similarly needs to be read from a variety of sources. Different poets have different ways to express their feelings and when we read through multiple platforms, we expand our expressions too.

I have gained a lot by reading not only books from my favorite authors but also my blogger friends. Some write fiction, some love horror while others write humorous stories. This has enriched my knowledge and made me aware of how I too can write in different styles and genres.

In conclusion, I’d say that this quote is very apt, especially for aspiring writers and bloggers. Reading from multiple genres and authors allows us to use the knowledge to better our own writing.

Thanks Tanya for the prompt.

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In search of perfection?

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TODAY’S QUOTE :

“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” — Margaret Atwood 

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We mortals are not meant to be perfect!

We all make mistakes, even the best of us. Although some, like me, make more than others. But that doesn’t deter me from posting what I write. The people in our blogosphere are very generous and forgiving and very seldom do they point out a mistake.

I never aim for perfection anyway. I aim to deliver a message in most of my posts. I want that whatever I write should be of a positive value to my readers. That’s why I have reduced the number of posts that I write every day so that I can produce quality stuff.

One thing though I feel is important; Make sure that there aren’t typos in your writing or grammatical mistakes. That does ruins the impact of your post, be it a story or a poem.

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Many thanks Dr Tanya for this interesting prompt!

Written for;Blogging Insights — New Format # 37, hosted by Tanya

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Writing VS Blogging

TODAY’S QUOTE

“Blogging is to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud.”

Andrew Sullivan

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Though Mr. Sullivan is a blogger and a writer, I cannot understand his analogy between extreme sports and blogging, or writing and athletics.

The second part of his statement is however correct that blogging is less formal, more alive, and spontaneous.

Formal writing be it in form of a novel, poetry book or an informative book requires a different approach than blogging. It needs a format to be followed and some parameters that need to be adhered to.

While in blogging when we “ write out loud” we write as we think. It’s a spontaneous process where most of us edit after we have finished writing our posts. There is no limit to the topics/subjects we write on and neither is there a need to limit our views.

In conclusion, I’d say that blogging is mainly a medium of self-expression and is very different from formal writing. We can, and many have complied books out of blog posts but it needs extensive editing for that compilation to read like a book and not a bunch of posts. Poems, however are easier to convert into a book form.

Written for Blogging Insights-NF # 40, hosted by Tanya

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Choice of words

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” I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and look at it , until it begins to shine.”

Emily Dickinson.

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Words, written or spoken can change our lives, thoughts, and perspectives. They indeed have more power than anything else.

While speaking, the correct choice is more important because once said, we can never unsay it. Most wise people advise us to think and weigh our words before we utter them.

The written word however has a bit of flexibility. We can write it, think about it, ponder its appropriateness, and then we can replace it with another or better word. A blogger has only one tool and those are the words they use. Choose them with care. Both in writing your post and in comments, because sometimes they convey a message we didn’t intend.

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind”

Rudyard Kipling

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Thank you Tanya for keeping this conversation alive.

Written for Blogging Insights- NF # 39, hosted by Dr Tanya

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Experience is important when we write?

This week Dr. Tanya has asked our opinion about Hemingway’s quote;

TODAY’S QUOTE;

“In order to write about life first you must live it.”

Ernest Hemingway

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I think that this quote is true in context of emotions because if we haven’t experienced the ups and downs of life, it’ll be difficult for us to capture those emotions.

Whereas the human mind has been gifted with a very fertile imagination that helps people to create stories that they themselves have never lived. Many genres of story telling would never be possible if we only wrote what we have experienced.

In blogging, when I write about something I’ve personally experienced, It generates more interest in my readers. Perhaps, because there is an element of relatability which pulls their attention. The recent A to Z challenge I did was an example of this.

In summing it up, I think one needs to have experienced the highs and lows of emotions in life to write convincingly about them but as far as the story is concerned, people have ample imagination to write of things they have never experienced or have ever happened.

In blogging, however, personal experiences always create more connectivity as others may also have experienced those situations in life.

Written for Blogging Insights NF – 38, hosted by Tanya

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Blogging- A means to connect

Dr Tanya has resumed her Blogging Insight series after the hiatus

Blogging Insights returns today after a month’s hiatus. I posted almost daily for theA to Z Blogging Challenge 2022 last month and couldn’t keep up with my prompts. So here goes :

TODAY’S QUOTE 

“I believe the term “blog” means more than an online journal. I believe a blog is a conversation. People go to blogs to read AND write, not just consume.” – Michael Arrington, TechCrunch

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I agree with this quote 100%. The only thing I’d add more is that blogging is not only a means to write and read but also to connect.

One person writes a blog post which is read by many others. This completes the stated purpose of this quote, but what comes after is the real joy of blogging: The connections formed with others in the community.

For myself, this connection is the reason I blog. When I write something, be it a story, an informative post, or a poem, I get instant feedback on it. I get to know what people think of my effort and this gives me a chance to improve on my writing skill. In fact, this has actually helped me to write better, to improve my grammar and by reading the posts/ poems of my fellow bloggers, I’ve learned a lot about writing better.

Thank you Dr.Tanya for restarting Blogging insight series again.

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Repost- Blogging Insights- Organizing your blog

Due to A to Z challenge, Tanya has suspended her blogging insight series. Today I’m sharing a post from 2020!

Tanya is the host of Blogging Insights

TODAY’S QUESTIONS;

How organized are you when it comes to blogging? Do you have a blog schedule or do you play it by the ear?

Though I am not a stickler for schedules, I am pretty well organized regarding the postings on my blog. I post three posts daily and they are pre-scheduled to be posted every day. I usually write them the day before and schedule them. Sometimes if I have free time, I schedule posts for a couple of days in advance.

As far as my two prompts are concerned, those too are pre-planned and are scheduled at least a couple of days ahead.

How often do you’ tidy up’ your blog? e.g. go through your Drafts Folder, or go through old posts checking for broken links, etc.?

I do keep on going through my drafts and whenever I get time and inspiration, I complete them and post them as and when appropriate. I have never checked my old posts for broken links etc! I didn’t know that I was supposed to do that.

And this question also reminds me that I should tidy up my site. I haven’t touched it since at least a year. The reason is quite simple. I blog solely from my phone and for organizing, I’d need to go to my site via my laptop. Call me lazy or phobic, but I avoid doing that on all sorts of excuses. But I must do it sooner rather than later.

Maybe have a new header image or rearrange the menu or just refresh in general.

Thank you Tanya, for hosting this series and keeping the conversation going.

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A to Z challenge P for Prompts

Personal experiences, incidents and smiles

Advantages of joining prompts and blog parties

Prompts are rife in blogging world. There are some obvious advantages of joining in and then there are subtle ones.

We all know that prompts provide us with inspiration to write or compose a blog post. Some prompts ask us to use an image as a muse, some give us a word to provide inspiration. Then there are photography prompts where one has to post a photo on a certain topic or subject. It’s not a secret that prompts help us to step out of our comfort zone and do something that we normally don’t attempt. My venture into writing short stories was because of prompts.

When you join a prompt challenge, you also get noticed by others doing the same challenge. When I started doing prompts in the early days of my blogging, that’s how I build my community, by following people who were writing for the same challenges that I was.

The other side of the coin is to host prompts and challenges. Though this needs a lot of commitment and discipline, if one manages to host a prompt challenge successfully, it can increase your readership by leaps and bounds.

Do you attempt any blogging challenges of write in response to any prompts?

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Blog promotion

This week Dr Tanya asks our opinion about this quote;

TODAY’S QUOTE:

Gary Vaynerchuk

“What you do after you create your content is what truly counts.

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This is something that I have experienced firsthand. Wonderful content on a blog which has no public engagement will not be read by many.

There are over 600 million blogs in the world today, this number has grown over the last 2 years, exponentially.

So how to decide which blog post to read and whom to follow on the blogosphere? The answer lies in engagement by the writer with other bloggers.

Unless you’re a celebrity or selling something that everyone wants or needs, no one will know you when you start your blog. You will have to build up your readership by interacting with other bloggers and by reading their posts. Leaving thoughtful comments on posts by others, often encourages them to visit your blog. Here the quality of your writing or the uniqueness of your ideas will make them a frequent visitor to your blog.

If you aim to attract a large following to your blog, then you will have to work not only on your writing, which should be of good quality but also on interacting with your fellow bloggers to build your community.

On the other hand, if you’re here just for the sake of expressing yourself and putting your thoughts out in the world, carry on as you feel comfortable because, at the end of the day, it’s always your choice.

Written in response to Blogging Insightful-NF # 36, hosted by Tanya

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