Spontaneous Derivation

Of course, the fun isn’t limited to YouTube (which we’ll return to as well). College Humor regularly puts together well-produced skits and shorts.

Like this instant Election ‘08 classic:

I first became aware of College Humor through their hilarious Font Conference video.

As of 10:53PM PST:

Photography: said&done

Probably going to be my last post on blogging for a while. Whether you want to listen or not is on your own terms, as always—my qualifications are meager, but then again, I have been studying and observing this blogging things from the perspective of a blogger, rather than another kind of writer. That probably has some value, although not enough to some—after all, what experience do I really have of the “real writing”?

Nevertheless. I am brazen online, so will go out on this particular topic in a blaze.

To continue…

Continue reading “Blogging for Writers: The Tao of Blogging as Promotion for Writers”

Photography: edwin.11

Nick Mamatas wrote quite a stirring post on the nature of greatness and writing:

We satsifice and market that as excellence, we don’t excel. Everyone does have the potential to be great, but that level of potential varies widely, and this variation is based on exogenous factors.

[continued]

Upon reading it, many were inspired, but a few became a bit upset.

This got me thinking about what I thought of as meaning “great”, and how greatness relates to blogging.

Continue reading “Thoughts on Greatness and Blogging”

Photography: .parker.

Life is short, and blogging takes time.

Say you’re oncall (like I am currently). Do you really want to spend your two hours of free internet time a day doing annoying blog odd jobs and maintenance that ought to just be easy—or do you want to spend it doing research and writing? I know what any sane blogger would say.

Here are five WordPress plugins that are giving me more time now, during a couple weeks when I shall be very short on time indeed.

Continue reading “5 WordPress Plugins That Make Life Easier”

Photography: maxedaperature

You’ll find my guest post on the EntreCard blog. Hope you enjoy—and leave plenty of comments over there!

Photography: tc7

Just about any blogger eventually discovers the alluring world of site traffic tracking, whether it’s through Google Analytics, Site Meter, or lovely fresh Mint.

We wonder: what impact are we making out there? Who reads us?

Who likes us?

Now that’s one complicated question, and not always so easily answered. There are no little “like” graphs on your Wordpress.com stats dashboard. We can only infer—outside of honest confirmation from every single one of your visitors—whether people like your site or not.
Continue reading “Blogging for Writers: Looking for Love in All the Wrong Bounce Rates”

Photography: Chris Gin

Sectioned off from Bringing Focus to Your Blog by Discovering Your Inner Authority.

Sometimes your authority won’t be quite what you originally set out for it to be.

Originally I wanted to write about writing. Like every single other writer out there, published or not, as I found out.

But as of this time, I don’t know anything about professional writing. Nor do I know anything about fiction writing, or non-fiction writing, much less publishing or even the market. I couldn’t write about those subjects with the detail and depth that would give value to my readers, value that wasn’t better found somewhere else. I can’t pretend to have knowledge that I don’t have.

So what could I give to my potential readers?

Continue reading “A Personal Discovery of Authority”

Photography: MegElizabeth_

The honeymoon between blogger and new blog seems to last about three months. One morning, after the novelty of posting rants and YouTube embeds is worn out, a thought comes with the dry-mouthed taste of not enough sleep:

So I’ve got a blog. Now what do I do?

Perhaps you find that you’re satisfied with what you have. This is not a bad thing; there is something to be said for starting to sleep regular hours again.

Or perhaps you’re like me: you want more. You’re not sure more what, just yet, or even how you’ll get it.

Continue reading “Blogging for Writers: Bring Focus to Your Blog by Discovering Your Inner Authority”

Photography: Mshades

Entrecard is one of the most unusual ideas in site promotion around. A kind of free advertising, you gain credits to advertise by visiting sites and dropping your card on their Entrecard widget, as well as from other people’s drops on your own widget.

But after a while, for some the Entrecard experience becomes hollow. Some see visiting sites as a chore, while others see Entrecard as advertising that doesn’t pay them hard cash.

I used to feel that way, until I realized that there was another way to look at Entrecard. For me, that made all the difference in the world.

So here’s my Entrecard journey and five benefits I continue to reap from it—and which you can, too.

Continue reading “Getting the Best Out of Entrecard: 5 Benefits I Reaped Beyond Hits or Ads”