Blog

What is your writing “VOICE”?

“I don’t know how to find my voice…”

No, it’s not Little Mermaid syndrome, it’s something I hear from bloggers pretty regularly.

Writers of all stripes are often advised to “develop their voice,” but it’s a lot easier said than done.

So what is this elusive “voice” everyone wants to find so badly?  Here’s how literary agent Donald Masse describes it in his book, Writing the Breakout Novel:

What the heck is “voice”? By this, do editors mean “style”? I do not think so. By voice, I think they mean not only a unique way …

Read More

My First 1,000 Subscribers — and a Survey

I made a big, bold, scary decision this past weekend.

I decided to set myself a goal of reaching 1,000 email subscribers this year. That’s a pretty big leap for me since my current list is at… (checks MailChimp…) 393 subscribers.

That means I need to earn 607 subscribers. Doable? Totally. A little scary? Yeah, that too. 😉

I also decided that I want to blog about the exact steps I’m taking and how they work.

So, my very first step is going to be taking a survey.

Why?  Two reasons:

I’m mainly trying to build …

Read More

Why Asking “How do I Do SEO for My Blog?” Is Asking the Wrong Question

Lately, I’ve gotten a few email inquiries and even people who sign up for a phone consultation with me who tell me that they are mostly interested in “doing some SEO with their blog.”

And my stomach clenches as soon as those three little letters come out of their mouths.

S. E. O. (O… O… echo… echo… echo…)

I think Search Engine Optimization is one of the least-understood terms that’s thrown around in Internet marketing. Here’s how Moz.com defines it:

SEO is the practice of improving and promoting a web site in order to …

Read More

Once More With Feeling: How to Write with Emotion

A little over a week ago, I held my first-ever Blog Workshop Webinar.

In the writing world, when you bring a piece to a group to work on it, it’s called workshopping.

So I had the idea that some brave volunteers might bring some blog posts for us to workshop together, and it went really well! I had four awesome volunteers and I think we shared some really great tips with the people who came to …

Read More