(The following was first posted on partner blogs
Ink-Stained Wretches and Austin Mystery Writers.
I wrote it, but, due to technical difficulties,
couldn’t reblog it here.
Had to post the whole shebang again.)
When I opened my personal blog, back in the Dark Ages, I titled it To Write Is to Write Is to Write. I intended to tell everything I know about writing.
Everything I knew filled roughly 2.5 posts.
Now I write about what I don’t know about writing and leave giving advice to those who know what they’re doing.
Reverting to my old librarian persona, I also write about blogs by writers who aren’t anywhere near running out of material. Here’s a short list.
Each Friday, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields invites readers to compose 100-word stories based on a photo prompt. Writers post stories on their own blogs and then link to an inLinkz list to share with other Fictioneers and with the public. It’s fun. Specific rules are found here.
Sammi Cox posts a weekend word prompt: The rules: “Write a piece of flash fiction, a poem, a chapter for your novel…anything you like. Or take the challenge below – there are no prizes – it’s not a competition but rather a fun writing exercise.” Participants are free to link their efforts in the comments.
TSRA introduces readers to authors, gives authors a platform, and provides information for writers aspiring to be published.
—from Uninspired Writers: “Writer’s Block? Relax! Do Something Else”
—from Jami Gold: “Tips for Creating the Right Impression of Our Characters”
—from Lucy Mitchell: “Why Some Stories Are Like Bridges to Other Stories”
—from Anne R. Allen’s Blog . . . with Ruth Harris: “Freewrite: How to Write About Traumatic Events Without Adding More Trauma” by Marlene Cullen
TSRA also promotes—and thank goodness, considering how much writers need it—”FUN and an OASIS OF CALM and Font of useful Knowledge andTips for Indies (please do NOT feed my naughty chimps or they may follow you home) from the woes and stresses of the real world”—such as,
—“LOLs Courtesy of BlueBird.”
Kate was on a bit of a hiatus for a while but is back now with “Social Distancing for Dogs.” She’s posted a lot of dog stories—my favorites are about the dear (and sometimes smelly) Macaulay, the dog with the Neville Chamberlain mustache, including
“The Miasmatron: Or Never Feed Steak to a Dog”
“The Terrier’s Apprentice”
“The Day the Dog Did What He Was Told” [with video]
Rummage through her blog. You’ll find many more gems on many more subjects.
Hugh posts about “this, that, and everything else,” but my favorite posts are the Blogging Tips, such as,
“7 Things To Lookout For Before Following A Blog”
“How to Use Excerpts to Get More Visitors to Read Your Blog”
and one treasure for WordPress users:
“How to Backup Your WordPress Blog to Prevent Losing All Its Contents”
A Pondering Mind posts words of wisdom,
Old wisdom:
“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest minds of past centuries.” ~ Rene Descartes
New wisdom:
“We are all now connected by the Internet, like neurons in a giant brain.” ~ Stephen Hawking
And—again, thank goodness—amusing wisdom:
“Do you know how helpless you feel if you have a full cup of coffee in your hand and you start to sneeze?” ~ Jean Kerr
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I could go on—my first draft is twice as long as this one—but the deadline loomed hours ago. I hope you’ll check out some of these blogs. And I hope you enjoy them and return for more.
And—do you have any blogs you’d like to share? Including your own. Record them in a comment.
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Image of New York City Public Library lion by Chinem McCollum from Pixabay
Image of apes and books by Gerhard G. from Pixabay
Image of cowboy reading by mosla99 from Pixabay
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My blog’s original title, To Write Is to Write Is to Write, is a fragment of a quotation from Gertrude Stein, who knew how to write and who told Ernest Hemingway how to write.
The current title comes from the first chapter of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Mark Twain knew all about writing. Ernest Hemingway said so.
M. K. Waller 