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How to Blog (Better)

Five Ways to Hook a Reader

9/14/11 6:00am by The Writing Bug
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Hook in the water

The reality is that many readers drop books or blog posts simply because the writer didn't ram a hook in them. Don't understand what I mean by a hook? Read The Writing Bug's advice on five ways to hook your reader. It's great advice for book writers and blog writers alike.  Read more

Happy Fifth Birthday, NaBloPoMo!

11/1/10 6:02pm by Rita Arens
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NaBloPoMo logo 2010 (image: Nablopomo.com)

It's November! It's NaBloPoMo time! Founded by BlogHer Eden Kennedy of Fussy in November 2006, as as she put it, a "goof" on National Novel Writing Month. Kennedy challenged bloggers to post every day for the month of November.  Read more >

Write a Review that's as Sparkly, Interesting, and Delightful as You Are

10/5/10 12:00pm by Mom101
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Thoughtful Woman

How exciting that today there are brands so eager to connect with bloggers, and bloggers so eager to write about brands, that there are a hundred billion review blogs in the US alone! (BlogHer Compass Study, 2010.) (No, not really. But probably close.)  Read more >

How to Write (Better): Five Mistakes That Weaken Your Writing

9/16/10 8:00am by theUrbanMuse
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Person balanced on a pen

I'll be the first to say that being a successful freelance writer requires more marketing and business savvy than writing skill. Writing beautiful, flowing prose won't make you much money unless you know how to market yourself, negotiate fee structures and contracts, and keep your editors happy. That's why my blog usually focuses on business strategies for freelancers.  Read more >

How to Write (Better): Attack Passive Verbs Like Bears on a Rodeo Clown

9/15/10 10:00am by Joshilyn Jackson
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Angry Bear

Considering the other verb queries that came my way recently, I choose to interpret this to mean the universe is sending me a message; I need to go to war against the misdefining of passive voice as a combo of "was" with any INGly verbages, lest I be haunted by this question nigh unto madness.  Read more >

How to Write (Better): 12 Steps for Writing a How-To Article

8/30/10 9:16am by schmutzie
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Woman Typing

Writing a good how-to article is harder than most people think. I know this, because most of the how-to articles I come across on the internet are down-right terrible. They often assume a level of expertise that the reader does not possess or neglect to mention entire steps that would get the reader from step three to step four without causing them to rip out handfuls of hair. My how-tos, though, are quite fantastic, and I am here to tell you how to do it, so that when you decide to share your knowledge with the world, you can do it better than everyone else.  Read more >

How to Write (Better): How to Write a Rant

7/28/10 5:35pm by Her Bad Mother
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Angry Blogger

I love a good rant. I love to read them, and I love to write them. I love to read them, because a good rant is smart and energetic and inspiring and often funny. I love to write them, because I get to practice creating something smart (and energetic and inspiring and funny), and because it feels so good to let an argument hang out.  Read more >

How to Write (Better): Even Bad Poetry Can Make You a Better Writer

7/27/10 9:21am by schmutzie
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Writing

I have had a love/hate relationship with poetry, made up of three parts hate and one part love, for the last thirty years when I first discovered it at the age of seven. I was rebelling against the rote memorization of multiplication tables that year, and I grabbed onto the perceived freedom of freeform poetry as my life preserver in a world that was soon to include a structured summer full of remedial math lessons.  Read more >

How to Write (Better): How To Get Past Writer's Block and Release Your Inner Muse

7/24/10 11:00am by Virginia DeBolt
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The Muses

Except when she can't be found. Except on those days when your mind is as blank as the page or screen in front of your eyes. Except on those days when your creative process is on strike. Days when words stick like super glue to the ends of your fingers — they won't flow from your hand to the page.  Read more >

How to Write (Better): Author Branding and Unmarketing in the Publishing World

7/22/10 11:08am by Justine Musk
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Three Books

The reason why a brand is necessary for survival is because it doesn’t just promote, it filters and curates. As the distribution barriers collapse and more and more people publish online, readers need to know where to go and who to trust in order to find great material without sorting through all the crap. If readers trust you, and your well-defined creative vision, they will go to you to find cool stuff to read, and also to share and recommend to their friends.  Read more >