It’s Thursday again (and thank goodness only two more days till vacation is over and my oldest goes back to school!) Thursday means it’s time to play Writers Workshop over at MamaKat’s! She’s got some great prompts this week so be sure to grab one for yourself link up or just head over and see who else is writing this week.
The Prompts:
1.) If I sent you four hundred dollars today what is ONE thing you would spend it on and why. ps I want my change.
2.) What are your kids talking about?
3.) Tell us about a local news story that’s all the buzz right now in your neck of the woods.
4.) Share some blogging advice.
5.) Tell us about that time at the playground when that thing happened.
(thanks to Heather at Chasing Butterfly’s who unknowingly inspired this last prompt)
I’m choosing prompt FOUR.
Blogging advice from Blogging Mama:
Don’t drone on and on about boring stuff. I don’t want to know about your brothers fifth wife’s third cousins second middle child. Really I don’t. I also don’t care what you had for dinner or lunch; that will only make me hungry. So please don’t tell me (email me instead with the title FOOD and I’ll open it after I eat.)
I don’t get why people love to talk about their cats. I don’t care about cats. If it was up to me cats would not exist. Mean but true. (Now please read the advice below!!)
Don’t take things too seriously. Remember that words written and what they would sound like spoken, possibly in jest, don’t always translate when you read them. This one is important to remember.
Don’t get caught up in the popularity of blogging. It’ll crush you in the end and you’ll spend far too much time wondering about why that person you always say hi to never says hi back. It’s so totally not worth the effort of being the nice guy sometimes.
Have fun when you blog. Tell a story every now and then and be kind. Not everyone you ‘meet’ is going to feel the same way about your comments. If you forget please skip up two pointers and re-read.
Learn from other people, meet other people, reach out to other people. I’ve learned, meet and reached out over my three plus blogging years. There are some very amazing writers, people and stories being told out there. Jump up and embrace them.
Don’t ever be afraid to compliment someone when they write something you like. It will mean something to them if they take the time to listen to their readers. It really will. If you don’t like what they wrote, don’t say so. Is it really worth possibly hurting someone else just to let them know what they wrote sucked? No, it isn’t.
And after visiting some sites today for the WW can I please say DO NOT LINK TO A CARNIVAL WHEN YOU DIDN’T ACTUALLY PARTICPATE. Seriously ticks me off to click your link when you didn’t participate and just want FREE traffic. So people who do that, you suck. You really do.
So that’s advice from Blogging Mama about Blogging.
What prompt would you pick this week? Go to MamaKat’s and see what everyone else is talking about!
Silly me, I just figured that if I clicked on someone and didn’t find the writing challenge that it just hadn’t posted yet…but you are right, they just did it for the traffic. Generally, I’m not quite as dense as that! Bwahahaha!
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Thanks Andrea for the advice! I haven’t been blogging for very long; March was the first time I’ve been able to blog on a frequent basis, because I started making my blog my journal entry for the day. Since I became more committed to my blog I’ve discovered a lot of blogs out there, and you’re right there are so many exceptional writers out there and it’s fun to read what others have to say. I don’t watch tv, but I imagine it’s sort of like following a favorite show on tv by seeing what a particular blogger has to say each time he or she posts. Thanks for your advice!
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I have only posted about my cats ONCE, I’ll have you know! And it was FUNNY, dammit.Read this and tell me I wasted your time: http://exileonmomstreet.blogspot.com/2009/01/every-womans-worst-nightmare.htmlI love you Andrea!!
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I liked your blogging advice.There are some fantastic blogs out there and some not so great ones. You definitely can’t take anything too seriously. And not everybody will like you – kinda how life works.Have a great Thursday!
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Great advice, though I don’t know if I’m capable of keeping it all. I find myself checking to see if I have any new followers all the time. I think I may be obsessed. I can’t figure out why some people like certain blogs and not other. I think I may need medication. BTW this comment is laced with undetectable sarcasm. So glad I stopped by your site today.
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That drives me crazy when people link up and have no reason to do so. You wrote some really great tips in this post. I love how you said, be kind. 🙂
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Totally agree with you! Thanks for putting it out there so bluntly — about the droning on about your relatives or what you ate. (Actually I pretty much skip blogs that are boring to me … if you can entertain me and write about your second cousin twice removed then I’ll be there. Good writing is KEY!).And yes…I HATE when people link up and aren’t really participating. As soon as I realize this, I leave. And I discovered how to remove those people from my own Mr. Linky things … hahahaha ghost linkers!And I think the whole not getting caught up in the popularity of blogging is very very good advice. It is a bit of a trap that can only lead to bad things. The key to successful blogging is to stay true to yourself and write what you enjoy. It needs to be fun!And I agree on not leaving mean comments. Just don’t say anything and don’t visit again. Well done!
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Andrea – HEAR HEAR – the adding your link and not participating REALLY bugs me!!!!and I detest cats too!
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You have lots of good advice here! I did participate in the workshop. I signed the Mr. Linky with our local buzz which was the Tax Day Tea Party. It was a really big deal yesterday.
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Those prompts will really help me out with another writing gig I got going – super. Thanks for mentioning them.The blog advice was right on the money – especially the deal about it crushing you. I reached burnout and wanted to quit, but I also didn’t want to lose those connections you mentioned. I stopped blogging six days a week and kept my connections through stuff like Facebook and Twitter. Great stuff today! Thanks
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Natasha – I’ll have a look though I reserve the right to stand by my statement (I just hate cats!) ;)Kisartle – I do notice if new people follow, don’t get me wrong. But I stopped getting so caught up in it (and oddly enough thats when my numbers more than doubled, weird eh?)Pamela – I see that now, sorry I didn’t get it before. I had actually been referring to someone who did the same non-participating thing last week. And I’ve seen it on other blogs too, it just bugs me.CK – You’re welcome. Since you commented last week about liking the workshop I figured you’d like to know.
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Good advice!
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Amen! You made some really great points! There are definitely traffic seekers out there and it has always bothered me too. I wish I knew how to take names OFF of mister linky. But in the end I know they just look like shmucks and that if anything it will annoy my readers rather than entice them to leave comments for them. So obnoxious.
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Good advice. I agree totally about the not droning on and on tidbit. I realize some people use their blogs almost like a “Dear Diary,” but I would rather read the ones that have a point, even if the point is just to be humorous or share a slice of information.
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Beautifully written Andrea, and very commonsensical. Still, your comment on feline activity reportage is probably unfair to those whose lives revolves around their furry friends– we all have those subjects of our daily obsessions that may or may not be interesting to others. I personally promise to stop blogging about computer operating systems and hope my readership grows apace.
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Great advice! I’ll add one: try to add value. Whether that’s from your post, or in comments, add value to everyone’s day. (Humor is valued, as well as advice or a good story)Thanks for adding value to my day with your post!
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The only link I can keep up with is Random Tuesdays, the rest of you all are much better at putting words to screens.
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That’s great advice!
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Great blogging advice. (I have written about my cat, though. But it involved vomit, so does that count? LOL!)PS- Is that your tattoo? Awesome!
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LOVE the advice, especially about not taking things too seriously. Did I mention I am starting a new blog about my cat?
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Lots of good advice. Thanks.-FringeGirl
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That is really some high quality advice!!! Well done!
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Preach it, sitsa! Really, though wonderful advice. And I can tell you totally have a lot of fun with it, why I keep coming back!
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Good point. I agree with all of what you said. Sometimes what I say in my blog doesn’t translate the same way I mean it in my head, or I misunderstand other’s comments. Sigh-ola.
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I totally agree with the not signing up if you didn’t participate! That drives me nuts! In response to your comment, no I don’t believe your email is hooked up since I couldn’t tell you this by responding to your comment. It said “no reply blogger”. Thanks for visiting today! Come back for Friday High Five!
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Excellent advice! 🙂 I’m still learning as I go along, so this is definitely helpful info! 🙂 I, too, get annoyed when clicking through to visit ‘participating blogs’ in Mr. Linky only to find they were fishing for free traffic. Not cool… Your advice – Very cool… 😉
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Great advice. I get pissed when people only stop by to promote their blogs. Oh, and I have people who link up to my Mr Linky every time and never even bother to read or comment on my stuff. Why would you spend you time clicking around to link up like that? Oh yeah, the popularity thing again..
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That was excellent advice, and today I love you a little more for your comments on cats. Some bloggers need to go on and on and on about whatever drives me crazy. If you have something to say, fine, but whatever you want to say can be cut down. Even if I love your writing and you are my favouritest blogger I still have a kajillion other blogs I need to get to plus answering my own commenters. Brevity, it’s your friend.
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Thanks everyone who stopped by today. I sorted got all wacked out after getting the mail (another freakin’ rejection on my book). Okay so it’s only the third but still, the agent was super awesome took time to personally write a hand written note, on a beautiful card by the way, and it turns out I’d won a book of hers. Freaky huh? Anyway she gave me specific ideas to get published (ie what’s wrong with my manuscript) and for that she rocks. The other two agents let their assistants send a standard letter with no suggestions whatsoever. So not helpful.Anyway, so I’m late in saying hello and clicking to your blogs and all that. But I love you all, old and new commenters alike. You guys make this hard stuff worth it. Cause you like me 😉 (RIGHT??)
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MamaKat – Look up at Jenners – she said she has a way to remove the names.Beautiful – You wouldn’t want to read my diary (if I kept one) so I don’t want to read yours. Exactly!Vailian – The cat thing is a joke, though I don’t want to read about your cats, I don’t I’ll just skip the post. I think your computer stuff is actually very helpful and written with humor.Dadshouse – Add value; check! I do try and thank you for enjoying my ramblings.Kyooty – You need to blog!Robin – Vomit and cat has possibilities… That tattoo will be coming summer 09 🙂 And yes that’s it exactly actually.Erin – Funny, very funny.Domestic – Yep, like my cat thing. While I don’t like cats I didn’t meant to hurt anyones feelings by saying so!Angela – I might have figured out the email thing. Hopefully!Stacy – Thanks for the ‘cool’. Especially coming from the ‘Cool’ chick.Casey – Yep. I’d like people to like me for me not for my links.Captain – Wanna have a cat fry? One of my neighbors actually puts a leash on her cat and walks it. SERIOUSLY. I need to work on that shortness sometimes. I do tend to get longwinded.
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Great advice! When I first started blogging and really had a lot to say! Now…I try to think too much about what to blog about and I go completely BLANK!
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Okay, I loved, loved this post. I think you are brave and you say what’s on your mind. I appreciate that, even in your commenting.I took a hiatus from blogging a few months back. The people that really read me and actually liked me, stuck around. My numbers have fallen, but it doesn’t bother me one bit. You know what else? I’v been blogging for over two years and I’ve only checked my page hits once. I’d rather establish friendships and sort of a community than be the next Dooce.
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Truer words about blogging have never been spoken! Nice Job! Love the suburban USA pics including SUV in driveway! I bet there was a Target and Trader Joe’s nearby!
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Randomly clicked on your blog and you hate cats. YES! I keep telling my friend who is having trouble with hers to just DROP THE THING OFF IN A FIELD. Oops, is that bad? Hate the whiney things.
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