All images Pixabay

I struggled with the title of this post because getting comments isn’t about stats; it’s about building relationships.

Some visitors to this blog might have noticed the number of comments here. It wasn’t and isn’t a goal, honestly. And there really isn’t any magic to it either. Comments grow out of a desire to genuinely connect with other bloggers, and a commitment to put in the time to do so.

Here’s how it happens:

I leave lots of comments on other blogs. These are my invitations to engage, my knock on a blogger’s door. They say, “Want to come out and play?”

Because blogging-time is precious, if a blogger doesn’t bother to reply to my knock, even with a simple “thank you,” I’m less inclined to knock again. On some level, they’ve declined my offer to engage.

At the very least, say “thank you” to someone who…

This is a guest post by Sally Keys. You may remember her from her guest post, Creating The Time And Space You Need To Write Your Best Work. Sally is a professional freelance writer with many years experience across many different areas. She made the move to freelancing from a stressful corporate job and loves the work-life balance it offers her. When not at work, she enjoys reading, hiking, spending time with her family, and traveling as much as possible.

How Creative Writing Can Boost Your Intelligence

Photo by Dustin Lee on Unsplash

Globally, the average IQ has increased by 20 points over the last 100 years. Many reasons are given for this and all, no doubt, play a part. The fact is that we live in a very different world to the one of 100 years ago. By examining these differences and comparing them to research into…

Licence to use Image, obtained – Copyrightdenis83 123RF Stock Photo

I’ve been writing stories and articles since I was a kid and one of the things I love about it is, my craft is constantly evolving.

I’m evolving.

There’salwaysroom for growth, but it’s up to you, the author, on whether you desire to apply yourself to your craft.

If you want to become a better writer, here are four tips you can use to attain your goal.

• Read. Yes, read. Every writer must read books. Why? Because writing is an art, and you can learn it from other authors. Also, say you write or want to write a romance novel. What better way to learn how to do it than to read stories in that genre? Reading also helps you get a grasp on the English language and teaches you what to do and not do. It…

by Lauren Sapala

I don’t know if it’s that time of year or what, but I’ve been getting a lot of emails from writers lately about finishing things. This is also a topic that comes up frequently in my coaching sessions with writers. Lots and lots of writers out there are terrified that they will never be successful—or even halfway decent—because they have a lot of trouble finishing things.

This is a guest post by Lily Kaligian. Lily is an editor at Businesscheck.co.nz and Canadabiz.net. She creates a variety of articles about careers, entrepreneurship, technology, business, education, as well as travel and personal development.

Who Should You Listen to – Reviewers, Peers or Readers?

Having your writing work read and appraised by others can be a very emotional experience. When you’ve poured your heart and soul into creating a novel, a short story, a poem or even just a blog post, you need to know that it’s not just you who sees your creation as valuable.

But writing and reading are incredibly subjective. One person’s prize winner could be another’s trashy holiday read. It can be hard working out who to trust when it comes to feedback and critique. Whose opinion should you take into account when reviewers, peers, and readers all have something to say?

Reviewers

Yes I know there are tutorial for WordPress about how to use and improve your websites & blogs (especially for beginners. The tutorials are brilliant and informative. It is a great place to start your journey. Here is a tutorial link to various things you may want to learn

http://www.wpbeginner.com/category/wp-tutorials/

However. I keep getting asked how to do various things on wordpress, or I assist where I can depending on what I know.  Like everyone else I am still learning due to technology changing and updating.

This post is about Share Tabs…How I sorted mine out prior to knowing about wpbeginner.

SHARE TABS

Everything you do on your wordpress site starts with your HOME PAGE – Whatever name you call it. Mine is PACKAGES. This is also called your LANDING PAGE so it needs to be impressive.

Up on the top left hand side you can see the words MY…

by Michael Mohr

David Corbett—New York Times Notable author of many novels including Blood of Paradise (2007), Do They Know I’m running (2010), and The Mercy of the Night (2015)—published a sparkling, extremely-helpful nonfiction writers’ guide in 2013 entitled, “The Art of Character.”

So dear readers, as promised I’m going to talk to you about the dreaded book cover!

I know that most of my followers are writers, and often self-published as well, or considering that route. When you’re in that situation, the more information you can find, the better. So to that aim, here’s a short tutorial, chalk full of links and helpful hints. I’ll keep this short (it’s around 1200 words) because I know how little you want to wade through a word heavy slog of a tutorial : D

We can start with the question: Pay for it, or make it? There’s nothing wrong with paying someone else to make your book cover, if you can afford it. There’s also nothing wrong with accruing a hardcore useful-as-all-fuck skill. Pre-made book covers are expensive (if you don’t have extra money). Unless you’re some triple-bestseller writer, you don’t have money coming out…