Writer, are you blogging?  Blogging is vital to your writing success.  Here's why: 1. Blogging gives you credibility.  Potential readers, publishers and agents can go to your blog and easily see your style, talent and passion. 2. Blogging gives your experience.  The more writing you do, the better you become at being a writer. 3. Blogging gives you an online presence.  Having an online presence is becoming more and more important as the internet evolves. A blog is an easy way to have and maintain an online presence. 4. Blogging gives you a voice.  Most writers I know have a lot to say and blogging is a great way to have your say, no matter what you do for a living. These four reasons are only a brief start, off the top of my head for today.  Blogging is essential to your writing success.  If you do not have a blog already, start one today!  They are free and easy and will give you instant access to a wide audience of new readers! ~Tr...

Talent. That's the one word that comes to mind when I think of the writers in our Writer's Group.  Talent.  Tonight's meeting was filled with so much talent I'll need another month just to process it all!  One sang a song.  Anther cried.  Another brought us all to tears.  Yet another made us laugh.  And the list goes on. If you are a writer and do not belong to a Writer's Group, I STRONGLY encourage you to join one, or start one! Our Writer's Group was borne out of my Community Education writing classes.  My students wanted more interaction with other writers, and so did I!  It took me a few months of juggling my own schedule, but now we meet once a month and share obstacles, successes, ideas - and songs! Thank you to each one who made it out tonight and thank you for sharing your writings.  I look forward to next month's meeting with great anticipation! Keep writing. Keep singing. Keep crying. Keep laughing. ~Tricia

Obstacles can either stop us, slow us down or challenge us.  I suppose there are more options, but those three are my focus today. The bottom line is, obstacles are there. Each and every one of us has a myriad of obstacles in the way of what we want to do.  I have always had obstacles to my writing. When I was a child, writing in my hollow tree, the weather, my dad's violent fits, one of my siblings or even a spider could be an obstacle to my writing.  I was not about to share my space with a spider! I don't want to allow my obstacles to stop me or slow me down. This week, it's been a real challenge to keep my focus on writing.  There are many reasons why, but if I don't get busy writing, those reasons, as valid as they might be, will quickly turn into excuses. What about you?  What are your obstacles?  Are they real obstacles or new excuses? Just sayin'. ~Tricia

The power of the written word.  As writers, we already know the power of the written word, hence, we write. When we write something down, it changes it. The changes are remarkable when you stop to analyze them. My students have already heard this, but perhaps a reader out there hasn't.  Let me tell you a little story. Picture yourself as a committee member.  You are asked to serve on a committee for something you are very passionate about.  Actually, you might have been asked to serve because of your passion.   So, the committee chairman calls a meeting and in anticipation of that meeting, you write out some ideas you've had for the committee.  As the meeting day approaches, you decide to share those ideas with the other committee members, so you type them up and make copies. When meeting time comes, you are eager to share your ideas, and other committee members are eager to hear and share ideas, as well.  You will find that if no one else took ...

Sometimes, I just need to think.  Life is busy, praise God, and time to think is a sweet luxury. This weekend, I am home almost alone....just myself and my 18-year-old daughter.  My hubby took my two teenage sons on a father/son retreat, leaving us girls here alone and I've actually had time to think. As a writer, especially, I need thinking time.  So far, the results of my thinking are: 1) I thought of a title for an article I've been wanting to write for a while, 2) I thought of an approach to a chapter in a book I'm writing, 3) I thought of a way to approach a rather sensitive subject without tossing blame directly onto certain people by name. 4) I thought of doing this blog post. So, my thinking has been very productive so far. Writers, do you take time to think?  I grab every opportunity I have to do some serious thinking about my writing goals.  For me, it's important to keep my goals in front of me as it makes me more likely to work to fulfil...

I"ve been away.  Another of my wonderful sons - I have five altogether - has graduated college and we made the trip to Iowa to attend his graduation.  Kudos to him!  He got engaged the same day! Forbes Magazine online had published this article last December (2011), but if you have not seen or read this, do so now.  Much of the information I've been teaching in my Community Education Writing Classes is the same as what this article states, and I did not read it ahead of time!  Those of us who study this market, whether we are "small beans" like myself or something as large and influential as Forbes , know this information to be vitally important to our own success as writers and e-publishers. I suggest you read and study this article - all 4 pages of it - as though you will be tested on it! My upcoming class, E-Publishing 101, will cover these concepts in more detail. ~Tricia

Here are five simple blogging rules that I follow: 1. No music.  I don't have music playing on my blogs because whenever I visit a blog which plays music, I become agitated and usually click off immediately. This is because I'm usually playing music of my own when online and someone else's music interferes.  If you insist on having music on your blog, make it optional by installing a music button. Make sure your music button is easy to find and at the top of the page for quick access. 2. Have a front page profile picture.  You can have another picture or two on another page if you have an "about" page, but a head shot of some sort on your front page is a must.  Whenever I visit a blog, one of the first things I look for is a profile picture of the blog writer. I want to see who I'm reading! 3. Have a short front page bio .  Just a few lines about yourself will do.  Just like a profile pic, a short bio is another of the first things I look for when I ...