Blogs and Columns- All the Same and All Different

Blogs and Columns – All the Same and All Different by Debra H. Goldstein

Engaging blogs or columns don’t simply come out of thin air. Just as there is an art to crafting a short story or book, writing a blog requires a careful balancing of words. A good piece has a central theme or point the author wishes to convey. Consequently, from the opening to the end, the work produced must stay true to itself or it won’t be effective.

 

A successful blog or column begins with a topic sentence that catches the reader’s eye by being informative or provocative. After the killer opening, the next sentences set the tone for the piece and make the reader want to keep reading, but don’t delve into the subject matter. That is left for the body of the work.

 

Unlike the first paragraph which establishes what the blog is about, the next few paragraphs must again name the topic or concept being discussed, define it, and explain it through example or application. The final paragraph, whether referring back to the opening or standing on its own, must tie up the loose ends and bring the piece to a tight conclusion.

 

Although the mechanism for delivering the blog or column’s concept seems cut and dry, it isn’t. Word counts differ, voices range from somber to comical, ideas are delivered factually or with unsupported rationale. Writing styles also vary, but to stick the landing as a gymnast would do, the work must evoke an obvious or subliminal reaction for the reader. Ann Patchett is adept at reaching into the human soul in her blogs or essays, Art Buchwald used humor to deliver pointed satirical commentary. We, the members of Writers Who Kill, reflect a dichotomy in our presentation styles, but we all produce blogs that we hope inform and engage you.

Some Thoughts on Blogging by Marilyn Levinson

I can't remember when I wrote my first blog, but it had to be more than ten years ago when my first mystery was published. Then blogging was all the rage. "You must blog," the Promotion Pundits declared. "It's one of the best ways to engage with your readers." Many of them drew up long lists of blogging topics for authors. Those documents are still on my computer, though I can't remember the last time I bothered to read any of them.

As mystery writers, we're well aware of our obligation to promote our books and stories. We do this in a variety of ways. While we never know for sure which methods bring us new readers , we know that new ways of promoting rise up and others fade away. Having a newsletter is a must. Social media is still hot. There's Facebook and Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok. And many more I'm not aware of. Which brings me to the question: Does it make sense to continue to blog?

I write a blog once a month here on Writers Who Kill and even less often on the Blackbirds Writers' Blog. Writing a blog is actually writing an essay—at least it is for me. I suppose my mind has been trained, because I always manage to come up with a topic to write about, usually something related to writing. Doing so takes up time, time away from writing. And the question is: what am I getting in return? I get comments, but these are mostly from my fellow group blogging authors and other author friends. 

Am I communicating with readers as I do when I do an author takeover for one of the cozy groups I belong to? Is blogging helping to create sales? I honestly don't know. But to be fair, I'm going to list a few of the reasons why I will continue to blog:

1. I like writing about writing or any other subject I'm thinking about and like sharing my thoughts with other people. After all, I am a writer and it's natural for me to express myself this way.

2. Blogs have longevity. One of my fellow Blackbirds Writers made a comment to a blog I'd written a year ago. 

3. Blogs are a way of communicating. I will leave a comment on someone's blog if the subject touched me.

4. Blogs can be reused. The topic, actually, since I always have new thoughts when I rework an old blog.

5. Blogs can be helpful to other authors. I can't count the number of times I've given out "Twelve Things to Include When Writing a Mystery Series," which was first written as a blog.

6. Guest blogs are a good way to have exposure to possible new readers.

7. Mystery writers are also mystery readers;  blogging is a way for them to learn about my books and me.

Though some say blogging isn't as important as it used to be, I think it's here to stay. What are your thoughts regarding blogging?

STARTING A NEW YEAR WITH WRITERS WHO KILL

All my blogs with comments in 3-ring binders

Last week I wrote my 223^rd blog with Writers Who Kill starting my fifth year of blogging here so this is my 224^th blog not counting the guest blogs I’ve done. The only members I started with who are still blogging here are E.B. Davis, Jim Jackson, Linda Rodriguez and Warren Bull. Warren and I are the only ones who still write a blog every week. I can understand cutting down to every other week or once a month because coming up with a new idea for a blog, writing, and often researching the topic I choose to write about as well as finding pictures to fit the blog takes time. And then there’s sending it for review and revising the blog as well as posting it.

Since I started blogging, I have written close to forty-five blogs on writing, but there is only so much to be said about the topic when it’s a topic also covered by other members of WWK. It hasn’t always been on writing mysteries, but also writing poetry, letters, and keeping a journal.

 

A blog about the amazing memory of elephants.

I’ve written blogs on animals like cats in cozies, dogs, bouts with a skunk and possums. There was one on bears and another on Bambi, a fawn I found in my woods. There were blogs on my chickens, ponies, horses, ants, spiders, butterflies, bees, and one on elephants and their memory.

E.B. Grace, Shari, me, Paula, and KM at Malice 2015

I’ve written about Malice, Bouchercon, Seascape, and writing events my SinC chapter NEOSinC has put on or specialists who visited us; an FBI agent, a cadaver dog and his handler, an arson inspector, as well as a visit to the morgue. We’ve had other events we put on, too. Hank Phillippi Ryan was our guest at one several years ago and in September we had Nancy Pickard.

I'm on the left with a nephew and one of my sisters.

I’ve also written on interests of mine as well as things I’ve done like gardening, backpacking, camping, book clubs, vacations I’ve gone on, daily walks in the woods, and delivering Mobile Meals to name a few.

For an Easter blog

 I’ve blogged on holidays and special days like New Year’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, the Irish in March, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July, Halloween and Thanksgiving.We don’t blog in December so I haven’t blogged about that holiday, but I did one on the anniversary of Girl Scout Day and a few other days like that. I got a lot of comments on the Girl Scout blog.

Beatrix Potter

I’ve blogged about famous people; Charles Dickens, Robert Frost, Pete Seeger, Dr. Seuss, Maya Angelou, John Muir, The Car Talk Guys when Tom Magliozzi died, Beatrix Potter and Woody Guthrie.  I’ve only done a few interviews and three of them were members of my SinC chapter and Judy Hogan, who I met at the 2^nd Malice I attended. We meet up every year there, and since we also both have small farms and write poetry we’ve become email friends.

A picture from my blog about ghosts

Because I have what could be considered a monkey brain that is fascinated by many things, when I hear something interesting on NPR or read something strange in the newspaper, I often decide to look into it deeper and Google it to learn more. So I wrote a blog on Entomophagy; a culinary revolution about eating insects and the movement to make them more appealing and available for people to eat this nutritious food. No, I haven’t tried any nor do I intend to. I also wrote a blog “Are You an Extrovert, Introvert or Ambivert?” When I wrote that I was more of an introvert, my Washington state sister and her husband found that hysterically funny because everywhere I go I strike up conversations with people. I wrote a blog “Are Ghosts for Real?” and a follow up “The Unexplained Revisited.” Both of them got quite a few comments.

My oldest son's grave

The comments I’ve received for my blogs vary from as few as three once up to over twenty, and I know some people follow me on a regular basis without leaving a comment because they’ve told me so. The most comments I've gotten was on “Life Changing Events” in which I wrote about how the death of my eighteen year old son led me to college and eventually to teaching and writing. “Finding a Body” about my finding a suicide hanging from a tree in my woods one morning also had a lot of comments. Another blog that had quite a few comments was “Bouncing Back or Not” about the resilience some have and others don’t after something bad happens in their life.

My daughter's cats are as curious as I am about many things.

I’m facing another year of blogs ahead of me because I’m not ready to give up my Thursday spot, and even though I have no idea what I’ll write about next week, I’m quite sure something will pop into this monkey brain of mine that will grab my attention and make me want to write about it. Yes, it takes away from my time to work on the seventh book I’ve started. However, I feel blogging is a mental activity that keeps my brain more active and at my age that is important. Also, I’m not big on promoting my books and this is a way to do so while at the same time enjoying the challenge of writing something new each week.

If you write a blog do you enjoy it?

Do you enjoy reading blogs?

Is there a blog of mine you remember?

Hello and Goodbye

Happy New Year, WWKers! I do hope that you had a fine end to 2015 and have had a stellar start to 2016.

I said goodbye to 2015 by staying up to 9:30 (I'm such a wild child) reading a few pages of Lauren Groff's amazing Fates and Furies. I said hello to the new year by attending what was basically a moving meditation—high-intensity interval training with mantras thrown in—at a friend's studio. At the end of 75 minutes, sweat dripping down our faces, we were asked to write down three words we wanted to focus on in the new year.

My words for 2016 are above: create, imagine, believe.

Oh, and there's "work" with an asterisk because all of the things I want take work and nothing less and I felt that part needed to be documented too. We were told to put that little sheet and a 24/7 token into our wallets as a tangible reminder of what kind of energy we're putting forth in the new year.

I absolutely love this idea. I love the thought of focusing on single words rather than specific goals. Mostly, because many of my goals take other people to solve them and it's not fair to myself to make a resolution that revolves around others' actions. I'm in control of myself and nothing else—a hard thing to remember sometimes...especially after the 2015 I experienced.

2015 was a year of change of me. I said goodbye to my younger and only sister at the end of 2014. I lost my grandmother three weeks into 2015. While I was on bereavement leave for my grandma's funeral, some jerk blasting through an unprotected left turn totaled my car. I was fine, but when the tow truck driver came, I broke down and started crying. I really felt like I'd hit a major low. Personally, professionally, and now literally, I felt like I wasn't going anywhere.

Exactly three months later I had an offer for my first book deal. Hard cover. Major house. Amazing imprint. Fabulous editor.

Everything after that has been amazing. I'm on an uphill climb out of that valley and I'm up so high now that when I look back on 2015, it doesn't feel like it was a bad year at all. Even though it began with such loss, it was actually a dream year.

2015: the year of new adventures ahead.

But with new adventures bring change. I'm on a different path than I was even a year ago and I need to respect that. And I need to make space for others who desire to bring change to their own lives. Therefore, I've decided to leave the WWK.

I am very conscious of what a wonderful resource the WWK is for mystery writers. It's a wonderful community both within the readership and the blog internally and I want to make sure I'm not filling a spot that someone else can use. My book deal is for YA fantasy, not for the mysteries I have locked in Dropbox, and it feels selfish of me to squat on a space on this wonderful platform when someone else currently writing mystery could benefit on so many levels from joining.

I will be back often to say hello to the WWK in the comments and keep up with the mystery community—my first love. The words in this space are always inspiring, thought provoking and interesting. I couldn't imagine my life without them. I'm very grateful to have been a member of the WWK for so long and I really enjoy each and every one of the writers and readers.

Take care, WWK. Love and light to all of you and have a very happy 2016.

WHAT NOT TO BLOG ABOUT

WHAT NOT TO BLOG ABOUT

Blogging is sort of like acting or singing in public.  It gives you the opportunity to make a fool of yourself in front of an audience.  And it is tempting at times.  I was recently informed that asking politely when assistance we had requested from  (government department name withheld) might actually happen, would probably move our names from wherever they are to the bottom of the waiting list.  I don’t know if that is true but we were advised by (another name withheld) who really should know.  I don’t think it would be wise to write specifics about that in a blog.

Some interesting interactions I’ve had with members of the mystery writing community would make fascinating reading, but I would be talking about things that would be recognizable to the people involved.  Changing names to protect the innocent wouldn’t be enough.  Another blog bites the dust.

And there was the time when (name withheld; action deleted.) I know (name withheld) reads blogs regularly.  And (name not mentioned) has occasionally commented on what I have blogged about.   It was amusing and maybe it gives a tiny insight into the thinking of whomever I might be talking about.  But you’re not going to read it here.

You might think one of my family members would engage in behavior that would result in a blog-worthy event.  You’d be wrong.  No one in my family ever (I’m not saying, you didn’t hear it from me or you must be kidding.)  Not even one person, nope. 

I have advised writers setting up blogs that they should regard anything they put in their blog is equivalent to having it tattooed on their forehead.  Of course, you don’t want to write anything as bland as pabulum either. 

There have been a few times when I gave myself sufficient time to cool down before writing about something that had steam coming out of my ears.  Other times I have decided to share local news and events that I thought would be of general interest. 

At times, however, it’s been enough of a challenge to find a topic that I end up writing about what I don’t write about.

What don’t you write about?

Celebrating my 100th Blog

Last Thursday I posted my 100^th blog since I joined Writers Who Kill on Jan. 19, 2012. Some of them were interviews; three were for the Fish Nets blog which didn’t last more than three months and at least one guest blog. Only four of our members have been with this blog longer than me; E.B. Davis, Warren Bull, Jim Jackson and Kara Cerise.

Because Writers Who Kill bloggers are all mystery writers, our topics usually deal with the art of writing mysteries or some topic dealing with writing or writers. However, I found that rather limiting since how much new can be added when there are eleven of us and many, many blogs for mystery writers and/or fans. Also, as I discovered some years ago while listening to NPR, I have a brain referred to as a monkey brain. Even if you haven’t heard the term before, I think you can get the idea.

So over the past two years in addition to the many blogs I wrote about writing mysteries or writing in general, I’ve written about certain holidays; Valentine’s Day, Easter, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Halloween and Thanksgiving. I’ve written about animals; cats, dogs, horses, skunks, possums, arachnids, insects and chickens in last week’s blog about bullying. I’ve written about gardening and all the seasons which are quite varied where I live. I’ve written about authors, poets and poetry, family members, 

cemeteries, ghosts and unexplained events - those elicited the most comments – and numerous other topics.

And now I start my third year at WWK. Blogging takes more time than the length of this blog would suggest. That’s probably why only Warren and I still do it every week on our specific days; Warren on Fridays and me on Thursdays. The others have gone to sharing days. Linda Rodriguez, Paula Benson and Jim Jackson also have their own blogs.

I don’t know how other blogging groups operate, but at WWK after we write our blog, we send it to the group for editing. After it’s edited and we make needed changes, we also have to find pictures for it before we can post and schedule it.

Writers Who Kill at Malice Domestic

Is it all worth it? I’ll admit it takes more time than I thought it would when I signed on. Sometimes I wonder what I’ll write about next and then miracle of miracles – thanks to my monkey brain – at least one if not two or three ideas will come to me. So overall I think it’s been very worth it. Where else could I creatively write about bees, maple sugaring or cemeteries except in my journal which no one will ever read, probably not even myself. With blogging, I have an outlet for ideas that involves writing which is something I love to do. We often read and hear advice that to be a writer we must write – preferably every day. This is just another aspect of keeping the creative juices flowing. I have some people who follow my blog but rarely or never leave a comment, but they tell me how much they enjoy them.  So, yes, I plan on writing a weekly blog until I run out of ideas in maybe 5, 10 or 20 years. By then I may have forgotten what I blogged about in the beginning and can begin to recycle the old ones again. Think it will work?

What are your thoughts on blogs and blogging? Are they worth the time and effort?

Perks

Perks

Perks: Every job has at least one. Even trash collectors get first dibs at the garbage people throw out.  Since WWK has some new contributors, I thought I would mention some of the things I have gained  from blogging here.

I enjoyed writing reviews of excellent books in my blog. I wanted to identify books worth reading for readers. Also, It’s been a great way to find books for me. For example, I got to review Leslie Budewitz’s Books, Crooks and Counselor, winner of the 2011 Agatha award for best non-fiction of the year.  And now I have an essential reference for anyone wanting to write about legal matters. Leslie is informative and actually funny.  How many legal tomes make readers laugh out loud? Her publisher was kind enough to offer another book for review, Editor-Proof your Writing, by Don McNair, which offers the distilled wisdom of the author’s years of experience with writing and editing. It is thoughtful and relevant.

I was able to get an ARC of Hank Phillippi Ryan’s The Other Woman before its publication date.  That book won the Mary Higgins Clark award in 2013.  I’m enthusiastic about the book and I want to read its sequel. 

I wrote one of the first reviews of Michelle Black’s Séance in Sepia, which was a finalist for the 2012 WILLA literary award. It was fun to see other people find the book and realize what a truly special work it is.  It recently became available as an audio book.

I’ve been privileged to write about both of Suzanne Adair’s Michael Stoddard American Revolution Thrillers, Regulated for Murder and A Hostage to Heritage.  I am an American History buff. Her series is fast-paced, well-researched and, even though I’ve read many mysteries, the author offers surprising twists and turns I do not expect.  

A promising newcomer to mysteries (assuming you don’t count her multiple award-winning books of poetry and her cookbook) is Linda Rodriguez whose initial offering, Every Last Secret, won the Malice Domestic First Traditional Novel Competition and had been nominated for a number of other awards.  One reason, of many, I liked first novel was what it did not have.  You know that moment in so many novels when the heroine, knowing the killer is at large and after her, walks into the dark room/parking garage/apartment lobby for no reason other than the author wants her too?  You won’t find that in Every Last Secret.  The author’s cop acts like a cop. I advise you to get in on the series now.  Her second book in the series, Every Broken Trust, is now out.  It looks to be every bit as enticing as her earlier work.

It has truly been a pleasure to work with all of the authors mentioned above. I look forward to meeting more authors over time,

Balancing Act

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When we started this blog over two years ago, I was an unpublished writer. Since that time, I’ve had numerous short stories published. In 2012, six of my stories were published, and although I’m extremely proud of that fact, I am still not a published novelist. Most instant successes aren’t—having practiced their craft for years before submitting their first stories. I hope the path I travel is slow and steady because I don’t want to miss a thing, don’t want to cheapen my craft, want the time to develop my style (when I figure out what it is, I’ll tell you), try new techniques and grow.

Were I an “instant success” (and I fear that ship has already sailed), I would distrust that success. When I first started writing, I couldn’t gauge my own work. I’m getting better at that now. As I progress, I distance myself from my work, which I think is a more professional stance. When I read books that I “sink into,” I know the writer is gifted, and if I can make myself “sink into” my own work, which I’ve occasionally accomplished, I know I’m progressing in my craft.  

Telling readers about our progress in both craft and publishing, discussing the issues we’ve encountered and techniques we’ve discovered were the blog’s objectives at its inception. The blog invited fledgling writers a place to share, but it also provided a place for us to vent, a way to celebrate milestones while releasing our frustrations when we weren’t always successful. To other fledgling writers, there is a need to share and in doing so learn, commiserate and celebrate. Blogging is a way to create community.

Even though I haven’t had a personal relationship with many of our WWK bloggers who have come and gone over these two years, I have felt a collegial comradery once they have written here for a while. We critique our posts, which has served me well since that process improved my writing. There are differences of opinion, which are expected, and we’ve overcome those differences. A few bloggers may have felt that they weren’t a good fit here or that they were over-committed. Leaving was their decision—also respected. Blogging does require time, commitment and ingenuity. It can be a grind, but then those authors, who we admire and who churn out great books year after year, are also in the grind. It’s where we want to be.

Warren Bull was already published in both the short and novel markets from the start of this blog. Last year, Jim Jackson, already published in shorts, signed with Barking Rain Press, after being published in the nonfiction market, fulfilling his goal of published novelist in 2013 and showing us that there is light at the end of this proverbial tunnel. We await hearing about their promotional and professional trials, about how they interact with their publishers, the public and within the industry. Those of us who haven’t yet jumped to that level will learn and hopefully be of help to them along their way.

I have two professional goals this year: revise my WIP, TOASTING FEAR, and write a rough draft of my new WIP, COMPROMISED CIRCUMSTANCES. Both endeavors will take months to complete and, all the while, compete against blogging and writing short stories, which I fear will take a hit. If I am able to have two short stories published this year, I’ll be lucky.

Balancing is always a writer’s problem that occurs on every level of the writing career. I hope that all of you make 2013 a balanced year, and even if you can’t accomplish that, don’t let it drive you crazy. I’ll try and take my own advice.