So many things involve writing these days and as bloggers I think it is one of the things we have to become better at all the time. If our grammar isn’t good, or our writing comes across skewered, then we might struggle to bring our message across. When I look back at when I started, I kind of feel embarrassed about how I write in those days. But only kind off as I know that with practice we do get better in anything we pursue.

The same applies to writing. The more we write, the better we get and like riding a bicycle, we never forget it. But just like the bicycle starts to rust when left in the shed for too long, so will our writing skills.

I will try to share with you, what I have done to help my writing to get better over the last 6 month. Maybe it will help somebody to pick up a helpful nudge in the right direction and this will make the post worthwhile.

• Probably the biggest force in getting better is to write every day. Whether it is blog posts, articles, letters, email or website content of some kind, it helps to write daily.
• Reading; reading is responsible for giving me a good and intuitive understanding of the English language and how sentences are structured. See, I never had tutoring in English grammar except the few language lessons I took as a teenager and I have read to this day thousands (this isn’t a misprint by the way) of books in English to help me. I was always called a book worm when I was a kid and once I learned English I simply switched to reading English books.
• Conversations help to improve our writing too. By talking with others we learn new words and meanings which we can use to inject into our writing.
• Not being afraid to learn more. I always strive to learn more things. I believe that life is an adventure that needs to be soaked up and experienced to the last minute and by learning new things, I can use the new found knowledge to write about.
• Studying grammar; I know, this is a dry subject and not one I would feel inclined to do ever. But it does seem to help some people to write better.
• Keeping an open mind.
• Some people choose to write a diary about their life experience which also furthers our ability to become better at the craft. Blogging is a great example of this.

Despite all this, my journey as a writer is an ongoing one. I can always become better at what I do and I think one of the most important aspects of being good at anything is to stay humble.

Take care

Monika Mundell

Creator and Author of Blogging Web 2.0

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Blogging is essentially about writing short articles on interesting topics and publishing them for their readers to enjoy.

Part of promoting your blog also involves writing articles to submit to article directories and ezines in order to drive traffic to your blog as well as increase the number of naturally obtained back-links for potentially boosting your page rank with the search engines. That is assuming they haven’t changed the rules once again.

So it helps to be able to write a well formed as well as interesting article so that you’ll attract more people to your blog. Here’s some tips on improving your article writing skills:

Start with a strong title

This is the most important part of your article, because people see that first and will either want to read on, or click away depending upon whether the title grabs them by the throat and screams “Read me!”, or one that does not! A title that has impact or asks a question is usually best as people are attracted to either shock tactics, such as “Shock Report! Elvis Presley Found Alive and Well and Living in…” or curiosity, such as “How to Successfully Get Elected as Mayor…”.

Next comes a strong summary

This should be of two or three short sentences, outlining what the article will be about.

Once a person has decided to look at your article after seeing the title, you now need to hold their attention by telling them what they will be reading about. So make sure you make it interesting. It’s no good shocking them with a scandalous title and then fading out like a damp squib with a lacklustre summary. If your title has grabbed them by telling them Elvis is alive, you had better back that up with something like “In a report just released on CNN news literally minutes ago…” and give them some hard facts. Then tell them that they can read the full breaking story right here.

Then comes the body of your article

This can be subdivided into three main parts - the introduction, the body and the conclusion. Always stick to this format. If you go onto the ezinearticles.com website and read some of the top articles, you’ll notice they all follow that format. All successful articles do.

The introduction should outline what the article will be about. A word of warning here… Never, never, never begin your article with the words: “This article is about…” It’ll cost you dearly and may even get your article rejected! It certainly will should you wish to submit it for sale at Constant Content.

The body should contain several short paragraphs outlining each aspect of the story, with a lead in and lead out from the previous paragraph to the next.

The conclusion

This should sum up every thing your article was about in two or three short sentences.

Finally, you should complete your Resource Box

This is the place where you are allowed to include a link back to your blog or website. It’s important that you make sure that you describe a little about yourself and your blog or site and make it as interesting as possible, because you want the reader to feel almost obliged to click your link to see more of what you and your blog are all about.

Your article is now complete!

Obviously, everyone’s writing skills and methods are slightly different, which is why there are no hints as to what to actually write about - as everyone will have their own way of putting forward the information.

Another tip is to always spell check and then proof read your article before you submit it, just to ensure there are no typos and everything makes sense.

By following these few, simple steps, you can create and submit articles that will be read by more people and drive more traffic to your blog or website.

Here’s to your success!

Terry Didcott
Author and Creator of Blogging Web 2.0

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Every so often in my blogging moments, I find myself returning to the intriguing subject of time.

“Time and tide wait for no man.”

There are few truer words spoken, or in this case written as it’s something that we simply can’t hold back. I’m as guilty as anyone of wasting this precious resource. But even though every year that passes I make a concerted effort to spend it more wisely than the last, I still fall foul of the dreaded procrastination monster.

So how do we beat the urge to fritter away a few minutes here and there on nothing in particular?

Should we even make the attempt?

That last question is the one that I often ask myself when chastising my own lazy bones! But is is really such a flippant question? I don’t believe it is.

Here’s why.

The human entity is not a machine. I think we can all agree on that one. So why on earth do so many people, from those running large companies to solitary entrepreneurs try to kid themselves (and their employees in the former case) that we are?

Some bored university student back in the 1980s came up with the irritating idea that if we all managed our time according to the rigorous regime of a time management system, then we’d all be more productive.

Great in theory.

But human beings are not theory, they’re people and people are all different and all operate at different speeds. They didn’t factor that little nugget into their equation, which resulted in a lot of otherwise very hard working and valuable people losing their jobs because they couldn’t keep up with the computer generated slave-master of a regime.

Time management my eye!

They should have tried “people management” and they might have been a bit closer to the mark. Because people work at different speeds, they also need different amounts of downtime to recuperate. That’s something that the mechanical model that time management can’t account for. It’s a human necessity that we have to stop what we’re doing every so often and switch off and daydream for a few moments.

That’s how we recharge the batteries  so we can get back to what we’re doing and be more productive while we’re doing it.

I’ve personally worked in IT since I left school and I know what it’s like day in and day out following this or that trail through a program for that one error that keeps crashing it! It can take hours of solid concentration and at the end of if I always felt completely exhausted and totally brain dead.

Why?

Because I didn’t take those important daydream breaks every so often and my effectiveness decreased but without me realising.

Trying to work straight through is counter-productive, so it’s important to take breaks.

That way, although it seems like your wasting time, you’re actually improving your effectiveness and efficiency during the time you are working!

So don’t fret about wasting time. You’re not. Think of it as time well spent in helping yourself to work better when you get back to it!

Terry Didcott
Author and Creator of Blogging Web 2.0

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Just as bloggers love blogging, writers love writing and wordplay. It’s all part of the creative experience!

Enthusiastic writers make good bloggers, because their love of writing shows in the quality of their blog’s content. You can usually tell when a certain blog is authored by a good, keen writer. The posts are frequent and of good quality, interesting and entertaining to read and offer something of value to the reader.

On the flip side, you can also tell when the author of a blog sees writing as a chore. The posts are less frequent, short on words and usually of low quality and not all that interesting to read. When a blog is at that stage where the author has either lost interest or finds it just to much work to generate any enthusiasm for their writing, what is to be done?

If a blogger is no longer content with their content, they will start to see a drop off in readership as even loyal readers start to lose interest in lack-lustre articles. This will kill a blog as sure as anything will.

So how can you rescue your blog and breathe new life into it before it gets to this stage?

Well, if you believe your blog is worth saving and more importantly if it is generating a sizeable income for you, then maybe you should consider outsourcing. By employing the skills of a good ghost writer who writes in a similar style to you (or at least when you were enthusiastic about your blog), a failing blog can be rescued almost overnight by having some new blood infused into it.

Depending on how much money you make from your blog, it may be very cost effective to pay a good ghost writer to work for your blog on a regular basis. It could turn out to be a winning situation for you both. The ghost writer gets a decent commission with regular work and you get to keep your blog alive and kicking and continuing to make money for you.

Both Monika and myself are available for this purpose, but because we are both high calibre writers, we don’t come cheap! However, if you do run a profitable blog that needs an injection of enthusiasm and new life, we could help you to turn it around in short order. Have a look at our Hire Us! page for more details.

In any case, we wish you the best possible success with your blog and contentment with your content!

Terry Didcott
Author and Creator of Blogging Web 2.0

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Or, “How the brain-dead blogging master managed to squeeze out yet another post!”

Well, I’ve been sitting here for ages staring at this thing and not a word would spring forth from my weary fingers and their equally tired and battered keypad. So rather than calling it a day and admitting defeat, I decided to try something out.

Not being one to give up easily, I started hitting the keys to see if I could generate something readable and maybe even entertaining. Well…

With absolutely nothing floating around in that chamber in my brain labeled “ideas” I’ve had to resort to trickery and skulduggery in order to create a flow of thoughts channeling through the old grey matter and literally bully my brain into engaging the gears of the writing machine!

Writing is a passion of mine and although most of the time I’m able to hammer out articles aplenty to satisfy the ravenous hunger of my ever growing menagerie of blogs, lenses and websites, there are days when sheer tiredness simply causes the creaking mechanics to grind to a halt. Today is one of those days.

But I don’t let it stop me from writing.

Quite the opposite in fact. You see, blankly staring at, well, a blank screen doesn’t get anything done and only wastes more time. If I were going to keep that up for any length of time, I might just as well go and have a siesta and come back to the computer feeling at least a little refreshed and ready to crack on. But at this time of night after a very long day, I don’t have that luxury - if I go to sleep now, I won’t wake up until tomorrow and the day’s post will be missed!

I can’t allow that to happen.

So even though there is really no solid topic to this post, it could be construed as an attempt to prove to even the most weary and disillusioned blogger that there is always another post in you even when you have hit a brick wall. Call it a minor primer in motivation. Or call it a lesson in the world of human limitations that any obstacle can be overcome with the right frame of mind. Or call it a mindless, meandering ramble through the intricate windings of this mortal life just to find something to write about…

Ah, that’s it, perhaps?

Yep, I’ve just completed what I set out to do. I tricked my torpor-filled consciousness into action by writing about not being able to write about anything!

Ha!

I just love blogging! Don’t you?

Terry Didcott
Blogging Web 2.0

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Blogging has been a great outlet for my own style and pace of writing as it allows me to choose what and how much I write. I can write fairly short articles when I don’t feel like ploughing into a real in-depth thousand plus worder! Or if I suddenly get into a real writing slipstream I can hammer out a really long one when I might have only planned on two or three hundred words.

Which is why, from my point of view, blogging really is writing made easy!

With my own menagerie of blogs, I sometimes find it hard to keep up with them all so they don’t all get a new post published every day, although my main one (usually) does. But when they’re your own it doesn’t really matter.

That for me is the special magic of blogging, because there are no restraints, no rules (apart from those you make yourself), no time limits and no deadlines!

That doesn’t mean I can just leave some of my blogs dormant for weeks on end if I don’t feel like writing anything in them. That sort of defeats the whole object. I write for fun but I also write with an ulterior motive in that as each of my blogs matures I intend for them to attract advertising dollars into my bank account! But that’s just me, although I would guess that a lot of bloggers are of a similar mind.

So whenever I come upon those times when I look at one of my blogs and think “Oh, not today…” I stop and remind myself that by skipping that post, I could be losing money in a few months time. That usually kicks my bony old behind into gear and gets something written!

At the end of the day, a blog is what you make it.

A lousy one is a neglected, poorly written and thought-out blog that few people will bother returning to read. But a great blog is one that is regularly contributed to, well written and thought-out and interesting and entertaining enough to ensure those readers want to keep coming back for more.

Terry Didcott
Blogging Web 2.0

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Blogging, web2.0, social networking, promotion and marketing - these all tie in together to form a powerful set of tools for the online business person to use in the process of building their own business.

Despite all the new fangled gadgets, widgets, grommets and thingamyjigs, there are still the basics that should not be forgotten in the clamber and rush to embrace the newest and most talked about gizmos for promoting your site or blog. One of these most revered basic building blocks of any online business is the ability to write. And to write well and in sufficient volumes to produce the necessary amount of original and relevant content that the search engines crave.

Writing is the basic key to success.

If you are a serious blogger and are in it to make money as well as for the enjoyment of spreading yourself around cyberspace and making friends along the way, then this applies. The ability to convert thoughts into words and words into coherent sentences and sentences into informative, interesting and entertaining articles means you have the best chances of succeeding in this cut throat business. That’s because you won’t have to rely on other people to do it for you.

Your articles will be completely your own, written in your style and in your words, your way!

If you have a flair for creating great articles, then your readership will grow steadily as word gets around about your own carefully cultivated medium, be it a blog or website with constantly updated content.

The best part about writing for yourself to promote yourself and your blog or site is that over time, your writing skills become honed and your creativity expands.

Practice makes perfect!

So even if you think you can only write mediocre, bland or uninteresting pieces, write them anyway! Read lots of other people’s creations, visit lots of other blogs and see how their owner’s write and what they write about and learn from them. As you do, your own skills will improve.

So grab your keyboard and get typing! Your business will prosper because of it, the search engines will love your blog or site thanks to it and you will reap the rewards of improving your own writing skills doing it!

Write for success!

Terry Didcott
Blogging Web 2.0

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