#writing – Page 3 – Jean's Writing

How to get over the writer blues

Published on January 5, 2018January 5, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell11 Comments

Do you need to work through the winter blahs?

Well, I do.

Cooped up inside and too sick to write, my brain turned to mush. Every time I sit down to write takes a monumental effort. The words won’t come. But today, lo and behold, other writers came to my rescue.

This morning over coffee I opened my email and read…

How to Start and Keep Writing After a Long Break

Ask a question and someone has an answer. I really enjoyed reading READ TO WRITE STORIES and the suggestions in this blog post. And I can’t wait to get the recommended book.

There are a few exercise suggestions in the post. Some you may be familiar with, others may help jog your characters.

My favorite was DROP AND ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

Think about that for a minute. I’m sure y’all have been in a room where everyone tip-toed around an elephant.

After you read the article, tell me what you think.

How do you get back into the writing groove after a long break?

Want to read more tips on jump-starting your writing?

Click and read…

4 Left-Brain Exercises to Jumpstart Your Writing By: Courtney Carpenter

Stimulate Your Mind With These Writing Exercises!

12 Ways to Kick-Start Your Writing By CHARLOTTE RAINS DIXON

I HOPE YOU’LL TAKE A MINUTE TO FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA, JUST CLICK ON THE BUTTONS BELOW. I’LL LEAVE A LIGHT ON.

Please accept my apology and my best wishes

Published on January 3, 2018January 2, 2018 by Jean M. Cogdell10 Comments

My apology for disappearing over the holidays.

I’m sorry my blog went dark for a few days.

The plague came to my house. Plague – flu, one in the same as far as I’m concerned.

Hubby and I were both hit hard. First time in years we’ve caught the flu, and the first time I can ever remember getting it at the same time. YUCK!

And yes, if you are wondering, we did get the flu shot.

Reading emails, writing on my blog or writing on my novel were impossible. I couldn’t focus to even read a book. Needless to say, I achieved zero of my holiday goals. Sigh…

Although not a hundred percent, I am feeling a bit more human today, and ready to get back into the groove.

Now that you’ve accepted my mea culpa let’s talk about 2018.

I’m not much of a resolution setting person but I did want to set a few goals. Three seems manageable. Don’t you think?

Three goals for 2018.

Write more
Read more
Learn more

Every time I sit down at the computer, I learn something new. And, if you stay with me through 2018, I’ll do my best to share every tidbit I discover about writing and blogging.

What are your goals for 2018?

Are some of 2017 goals carrying over into the New Year?

From my house to yours, Wishing you a happy and successful 2018!

I HOPE YOU’LL TAKE A MINUTE TO FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA, JUST CLICK ON THE BUTTONS BELOW. I’LL LEAVE A LIGHT ON.

How to understand keyword and blog ranking

Published on December 27, 2017December 29, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell9 Comments

Well, it’s the end of another year.

And as your reading to ring in 2018 you may want to see how your blog did during 2017.

First, do what I did, Check those WordPress Stats.

In 2016, I published 222 posts, with 16,046 views. In 2017, I published 172 posts with 14,636 views. Not too bad, considering, in 2017 I cut back my blogging to 3 times a week.

Understanding blog ranking, blog stats, and keywords can help improve your blog views.

There are lots of ways to check your blog stats and ranking. Websites that show which keywords work best for your posts.

Some of these tools I understand and some I are a bit over my head. But most of them are a big time suck. So bloggers, beware. Look, if your curious but don’t get mired in the muck. Or like me, you’ll end up with a big headache.

There are a few free services and free trials to help you figure out all this stuff.

For instance…

GOOGLE TRENDS – Find out which keywords or subject are trending.

SERPSTATS – Website analysis and Domain ranking. Plus which top page/posts on your blog had the highest visibility.

KEYWORD RANK CHECKER on SERPS website- Discover the average monthly searches for a keyword and the cost-per-click (CPC).

KEYWORD RESEARCH – Helps discover which keywords are working on your blog.

WORD TRACKER – Find out which words are searched the most.

Bloggers, tell me…

Did you check your stats for 2017?

Did you fare better or worse?

Do you understand Keywords and Stats? (I’ll be honest, I don’t.)

I HOPE YOU’LL TAKE A MINUTE TO FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA, JUST CLICK ON THE BUTTONS BELOW. I’LL LEAVE A LIGHT ON.

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful holiday filled with reading

Published on December 20, 2017December 17, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell10 Comments

Are you looking for additional books to read by the fire?

I’ve found a new favorite book on writing. This is not a quick read, but it’s good information about the style of writing. Click on the image to read an excerpt from Amazon.com.