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Tag Archives: writers


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS November 1/14

It’s Friday!! What with Hallowe’en and the chaos that comes with it, I totally forgot about your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! Thanks so much for the reminder, John! So what to do…? Oh, I know!

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “memory.” That’s it! Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use the SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!


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Followers vs. Readers

Okay, so you have a WordPress site of your own and your site has followers. When you started out, you got your first few notifications that someone had hitched their wagon to your blog and you thought, “Great! I have someone reading what I write!” But then as time went by, you realized that maybe they weren’t reading after all.

Fast forward to where you are now. You have tens if not thousands of followers. How many of those numbers do you figure actually visit your blog?

What brought this up in the first place was the municipal elections we had yesterday across the province of Ontario. Voter turnout at most elections is far below the numbers of of eligible voters. The difference between running for election and blogging is the people running for election are putting out money to advertise themselves. At least we bloggers don’t need to go to that length to have our sites viewed. But I digress.

From what I’ve gathered over the last twenty-one months of blogging, it seems that any of us are, at any given time, being visited by 10%-20% of our followers. The 20% is if you’re either very lucky or if all of your followers are friends and family.

I have just over 2,100 blog followers at the moment. I would estimate that over the course of my blogging career, I’ve had between 10-15% of my numbers actually reading my site on a daily basis. Which means that people have come and gone, and some have come back again, but on an average day I have around that many regular followers, not including those who show up once and I never see again. My regular followers don’t visit every day, but I know they’re out there by our interactions. On my fiction blog it’s even less – I have over 600 followers and would guess there only around 20 or 30 people who regularly read. That’s only about 3-5%

I’m far more frustrated with my 3-5%, obviously, than with my 10-15%, but as I said, at least it doesn’t cost me anything but the time I put into writing.

If you had to guess just going by feel and judging by the number of followers you chat with in a day, how many of your followers are reading you?


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 25/14

Friday is here and with it comes your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! I’m hella tired today – two mornings in a row of being dragged out of bed by a grumpy kid with a sore throat at 4am will do that. So no preamble or explanation today, just a prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “degree/degrees.” Have at it!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use the SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 18/14

Would you look at that – it’s Friday again! And that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt! It ‘s been a fun week for me in blogland, though I’m still trying to catch up with last week’s SoCS posts. I’ll get there though! Have no fear. I did want to mention to everyone, since the pingbacks aren’t always reliable, to check to make sure your link is in the comments after you post. And don’t forget to visit the other participants! Getting to know one another is what it’s all about! So, without further ado:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “shape.” Use it as a noun or a verb, put the word in your post or simply use it as your theme – whatever comes off the top of your head!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use the SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!


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Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Squint

I’m doing a lot of squinting this morning. No, wait, it’s afternoon already. I’m actually typing this with my eyes closed – thank goodness I learned to touch type. You see, (because I can’t) I haven’t been eating enough carrots in the past few days, and so I’m having a hard time, well, seeing. That’s why I haven’t been around today. Normally I’m all over everyone’s SoCS posts, and so I apologize.

The strangest thing today though seems to be that no matter how hard I squint, WordPress is telling me that there is one person flying around the globe looking at my posts. While I find this amazing, I do find it a little hard to believe. Have you noticed this too?

But really, I digress. My sight is the one thing I figure I’m losing more than anything else and it’s one of those things that I haven’t really thought about – at least not until it really started going downhill. I rely on my eyes to read, to write (except right now, my eyes are still closed. I hate to think how many typos I’m going to have to fix.) to get around my house… hell – to drive! I’m the only one who can take my kids to all their appointments. And the appointments are why I don’t work. EVERYTHING depends on my being able to see.

Lutein. It’s the thing carrots contain that is good for eye health. I think that’s how you spell it – I can’t see to google it. Even the word “google” reminds me of eyesight.

Protect your eyes, people. Sight is one of your greatest assets. Don’t take it for granted.

(This public service announcement comes to you in association with SoCS: https://lindaghill.com/2014/10/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-october-1114/ Please join in! It’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys!)

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions


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WordPress Wonderland

Stop me if this sounds familiar:

You turn on your computer on a weekend morning and sit down with your coffee to check your WordPress stats. You see not much has happened since you dragged yourself off to bed the night before so you open your reader. And there it begins. One great post by that blogger whose posts you never miss, followed by reading all the comments and then on to the next post, or the next blog…

What seems like an hour later you’re turning on the light because it’s gotten dark outside and … where did that empty chocolate wrapper come from? You get up to waddle to the kitchen for a glass of water and realize it was actually a pound of chocolate you consumed after you fell down the rabbit hole that is WordPress Wonderland and got lost in the maze of fascinating posts, pictures, recipes and laughter.

It never ceases to amaze me how much unique content can be found here on WordPress. Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something even better, more interesting, more inspiring and always time-consuming comes along to pull me in and keep me seated. And it’s hard! – really hard to stop sometimes. Finding the willpower to walk away from the computer and tidy up my house… It’s almost a no-brainer, for me anyway, which I’d rather be doing. Even editing my novel gets put aside for that post that just popped up…

…so shiny…

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

 


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 11/14

It’s Friday, and time for the Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday! It’s been a while since I really left the prompt up to you so I’m going to make this one of those weeks. I hope you enjoy the challenge!

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: the letter “s.” Write the first thing that comes to mind when you sit down to compose your SoCS post!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use the SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!


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Compulsion

There are some things I just can’t help. Eating the last few nuts in the tin even if I don’t want them, straightening out a crooked picture on the wall, … writing a blog post even when I’m too tired to write a blog post…

It’s been a hell of a few days, and the next three aren’t going to be any better. Last week I had two days off (meaning the kids’ dad picked them up after dinner one day and brought them back after dinner two days later) but the one in I should have had a full day off had an appointment for Alex smack-dab in the middle that only I could take him to, so I didn’t really get a day off at all. August was the last time I had one of those. All this to say that I don’t have the energy to write … anything, really. I suppose this is what being a writer is. Compulsion.

Unfortunately for all of you, it means listening to me whine about how tired I am. So here’s a consolation. A pretty picture. (Hunts for picture.) Ah, here’s one from the spring:

CAM00270-EFFECTS

and look at that – it’s not even straight

What are you compelled to do, no matter what? It’s okay, go on. Admit it. We won’t judge.

 


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Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Finding Flounder

Aside from the fact that I can’t usually find a thing I’m looking for in my house if I haven’t seen it in the previous two days (okay, that’s an exaggeration, but the frustration makes it feel that way) most of my lost things lately have been inside my own head.

Concentration. It’s what it all comes down to. Having a thousand things go through my head at once (disclaimer: this post will include many exaggerations. And by many I mean about a million or so.) is conductive to forgetting everything. For instance, twice this morning on my paper route I walked past a house I was supposed to deliver to because I have my novel in my head. A particular scene that I’ve been pondering… can’t remember now which one…

Too many people to take care of, (the last of which is ALWAYS me (exaggeration)) too little money to do all the crazy things my kids demand of me (i.e. taking the bus to the mall which costs $500 each way compared to driving the car which costs only pennies) (guess which one of those is an exaggeration. Right. The pennies one.), and where was I… Oh yeah. Not having enough time to write and edit, and read and CREATE! That’s gotta be the worst because it’s what keeps me sane. So I create in my head while I’m supposed to be doing other things. Like delivering the paper. And running red lights. And floundering around like a beached fish, gasping for air and dying… dying … dyin… dyi… d.

I’m such a drama queen this morning. Time to find some sense in it all.

 

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

Badge by: Doobster at Mindful Digressions

This post is part of SoCS. For the prompt and everything you need to know to join in, click here! https://lindaghill.com/2014/10/03/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-october-414/


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for SoCS October 4/14

It’s time once again for the Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday! Hopefully you didn’t have any trouble finding your way here this week. Please note: whichever blog of mine is on your screen (whether this one or the fiction one) you can find a link to the other one directly below the header photo on the right hand side. With that thought, and in the spirit of stream of consciousness writing, why don’t I just throw caution to the wind and catch the first idea that came to mind?

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “find.” Use the word somewhere in your post or make it your theme, but most of all, let the word into your mind and see what flies out!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use the SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

socs-badge

Badge by: Doobster @ Mindful Digressions

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” or “Begin with the word ‘The’.”

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments, for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. Have fun!