I want to do something fun…My favorites so far 2020

Please note:  I am doing this topic for several reasons, including that I would love to collaborate with someone both in video and or blogging.  I am also available for freelance work.  You can contact me through my email address plogan721@att.net.  I take serious people as I had a scammer back in November for my graphic work.  This caused a major shift in how I accept writing and graphic gigs.  I am not bitter about the experience and I caught it in time, or my identity could have been compromised.  Sorry, I am mentioning this on such a fun topic as the one you are about to read.  With that being said, on with today’s topic.

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P. Lynne Designs is also a participant partner in the Erin Condren affiliate program which is designed to provide a 

means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Erin Condren. 

Ok, that last topic took something out of me.  I am not going to lie when I say that that the blog post was the fourth one I had written and the first one I am proud of since Corona broke out, landed in the United States, and showed herself out.

Now I am done.  I have said my piece for now about her. I am ready to have some fun writing topics.  I am ready for the doom and gloom to go away for a while.  I was reminded of that last week by my pastor.

I attend an online bible study via Facebook Live.  This is how I have been attended church worship services too, and except for a few times when my computer has not quite cooperated in either task or the two weeks I had to deal with my cat, Gizmo going through heat issues. Yes, Gizmo is a girl, my girly girl, and she was named after the Mogwai Gizmo from the movie, Gremlins, who is a boy.  Yes, you can feed her after midnight, although I do not suggest dealing with her during heat because she turns into a little Gremlin, LOL.  Anyway, she is my little gremlin,

Anyway, My pastor said of African Americans who have been killed in the last few months because of the continued hatred from certain types of white folks, that you can post all you want to about how much you hate what is happening from Trevon to Breanna, the RN who was killed because someone reported to police about some drug activity going on in her apartment, and she was sleeping after a grueling shift, and it was the wrong apartment.  If you do not act on how much you hate it, and make people aware of the problem in this country, then you are part of the problem.

What does that have to do with the coronavirus?  Same thing and the best thing to do at this point is to stay at home, wash your hands, and stay 6 feet apart.

Okay, enough of that.

Just making a list of my favorites.
 (photo by Pixabay.com)

What is today’s topic? 

I want to give all my writers and journal writers a task this week.  Yes, this week.  This will break you out of your mode of “normal” writing, and if this is not your thing, then try it once.  You may like it.

I normally write about lifestyle things on my other blog, Home Prep and those topics are on organization, decorating on a budget, and anything that is home-related.  Every once in awhile, you would see something about travel, and the reason was I had a travel portion on the blog.  I found after writing about my plans for a family Disney trip in December 2019 (see the previous post on THIS BLOG) about the problems leading to me canceling the trip.  I decided it would be best if I had a separate trip blog.

Anyway (count how many times I write, “anyway”), I want to write on this blog my favorite writing things or products of 2020 SO FAR. So in no particular order, I will have my list, and I will reference them with a link if I find the product on Amazon, Erin Condren, Walmart (which I do not get a commission on, but I love) or information I think you can use.  Again, you are not obligated to make a purchase.

Favorite item to use while writing:

These are routines, products, or tips that help me get into the mood of write.  Note:  Lately, I have not felt like writing much.  My mind had been scattered all over the place in terms of what topics to write.  Remember, I have chosen to write 3 blogs (soon to be 4), and it was not the number of blogs I write in, but how I write them.  So, the first thing I did was a little soul searching.  I turned to the very thing that got me started writing in the first place, which I mentioned that is was my friend, Lois, and writing in a personal journal.  In that journal, which is now an OneNote Notebook on my computer, it has allowed me to really think about what I am supposed to do.  It is the one thing that connects me to her, even though Lois died in 2002 to advanced breast cancer.  

Another thing is surprising, my pastor also journals.  He came to my congregation last year, and he has been a blessing.  He is younger than me, but I find him very relatable.  He is also an accomplished author, and has written a couple books and has a blog himself.  Personally, I felt that in the year since he has presided over the congregation (along with our “sister”, Westley United Methodist Church), my pastor has given me some insight on how a “woman of God”, “God’s child”, a Christian should govern over herself.

 Next, My favorite tea, which has to be decaf.  I do drink caffeinated coffee and tea, but I need something to calm me down, especially if I write at night.  I started writing at night because it was the only time that I did not have the noise of the day.  Up until February 25, 2020, my nephew and his girlfriend stayed here with me until they found an apartment.  Well, my great-niece came, and they are staying with my parents until they were able to save a little money for an apartment, which they had found, but corona reared up her head, and since he had been working double shifts at a shipping company (due to everyone online ordering and PPE stuff shipping in), they have not been able to move in.  since they have been gone, I still write at night, along with my tea, which is nothing more than Celeste Seasons fruit tea bags-assorted.  I used to drink Chamomile tea or CS Sleepytime tea, but I love these teas better.  I think it helps Gizmo calm down that I am not moving around so much.

What I use to write with?  That is simple, MS Word.  I will write down as much as I could, edit later.  Tip:  it helps to write it all down, then come back later to edit for clarity.  You may not have the same thoughts as you did when you first write it down.  This is why it takes me a long time for one blog post.  My blog post writing routine is:

·         Write for the thought process

·         Edit for clarity (this is where I add and take away)

·         Add bullet points, bold and italic and other ideas I want to emphasize.

·         Decide my font (which will go away once I start writing this blog in WordPress format)

·         Paste to Blogger (or WordPress when I start writing in that format)

·         Edit for Grammarly

·         Finally, add my title (which is already written in MS. Word), scheduled to publish, add Keywords/SEO, summarize, hook up my links, and add photos and capture points.

It sounds like a lot, but it really is not.  I did not mention the hard part (yes, there is), which is promotion.  I post a link to Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Favorite ways to write.

What is that?  I have several ways to write, and some I like because most of the time, it is for continuity, a flow, while others have to be for the style.

·         Narrative.  Most of the time, I will write in a narrative-style or first person.  I am given you an account of my day, a routine, or even a place that I have visited. 

·         Ghost-writing.  I am writing in the style of the author or blog writer.  Yes, it is my work, but I cannot put my name in the by-line.  The byline has to be the person who publishes it on their blog. I cannot offer my bio either.  It has to look like the blog poster wrote it themselves.

·         Guest-writing.  I offer to write a blog post or article for a magazine or blog to name a few, and my name goes in the by-line, as well as my bio at the end of the article.

·         Lists.  This is still fairly new to me, but I like it just the same as the other styles of writing.  For example, I can write, “20 reasons to visit Walt Disney World”, or “20 reasons not to visit Walt Disney World”.  The trick is to do your homework or research before attempting to create lists.  I usually research to see if what I have to say is the truth.

·         SEO/Keyword.  Okay, I will admit it, I like it and I hate it.  It all depends on the post.  I have done some ghost-writing that required me to mention “body-building” 5 times in six 1000-word articles back in 2011.  I found that the subject was very boring, and I had to stomach through all 6 articles that I needed to write by the end of the week.  Three weeks later, I had to write 8 articles mentioning the words, “organize” and “cabinets” 8 times in 500-word articles and I wanted to write more. So, it all depends.

·         Journaling.  Yeah, you knew this was going to come up soon or later.  I have mentioned how many times I have enjoyed the art of journaling, decorating journals, and now I can add planners to the mix.  You can now journal in your planners, and visa versa.  You know I am here for that.  This is the reason I have the horizontal version of the Erin Condren Life Planner. I am a detailed person, and the more detail I can get, the better.  In addition, I get to put what date I want in this planner.  In addition to the Life Planner, I love using the Duo-tip markers, stickers (even though I make my own as well- coming soon to my shop and website), and petite books, which are perfect for sermon notes, goal setting, and project planning.

Well, that is it for this round.  I will update later in the year with new things.  Oh, I love to write in loungewear, and the pants I love are from Target, which is the Women’s perfectly cozy wide-leg lounge pants by Stars Above™.  I use any top that is comfy to me.  Right now as I write, I have on a tank top.  In the wintertime, I have on my Laura Ashley fluffy robe that I bought for Christmas.  I now have to find one that is perfect for summer.

Finally, I love writing in the dark.  Let me explain….

At night, when it is nice and quiet, and it is past midnight, I may get into the mood of a nice fluffy robe, my sock, loungewear on, and I turn off the overhead light in my office and have on only the lamps illuminating my screen.  It gives me the sense of a warm blanket, and this is one way that I cocoon.  The other way of cocooning is having 3-4 blankets on my bed and turning off the heat in the wintertime or turning on the air conditioner in the summertime, and snuggle.  Another conversation for a different day.

Anyway, I also have a sense that I am in some sort of secret cave and it is just me and the computer, then Gizmo wants something and ruins the moment, LOL.  But between the time I settle in and Gizmo’s wanting, I can get a lot done with my writing.

Fact: Dealing with an almost 3-year-old cat (who is still a kitten) is like dealing with a human toddler, but I like human toddlers better, LOL.   I do not have to dress this one or listen to it say, “Mommy, mommy, mommy”.  Oh, wait, constant meowing is the same as “mommy, mommy, mommy”.  Never mind, LOL.

Have a good day.

What the Heck is Well-nigh and Other Ponderings

                       Subtitle-how to use rewrite software

I want to interrupt your normal reading of this blog for a very important message:

THIS BLOG IS MOVING SOON!!

No, I mean it this time.  I have been meaning to move it to a WordPress platform for some time, made several announcements only to not do it, and frankly for even me, it is getting quite annoying.  This is one of the reasons why I do not have traffic on this blog anymore.  I am working on that.  Later on this blog post.  I promise…..

         

                        That is not why this post is being interrupted

Disclaimer: P. Lynne Designs is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Today, I want to talk to you about one of the bad subjects in the writing world, and that is rewrites.  After all, the world is full of rewrites, redo, remakes, sequels, and so forth.  There is nothing so far that has been done that has not to be tested, tried, fried, dyed, laid to the side.  Oops, wrong subject and wrong blog (At Home with Tricia's Baskets needs to address this subject on hair).  But the point is that if it has not been on the market before now, THEN it is new.  Otherwise, it has been done before, EXCEPT in a different way.

I am currently working on a blog post called “How to write a 500-Word Blog Post” or “How to start a blog”, depending on which title I am going with.  It is my new, “I am not writing like I am mass-producing blog post” campaign challenge I am giving myself for 2020.  Here is the backstory:

    Image by skeeze from Pixabay

 (Pensive Female) 

I was feeling bored with this blog, all of my blogs.  One of the issues I am having is being honest with myself, and the honest truth is I was not liking my posts.  Some are great and I love them, it was the rest of the post from all three of my blogs that made me say, “ugh” to them.  It was a combo of things such as editing issues to I was not really feeling the subject I was writing about.  At times, I was feeling rushed, that “I got to make this deadline or else” feeling.  I did not like the links to a blog post, I did not like the photos, etc, and the low numbers from clicks proved it. So I decided to take the time to evaluate each blog and each blog post and main subjects. 

Tip:  If you are feeling bored with your blog, do a re-evaluation.  Do not beat yourself up about it, just find the places that need improving, even if it means to start over with a fresh blog. 

Now, before you start saying to yourself, “she is going in a different direction and talking about something else”, the answer is “no, I am not”.  I love all my subjects on all of my blogs.  From writing about “how to write a blog post” to “journaling” and now adding using planners with your writing with My Ambiance Life, Traveling to Disney to homelife and organizing with At Home with Tricia's Baskets, and finally crafting tutorials and product reviews with P. Lynne Designs, there will no change in that.  I was unhappy with my approach to these subjects.  If I change anything about the subjects it would be to split At Home with Tricia's Baskets to where the traveling would be separated from the homelife and organizing sections, making it two blogs again.

I decided that I did not like the flow of the “500-word blog post” post, so I turned to a blog post rewriting software program or site.  I must say that it was an eye-opener, and depending on how I feel, I may do it again.  Word has a feature now that allows you to rewrite a line or a whole post, but I do not think that is how this feature works, and I have to research it a little more.

This is when I came across the word, Well-nigh, which sounds like something that a British person would say, not an American, still wet behind the ears writer like me.  The word is an adverb, and it means “almost”.  So I am going to show you two sentences from my post that I am still working on to see how this word is being used.

This is the original sentence:

“Have you ever wanted to write something you are passionate about or have a unique skill that others crave they had?”

Now for the rewritten one:

“Have you overly wanted to write well-nigh something you are passionate well-nigh or have a unique skill that others require they had?”

 “Dear rewrite software maker:

I do not think that in my original sentence I did not have the word “almost” in it.  Why do I need to use the word, well-nigh”?”

This is what I would ask the website creators.   This is one of the sentences, and believe it or not, “well-nigh” is used a couple of times throughout the post.

Then I decided that I must replace the word.  Now, keep in mind that what I was about to use was Word’s synonym checker.  This was against the website’s rewrite copy of my post.  The words used were:

·         Nearly

·         Almost

·         Virtually

·         Just about

I am sorry to say this but just about every word in this word list does not match to what I was trying to convey in the original sentence or the entire post.

Tip:  The first sentence in a post after the title should set the tone for the rest of the piece.  It is not the means that ends it all, but it should give your reader some idea of what you are trying to arrive at.  Your title tells the reader about your subject matter.

So, what am I trying to say about rewrite software, websites, and all related items:

I have nothing again rewrites at all IF it is your original and YOU wrote it. What I have a problem with has to do with plagiarizing:  Those that do it are too lazy to come up with their own articles for their own blogs.  Now before I get any further, this is different from ghostwriting and guest posting.  

With Ghostwriting, the original author is willing to not take the credit for anything they produce for you or your company.  The only difference with the post, article, or book is the original author’s name is not on the byline, the individual or the individual’s company is on the byline.  This is not considered cheating at all, and in the contract, you draw up with the author, it states that the author is not allowed to use the copy on their blog o resell it if the post is in book form.  It is now considered the property of the individual and cannot be contested in court. 

Guest posting is when the author agrees to post an article for your site.  It works the same way as if the post was written on their blog.  It is not considered a rewrite, but the author can do a rewrite of that article for their own blog post.

Cons to rewriting a blog:

As I stated before, rewritten posts can be a problem if a person plagiarizes the original post. 

Say you want to write an article about cats and the benefits of being a cat mommy or daddy.  You have never owned a cat and you have not interviewed a person who owns a cat.  You just thought it was a good idea because cat ownership is a trending topic because everyone is doing it.   So, you decided to do some research on the subject of cat ownership, and in your research, you find this great article online about me loving being a cat aunt.  Gizmo is not mine, she belongs to my nephew and his girlfriend who both live with me. (True story) Instead of emailing me to as if I would give an interview on why Gizmo makes me happy (and I would be happy to do an interview, BTW), you take my article, use a rewrite software, and have it rewrite the whole article for your blog.  This is still considered stealing.  It may not look like the same post to the naked eye, but if I run across it, and it sounds like the same post I wrote, I could sue you.  This is one of the reasons why I do not like them.

So, use rewrite software and websites with a grain of salt.  Use them for your own posts to do a comparison on which version of your post you like better.  When you read the rewrite, make sure that the copy flows the same way that the original flows, if not, change it within the rewritten copy or be willing to combine the two. Never use it to copy someone’s idea and post. If you do, you could come off as a lazy writer, or you will be hearing from the original author’s lawyer.  If you are a writer, there are ways to check to see if someone is copying your work or if you have copied a passage that sounds like someone’s work. This will be the subject for this topic next time

That is all I have to say at this time.  Next subject….

Traffic and Promotion

This is one area that I have the most problems with.  It is not that I do not get it, it is… well…. Let me explain.

I am currently on Blogger, in reality, it does not matter what platform you are on, as long as you do the following:

1)       Write

2)      Write consistently, meaning GET A SCHEDULE!

3)     Promote what you write.  Meaning promoting your work on social media, groups of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram). Even YouTube and newsletter count.

OK, I get it.  What I do not get is how many subscribers, followers, viewers, or visitors you need to have on your blog visiting daily, weekly, and monthly in order for brands to even consider you to write a sponsored post.  For months, and sometimes even now, I am baffled to the number of clicks needed and so on.  On social media, you cannot lie about these numbers.  You can sometimes exaggerate the numbers on your actual blog, but not on social media.  The brand liaison can look at your profile and tell if you have over 1000 viewers or not.  My question is often, “why so many?” It is the same question I ask about my credit score, “why 800”, but that is another question for another day, and I am not a financial guru, so I will leave the question here.  But, if anyone knows to “why I need a score of 800 to have a chance to get a new home?”, comment below, and I will try to understand it.

 Image by Mary Pahlke from 

Pixabay (Marketing)

Tip 2:

Write

Write consistently, meaning get a schedule

Promote what you write

I want to go over this more in detail.

1)       Write

This is obvious.  Get into the practice of constantly writing something if you are not used to it.  It does not matter if it is digital (computer) or pen and paper, but write something.  This is where I suggest that you get a writing journal, and write down things such as goals you want to achieve in the year or in your life, a bucket list, decorating or organizing pieces in your home or office, even spiritual aspirations and affirmations. 

Write them in paragraph form, a proper paragraph form. This means correct spelling, grammar, and the whole nine yards.  The reason for this practice is one day you may have to write something for business, or you might get a promotion on your job.  Anyway, companies do not understand the need to write “Tyme” for “time” and other things like that.  It may be good for social media, but not good for business.  Plus, some readers do not like reading blogs that have mistakes in them.

2)      Write consistently, meaning get a schedule

One of the problems I do have is being consistent with my writing.  I get on a roll, and for a while, it seems like I have a habit of staying on that schedule.  Then I have a falling off period, and I do not write for a while.  This comes with discouragement. I want to have big numbers, but I also want to see the comments as well. One tip I find that helps with every time a person views a YouTube video in the comments.  The vlogger always asks viewers to like the video, comment, subscribe to the channel, and share the video.  Well, I am good at doing just that on my YouTube channel, but the same is not said on my blogs. 

For schedules, you do not have to write every day, which is what some bloggers strive for.  Do not kill yourself to try to get a blog post out every single day.  You also have a life as well.  For 2020, I am going to try to get both blogs and videos out on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week.

3)     Promote what you write:

Promote your writing.  It goes back to what I said earlier in this piece.  It also does not matter if you are an established author, guest poster, or even if you are a ghostwriter.  Use your social media outlets as mentioned before to promote your work.  It is crucial, especially if you are looking for clients for freelance writing, or if you are trying to drum up sales.  If you an author, have book signings.  People love getting that first edition of your book.  If you are writing more than one book in the future (think Steven King or a Star Trek series of books), your first edition could be worth some money before and after you have died.  It may not mean much to you, but it may mean something to the person who owns a copy of your first written a book or your family.

Wow, this was a long post, the first of many, many long posts.  Let me know in the comments what you think of my 2000+ words per post. I will not get mad, I promise.

Afterthought: 

Before I was about to upload this post, I was looking for some further inspiration for the word and meaning of the word re-write.  I failed to issue a positive aspect of the word. I ran upon several books on Amazon that suggests a different look at this word.  Look at the word and meaning of the word to make a character stronger than before.  In other words, in fiction and creative writing, if you made the character seem week to the reader, the rewrite would make that same character stronger. so in this case, a rewrite is warranted.