Blogs are free and a great place to glean strategies for improving your writing. While everyone and their brother out there now has a blog, many writers, editors and publishers have blogs that are well worth the effort to follow. The trick is to wade through the options and choose the ones that can help you the most.
Let’s start at the beginning.
1. Find a blog, any blog, that has to do with writing. Since you’re already reading a blog (mine) so you’ve obviously found at least one. That’s great! Step one is complete. It doesn’t have to be the best blog out there, or even one you plan to return to–you’re looking for a place to start for now.
2. Find links to other authors’, editors’ or agents’ blogs from the first blog. Sometimes the blog author will make it easy for you to find those links (see my Blogroll for Writers sidebar!) and some many not have their favorites listed. It’s fine if they don’t; you can usually find links to other blogs by reading the comments section after each post. If you click on their names, many of the commenters will have a link to their own websites and blogs.
3. Start reading! You want to find blogs that are will contain helpful tips, industry information and/or give you someone to connect with online to encourage your own writing journey. When you open a blog, scan through a couple of posts and find out if that particular one inspires you. If you find it hard to slog through the writing, the color scheme is obnoxious, or it’s just plain boring, move on! You’ve got too many options out there to waste your time.
4. When you find a great blog, bookmark it and find out which blogs the author follows. Be discerning as you bookmark. Bad blogs will suck away your writing time without giving you anything in return. Great blogs are clearly written, updated often, and contain a goldmine of helpful information. Choose the ones you’ll look forward to reading and bookmark them. They’ll probably also list the blogs that they follow, which will help you find more blogs you love!
5. If you are following more than five or six blogs, divide and conquer. Even a bunch of awesome blogs will be detrimental to your writing if they’re eating away the time you should be using to work on your novel or edit the story that’s been waiting on your second look. I’ve labeled my bookmark folders to find what I need quickly: writing tips, writing inspiration, just for fun. If my motivation’s lagging, I open my writing inspiration blogs and read those. If I’m looking for professional development, I turn to the “writing tips” folder. And if it’s the end of a productive day, I get to read my “just for fun” blogs as a reward.
Watch Out for…following too many blogs, boring but informational blogs, and blogs that aren’t in your writing genre. Weed out the ones that help you out the most and ditch the rest. If it doesn’t encourage, teach or inform you, stop reading!
I am dyslexic I have things I would like to say being my editor would be grueling someone deserves to get paid to help me. What would be a reasonable amount to pay.
I am taking forever to write anything for publication. I have read enough to know that my writing may never be up to snuff. Still
even though at first I couldn’t find my voice I have a take on things I believe is unique and needed.
I want to write about the inaccessibilty of a collage education.
Conflict resolution, Child rearing being a grandparent today. What is beauty for a woman, how do I feel about aging. I would like to write about the real reason art is important.
There are many excellent resources out there but they just don’t fit my particular need. The only time I did well with grammar was when the answer was in-between two questions it was impossible to get it wrong. I have taken colledge level
english classes. Finding my own mistakes is so difficult yet I know bad writing means no credibility.
L.D.. attention deficits. and O.C.D to name a few hang together in a family. Finding a relative to help would be inconsistant. It would be better to have an arrangement. I do art for someone and they edit me. What do you think?
Oh and I have completely corrupted some of the words in my spell check.