Danny Brown's Blog, page 15

Can You Tell Your Story Without Using Words?

A little while back, I took my daughter Salem to the local library, where we played games, made little toys, and read books together.

My wife was at an event all weekend with her publisher company, and my son was playing at the weekly sports curriculum at our local community centre.

Given my daughter loves her books at home, the library was an obvious choice for us to hang out while Ewan did his sports thing (the fact it’s in the same community centre didn’t hurt).

As we were browsing through...

Why Mediocre Blogging Can Still Be Great

Recently, I was chatting with some friends about blogging, and how it’s changed over the years.

From social media to richer forms of content creation like videos, podcasts, story-driven blogging, etc, it could be forgiven to think that blogging as we know it (writing a post, publishing, hoping others read it either on the page or vie email/RSS) is about to disappear.

One of the reasons that came up was the fact there was so much mediocre blogging on the web. And, to a point, this is true.

Wit...

Love’s Journey (Or Living Life Right)

We have a limited time in life to do the things we want to do.

Let’s make sure it’s doing the things that matter with the people that matter.

Love’s Journey (Or Living Life Right) originally appeared on Danny Brown - - all rights reserved.

The Three Core Tenets Every Successful Blogger Needs to Have

As bloggers, we all have different goals. Some may be to monetize your blog; some may be to get a book deal; some may be to become recognized as an expert in your field; others may be to share company news and updates.

Some may even just be to have a personal outlet where you can let your creativity go and see what works, and what doesn’t.

But no matter the goals you have for your blog, to succeed in them takes more than just setting up a blog and watching the success come rolling in.

While...

Do Kids See What We Wish We Could See?

A few weeks back, my four year old daughter Salem was still awake and chattering away in her bedroom, despite being in bed for over an hour.

When I went in to give her a cuddle and ask why she was still awake, she whispered to me, “She’s here.”

“Who’s here?” I asked.

“The girl.”

I pulled away a little and looked at Salem, who was looking intently behind my shoulder. “What girl?”

“The girl in the corner.”

I looked behind me to the corner of Salem’s room, where there was a little bit of shadow...

The Cautionary Tale of Balderdash and Hogwash

Back in the day, two friends named Balderdash and Hogwash decided they wanted to be seen as really smart.

So they decided to share their thinking and position it as Fairly Important Correctionable Tales In Other News (FICTION).

Seeing that there was a market for people looking for information, Balderdash and Hogwash decided that their brand of FICTION was just what the world needed.

So off they set, taking their words of wisdom with them.

For many years, Balderdash and Hogwash were hugely su...

The Thing About Blog Comments Is…

They’re a privilege, not a right. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t mean that in an elitist or dictator-type way.

After all, comments are the passengers to the bus driver that is the blog author. They’re what makes the trip so enjoyable.

Yet it’s still at the discretion of the bus driver whether it’s a private journey or an open one.

Which is why you’ll see some blogs requiring you to register before commenting; some with no comment options at all; and others that are open-ended and encourage comm...

Put the Damn Phone Down and Experience the Moment

Tomorrow (February 15) is Family Day in Ontario, Canada. A statutory holiday, it was originally created to give families important time with each other.

Ontario isn’t the only province in Canada to celebrate Family Day – Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia also celebrate it.

For me, it’s another reason I’ve come to love my adopted home since moving here from the UK back in December 2006.

I mean, come on – imagine the government telling you you have to take a day off so you c...

Conversations of Distraction

As part of my daily routine traveling to work, I take the subway.

As I sit in my little part of the train, I can’t help but overhear the conversations around me. Dialogues, actually – the majority aren’t very conversational.

One in particular was a guy telling his girlfriend about issues he was going through at his workplace. How he was afraid that he was going to lose his job as he was having a major character clash with his supervisor.

The girl nodded a few times, then when the guy had fin...

You Don’t Have to Be Epic Every Time

For the last two days, I’ve been sitting at my computer itching to write something epic.

Looking at the blank screen, thinking of words I can write to convey the feeling I have inside that I need to share something epic and life-changing.

And I come up blank.

I have an inkling of what I’m about to say, and then I ask myself how it will end.

How the words that precede the final sentence will be strong enough to hook the reader to guide them to the last sentence that will, undoubtedly, change t...