Ted Atchley's Blog, page 3
December 27, 2019
Managing Twitter with Lists
If you invest a little time each day on Twitter, youll soon find yourself with over 1000 followers. This can happen in a matter of weeks, not years. Youll also be following over 1000 people. Tweets will come to your feed faster than you can read them. Youll miss people trying to engage with you unless they specifically tag you.
Fortunately, Twitter has a feature that can help make this all manageable. Its called Lists. Lists allow you to put people on Twitter into logical groups. It allows...
July 10, 2019
Setting up Excel to track your writing project and make your deadlines
Im going to show you to use Excel to track your project and always hit your deadlines, or at least show you how much you need to panic that youre not making your deadline.
DownloadThis link will download an Excel spreadsheet. You may see a message like this one depending on your browser.
I suggest you click Save and save it to your documents. Once you have saved it, open it up in Excel.
It will ask you a couple of questions and then set up everything for you. Its the best approach for...
April 11, 2019
How to change your Twitter username
Twitter is a fantastic app for connecting with people. I love the asynchronous nature of the relationships. You can follow people who dont follow you and people can follow you that you dont follow.
Over time, our online identity can change. I used to be @TedtheThird on Twitter back when I had a similar domain name. When I lost that domain, the @TedtheThird handle didnt make as much sense anymore.
Before I was @TedtheThird, I used the name of my favorite game character for my Twitter handle....
March 31, 2019
Using ProWritingAid with Scrivener
I love using Scrivener to write my novels. Its a fantastic tool to help me organize characters, settings, and research as well as give me all the tools I need. Ive also started using ProWritingAid to help with editing. ProWritingAid (PWA) is the most robust and full feature grammar and language editor Ive ever used.
While PWA has great integration with programs like Microsoft Word, Open Office and Google Docs, using it with Scrivener is less straightforward. Todays step by step guide will...
March 18, 2019
The parable of Captain Marvel
Spoiler alert. Major spoilers to follow for anyone who hasnt seen Captain Marvel.
Last warning.
Still here? Okay.
Captain Marvel lives with an incredible power inside her. Though restrained and constrained, as she comes to understand her identity, she unleashes the power in its full potential. Her journey to discovery is a parable for the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christians.
Power restrained In the opening sequences of the film, we see Captain Marvel as a Kree warrior known as Vers. As...
March 3, 2019
Switch between computers with your Scrivener project
I own a laptop and a desktop. I will use either to write depending on a variety of factors.
You will need Dropbox set up on your computer. I cover this in detail as part of my guide on backing up your work. Inside my Dropbox, I made a folder for my current Work in Progress, code name Crucible.
I dont title my works until Im done, and even then, if I ever get a publisher, they will want to have input on the final name.
Scrivener doesnt always play nice with Dropbox. Ive lost work before...
February 26, 2019
Backing up your work as a writer
Most of us have heard the stories. A writer friend distraught over a computer crash, or virus which wiped out their files. Months, maybe years of hard work gone. Hopefully, you arent the one telling the story. This post will walk you through step by step how to backup your files so if this does ever happen to you dont lose a thing. None of this is magic, all it takes is some preparation. Lets get you started on creating a good backup strategy for your files.
DropboxDropbox is a cloud...
February 19, 2019
Disable the default admin – the first thing you should do after getting a WordPress site
If youve followed Jerry Jenkins advice, youve gotten your own site. His tutorial is fantastic for walking you through the process of setting up the site step by step Congratulations! Youre on the web.
Youve also just painted a large target on your back, and not just from the Internet trolls. Dont worry, those guys will come in time, but the immediate threat is from the bad guys who want to use your domain to do bad things like infect other peoples computers. We call them bad guys for a...
June 29, 2015
How To Respond to Marriage Equality?
When the Court ushered in Marriage Equality, some who were old enough had to have had an odd sense of Deja vu. They’d been here before, some forty odd years earlier, with Roe v Wade. Already, Christian Bloggers like the Gospel Coalition are calling for a response similar to the one Roe had in giving birth to the Pro-Life movement.
That’s exactly what the world expects. Christians will take to the courts. They will take to the ballot box. They will declare, “This is war!” Like with Roe, they w...
October 31, 2014
Trunk or Treat and Easter Egg Hunts
Last year I talked about my evolving view of the Halloween holiday with “Should Christians celebrate Halloween”. My daughter is now a teenager and still enjoys it, but this year, she is sacrificing trick or treating to go to a party. The teenage years, I am not prepared! My son is almost 4 now and is starting to ‘get it’. All he cares about is the candy.Candy, candy, candy!
This time of year, churches start having their Halloween alternatives, whether that takes the form of a ‘Fall Festival’ o...
