How it’s done in the grave

 

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Merry meet all,

A lot of people  have asked how I have managed a blog and have a blog page theme and so forth. I decided that I would write about how I have created my blog. I hope you all enjoy reading this post. I run the Pilcrow theme. There are a few theme options to design your WordPress available in the Appearance section on the left menu.

Basically, I never gave up on trying. If you want to have an excellent blog, never give up. You have to be willing to learn, to fail, to try and keep trying. You have to type when you are inspired and when you really really don’t want to. You have to be willing to be adaptable and learn new things. You have to be flexible and hard working. I have been blogging for years now. I have struggled through the whole steep learning curve and learned almost everything there is to know about blogging. I am sure I still have much more to learn.

WordPress is the best blogging site ever. I used to be on Blogger but one day my account was hacked. I transferred all my blog posts over to WordPress and the rest as they say is history. I have written under 1000 blog posts in total. I am dedicated to my blog. WordPress has tutorials and helpful help sites. The information for help on how to manage a blog on WordPress can also be googled online.

I try to think of a topic for my posts. I try my hardest to make it interesting. I like to include a photo with each post. I think a writer can cultivate their own style, their own voice. You will find your own voice after a while of writing. I sign each post and I use keywords to enable a viewer to find these posts easily. I write each post from my heart. WordPress has many helpful things to make writing posts easy for the writer such as adding photos, movie trailers, links to sites or writing your post all in bold (which I don’t recommend but anyway), or italics. You can schedule when a blog post will be published or have several posts published on a certain date. You can preview your posts before publishing them or save the drafts if you are too busy at the time of writing them.

If one day you are seated at your laptop, steaming java next to you, and you feel drops of blood dripping down on your face as you try to think of a topic. relax. By the way, never get your laptop wet. Instead, go on Google to see new ways of how to come up with blog posts topics. I’ve been faced with the same problem. Googling that has helped me greatly to get great blog topic suggestions. You could keep a list of blog post ideas on your desktop or update an old blog post. Ask your readers what they want to read. Give them no choice but to read your blog post. If a favorite movie of yours is coming soon to theaters, mention that. If a new occult store opened in your neighborhood, mention that. If a Sabbat is approaching, promote it to the world. Enter a major keyword of your proposed post topic on Twitter and see what results show from that to generate ideas. You might be surprised at how that can scare up good ideas.

It is good writing practice to write blog posts. Blogs are looked down on and don’t deserve that. Any writing practice you can get is still practice. I also found a theme for my blog. I thought of what I wanted to talk about what I was passionate about. That is how I came up with Paranormal & Witchy Fiction which reflects a huge passion in my life. The photo on my main blog page of the moon is one I took myself. I thought it was really cool and I put it on my blog. Since Paranormal and Witchy Fiction is a bit spooky, I added the photo to portray that. I love the spooky.

I added the About me page to show more information viewers might want to know about me. I included interviews with editors and testimonials from other people about my writing. One afternoon I saw another writer’s blog page of his writing bibliography and was seized with inspiration. I noticed that the pictures of the published books were thumbnail size. Next to the picture of the book was a small blurb. I immediately set out to create my own blog page of a bibliography of my published works. I posted a thumbnail size photo of my own published book of poetry or anthology and wrote a small and here was yet another thing to learn- small blurb of the book. Keep it brief and simple. I love how it looks now and I also learned how to add a hyperlink to the picture of each book. I also included a reviewer’s words about my writing at the top of the page. This draws the reader/s in and hopefully makes them want to read more.

There are so many things that WordPress lets you do to create an awesome award worthy blog site. You can control and enhance the appearance and the settings. After a while, if you have done a good job and worked hard, you may start to get comments on your blog. I keep the good comments and decide what I want to do with the rest of the comments. You can request feedback on your drafts before publishing them.  You can connect your blog site or posts to social media. When the post is published, it is immediately posted to Facebook, for example. Post your efforts on Google once or multiple times to get readers to create awareness of your blog posts. You have to promote your blog on your own. You have to be your own sleigh driver, so to speak. It is effort but over time, it is worth it. The blog site rewards come over time, this is not instant reward.

Media – I like to add photos to my posts as I mentioned above. I like to center the photo to attract the reader’s eye. I keep the photo size a reasonable size. I like that the photos are in color and I try to keep copyright in mind. I never want to be accused of stealing a picture but thankfully that has not happened yet. If I do add movie trailers that may be of popular interest, then I post that at the end of the blog post. That is also where I add links of interest for readers if they want more information on a topic or just for fun.

Be yourself when creating your blog. People like it when you demonstrate your passionate, whether it is soccer or drama. You could offer your readers a contest and offer fun prizes. Or book or movie reviews, or interviews with editors or even movie directors. The sky is the limit. Use your imagination and remember to have fun with it.

The reason why my blog posts are all in bold ( which I said don’t do earlier) is that I noticed that if the posts are in bold, they stand out more. I have the free WordPress account but you can pay for a WordPress blog. If you do, there are extra features offered such as getting to post in pdf. I use the standard format for my blog posts. I like to keep it simple. There are so many awesome features on WordPress. The only way to manage a blog is to slog through and learn all you can. Be fearless and creative. Let out that Lord Byron or Poe in you. Your blog may even inspire an idea for a novel or a book of poems. Many writers who write blogs often move on to successful writing careers.

One more thing: Learn how to proofread your own posts. You want to attract readers to your blog over and over again? Proofread. No one else will do it for you. Don’t write in cliches. Instead, cultivate your own voice. Use verbs and nouns. Learn where a prepositional phrase belongs. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly. You could try using editing sites until you master editing and proofreading on your own. You can return to your blog post/s and edit them to  your satisfaction should you choose to.

I can’t emphasize enough how important proofreading is. It is what keeps viewers glued to your blog. That and great content and evidence of effort on your part.There are many other competing blogs out there. Over time, you will see how to keep them coming back to yours if you follow all these tips.  Good luck blogging!!!!

Blessings, Spiderwitch