When I attempted NaNoWriMo back in November 2017 I blogged 5 tips to help you achieve. The only thing I’m doing different this time is my goal is 25k words and I’m going to use Google Docs so I can write anywhere! If you’d like to read my tips, please click here.
What I learnt from failing
Well November 2017 was a very challenging month for me and I didn’t achieve NaNoWriMo despite my top tips. November is always busy month for me but last year’s November was awful!
I don’t think you should see failure as a reason to give up. It’s a chance to learn and grow and become even better. If you’d like to learn from my mistakes, please click here.
In March, I identified that I needed a plan to help me manage my blog content. I needed the plan to be simple, quick and accessible so I could use it wherever I was and I had time.
Google spreadsheet
I decided to create a calendar in Google spreadsheets.
I coloured the cells to indicate the content type:
Orange: featured post
Blue: writing post
Green: beauty post
Yellow: personal post
Pink: NaPoWriMo (a special feature/event)
I wrote my content idea on the colour coded cell. I made the text:
Bold: unwritten
Italic: started/in draft
Plain: done (scheduled)
This made it superveasy to see what posts I needed to write and when so I could prioritise.
Being easy to access on my mobile or any PC/Laptop meant it didn’t restricting my blogging.
Amending plans
Sometimes, I found I wasn’t inspired to write what I planned. So, I copied the cell to my ideas list for future reference and moved another idea into the vacant space that I did feel like writing.
I often have more ideas than time to write and this helps me stay focussed on the tasks I have chosen rather than trying to write them all. Being more focussed helps me get the article written in the limited time I have (usually an hour or two on a Sunday).
I can gather the pics I need for my blog and Instagram in plenty of time. I take these throughout the week and save to a folder on my phone.
Verdict
I’m really pleased with my simple plan as it work for me. Being more organised makes me feel more in control.
My future schedule
I do need to relook at my schedule and reduce the frequency ready for when my newborn arrives. In addition, I vowed to return to novel writing once my CIPD course is complete (end of June).
As a result, I think I’ll struggle to post every other day but I still want to achieve a fairly regular flow. Currently, my content plan is filled up until end of August and 50% full from there until December… Maybe, I can do it all…
I would love to know what you think and the methods you use to plan your content. I’m constantly learning.
Today, I am writing about one of my posts being featured on someone elses blog. It is the first time one of my articles has been shared. I was flattered, honoured and it felt like a mini achievement.
NaPoWriMo: Day 26 – Senses
They chose my NaPoWriMo poem for day 26, titled Senses. This is a deep, personal and emotional poem inspired by a very dark period in my life when I was struggling internally.
Firstly, she is a blogger that is not a stoner. She explains on her ‘about page’ how she came up with this name for her blog. Her blog is about raising awareness for mental health and getting people to talk about. She has gained a lot of support from people on the blogosphere.
If you haven’t checked her out yet, head over and give her a follow (see link for my poem on their blog).
I’d like to thank ‘Stoner’ for choosing my post to be shared on their blog. It really means a lot to me that you liked my writing enough to repost, especially a poem that I felt vulnerable in sharing as it was so personal and revealing. I hope it helped others who are in that dark place know they are not alone.
Being featured
I often feature other bloggers on my blog. If I see a well written article that will benefit my readers then I have to share. I love how easy Word Press makes this and credits the originator.
The articles are usually tips for writers but I have also shared useful How To makeup tutorials. I am also keeping my eye out for blogs on parenting.
If you know of any blogs I should be following so I can discover their content, please let me know and don’t be shy to sign post me to your own blog.
I have bought a ticket to an event and plan on attending some of the free activities. I will attempt to fit in as much as I can.
I love that each year the festival gets bigger and the events get better. Here is a flashback at my posts on previous years to give you an idea of what to expect:
Alwyn Hamilton talked about her book Rebel of the Sands being traditionally published and gave great insight into the process and what to expect. She talked enthusiastically about her novel and gave some teasers of what is coming soon. I think everyone bought a copy.
Top That Publishing gave an amazing talk on the picture book publishing industry and truly demonstrated their breadth of knowledge. I still have my PowerPoint slides from the event.
Top That Publishing also ran a free Arty Mouse event which my son loved. Children were encouraged to try out their interactive activity books – I ended up buying two (review coming soon).
This year
I am confident it will be another amazing year as there really is something for everyone and I promise to share with you what I get up to this year.
Are you going or wish you were going? Let me know which book festivals you recommend.
To start the year, I set myself some goals for the year ahead. I plan to check periodically during the year on how well I am keeping on track. If you set yourself goals it is important to check on yourself to make sure you are on target and to re-focus yourself.
If you want to view my last check in on myself, click here.
Achievements
This is a new section in my personal reflection. I am often so hard on myself and critical that I forget to celebrate my wins. Today, I am acknowledging what I achieved and giving myself a pat on the back:
Completed NaPoWriMo’s 30 day challenge
Achieved over 100 followers
I wrote a guest article for Carol J Forrester’s blog, Writing and Works (click here)
My poem on mental health was featured on Stoner On A Rollercoaster’s blog (click here)
On Reflection
Here a the highlights from this quatre:
Summary: Putting my goals into a table has made it much clearer as to what my targets are. I am really pleased with some of my achievements this quarter.
Blogging: I am so pleased with how I have not only managed to post weekly but most weeks I’ve posted three or more articles. It has really helped to have a schedule with topic ideas.
Writing: In April I attempted NaPoWriMo. The support of the poet community was amazing and really boosted my confidence. Posting daily was a challenge in itself, let alone trying to meet the daily prompt.
Blogging Goals Review
ACHIEVED: I exceeded my weekly post target every week. On average I’ve been posting three to four articles and in April I posted daily, sometimes more than once!
ALMOST ACHIEVED: The draw back of so many articles is time to schedule the tweets on LoCal. I think I need to rethink my Twitter schedule to make this more manageable.
ACHIEVED: I have really enjoyed sharing more personal articles about my family life and plan to include more personal content in future.
ACHIEVED: I have started including some personal posts on my blog such as my son’s World Book Day and What I’ve Been Watching.
NOT ACHIEVED: I tried vlogging and created two videos but I wasn’t confident enough to share them. Maybe with more practice I’ll get better and he more confident in my video content.
ACHIEVED: The monthly schedule has been awesome. It really helps to see what I plan to post and when. I keep ideas for posts and can switch items in my plan as needed.
Writing Goals Review
ACHIEVED: I have finished querying Drift. I’m now handling the “we thought it was good but not for us right now” gentle stream of rejections. If I don’t hear good news, I still have three other options I am considering.
ACHIEVED: Yes, I got my tickets and I’m looking forward to the events at Felixstowe Book Festival. There will be an article on how it went.
ACHIEVED: I have now finished The Gender Game and two other books. I’m roughly getting through a novel every two months, so next quarter that will be my goal. I’m currently deciding what to read next.
ALMOST ACHIEVED: I have been reading about Pitch Wars. I am still not sure what to do but I think as a writer I don’t get involved until August… we’ll see. It would be awesome to have a mentor.
New goals
For the months ahead,. I have updated the table:
As I wasn’t successful at keeping my Twitter schedule up-to-date, I am going to try and improve that in the next quatre. I’m still keen to try vlogging but it is not as high in my importance as it was earlier this year.
In the next quatre, I expect I will reduce my blogging frequency in favour of getting back into novel writing and to allow me to take it more easy with a newborn.
My wild imagination cannot let go of the dream of being published and I am holding out hope that perhaps an agent I have queries will want to take my novel on. If that was to happen, working with them would be my number one priority.
Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post listing literary festivals taking place in the UK throughout the UK that have caught my eye. To read the full list, please click here.
This post is to remind you of those taking place this Summer. I have added a few more to the list for the upcoming months.
The event has various activities taking place and you can buy tickets for those you are interested in. Some of these events are talks by authors and others and workshops or tours. There are events for a wide variety of genres taking place through the two days.
Events range from exhibitions, speakers, workshops and children’s activities. Events are mainly held at the local Library and Orwell Hotel, however, this year will also have events taking place across the coastal town, for example woodland walks and readings on the beach.
This event is for young people only (18 and under – hence the student price). I had to include it because if I was young, I would go. This event has a number of speakers, workshops and activities and as you would expect a focus on YA and children’s fiction.
My dream is to one day be invited to be a speaker but if I ever want that to happen I need to stop dreaming and get writing.
Tickets: Various (£19.50 to £25 – although more ticket options will be released nearer the date)
The event is set in a small village with beautiful inspirational views. It is run by volunteers for those that enjoy reading and writing and is continuing to grow each year. The event runs from 9:00am to 5:15pm, following a programme of events that covers everything from book signing, guest speakers, workshops and can include lunch.
This festival is hosted in four different locations across the year. This even is held at Dartington Hall to enable readers to meet the authors of the books they love. There is a wide variety of events over the 10 days and you can either pay per event or a collection of events (1 day, 5 days or 10 days ticket).
This event is in addition to the London Film and Comic Convention. The YALC have exhibit stands where you can speak to authors, agents and publisher and buy books. They have agent one-to-ones, workshops and speakers at the convention and lots of space to sit down and read. The focus her is on YA Literature.
The tickets include access downstairs to the London Film and Comic Convention. If you are a fan of Marvel, DC, Anime or anything like that you can pop downstairs to see their exhibits and stalls too.
I really want to go but I’ll be 39 weeks pregnant so I don’t plan on travelling into London and being on my legs all day (there’s a lot of walking about).
The brochure will be made available on 7 June 2018 and will detail the programme of events. Previous years have had an impressive line up of over 1,000 authors from household names to debut rising stars, illustrators, musicians and artists attending the event.
I always value when other writers share their tips and methods regarding the writing process as I am a stronger believer that we can all support each other and learn from each other, whatever our level of experience.
I recently shared my tips of synopsis writing (click here to read it) but really enjoyed how Lorraine broke things down and her tips such as giving character names in capitals when you first introduce them.
These are the free resources I used to get me started blogging and continue to use.
Blog site
First, you need to decide on your platform. Over the years I’ve used Tumblr, Blogger, Weebly and all have been great and free.
My current favourite is Word Press. It also has a great app that is easy to use so I can make a start on my posts and publish, wherever I am.
I’ve even been thinking about paying for Word Press because I am loving it that much.
Grammarly
I was late to discovering this app and site. The service is free (you can pay extra for more features). It checks your text and advises on spelling, grammar and punctuation. I don’t always have time to use it but posts I thought were fine have still thrown up some mistakes. It’s not easy to use on my mobile though so I only use it at my PC.
LoCal
This free online calendar has a function where you can schedule tweets which I have found incredibly useful. It only works on the PC.
Canva
This site (and app) enables you to create social media images – I’m talking blog titles, novel covers, infographics, Pinterest, Facebook cover, Instagram pic, flyer, invitation, etc.
There is also a handy app for making pics so you can create whilst out and about or using pics straight from your mobile.
Google Drive
I have a spreadsheet with ideas when to schedule my posts from (although, in the future, I may use Google calendar for this). I can save articles I’ve written too and back up photos from my phone (including Canva images I saved).
Simplenote
I jot down useful info like blog post ideas or favourite fonts on Canva, etc. Everyone needs a note.
*****
What do you use?
I hope you like the resources I use and hope I’ve introduced you to something new. Do you use any of the above? What are your go to resources for blogging?
Carol J Forrester posted that she was looking for NaNoWriMo participants to feature on her blog. I let her know I was interested and answered her questions about which poem I was most proud of during the challenge. I emailed it over and she liked it enough to publish it. Please do check it out and give Carol a follow.
