blogger - Ally Aldridge

January 9, 2020 Ally Aldridge Writing

Throwback to my best posts of 2019

I have grouped together the top 5 posts from the 120 articles posted on my blog in 2019 for you to enjoy.

The Top 5 Best Blog Posts of 2019

Posted: 10 June 2019 (123 views)

I love sharing posts on my blog written by other authors. This one was by Fantasy author Andrew McDowell and is the most viewed post of the year! Follow the link to the post to discover more about him and his books.

Please let me know if you would like to write a post for my blog.

Literary Dates Calendar

Posted: 8 January 2019 (57 views)

I am pleased this post was so popular as it took a long time to create and a lot of research. I basically wanted to help other writers by creating a calendar with useful literary dates. For example it has Twitter pitch events and book festivals.

This now has its own dedicated calendar page. Click here.

Handwrite to Boost Creativity

Posted: 25 February 2019 (45 views)

I used to always write my stories by hand but since going digital I don’t have as much need for a notebook. I still get an excited feeling when I see one and after an Instagram challenge to write somewhere different I rediscovered my love of notebooks.

This post reflects on how writing by hand can boost your creativity and my own personal experience with this.

Writers Hashtags Collection

This series started in October through to November. The fact it was posted towards the end of the year and still made the list shows how popular it has been.

The most popular in the collection was Part 6 (Insta Hashtags for Writers For Each Month) with 38 views. I felt it would be more meaningful to give you the full collection rather than list all the parts below that made the top 5.

Writers beware! Know who you are querying…

This post is a cautionary tale. I always research who I am querying and spend a lot of time on it. I know how exciting it can be to hear an agent or publisher are interested in your novel. But check out who else they have signed and how their experience was.

There have been a few occasions I have felt the interested party may not be who they say they are and it feels like pop-up publishers are becoming more common. I have spent years on my novel and refuse to sign with someone I don’t feel confident can deliver on their promises. This is one of the reasons I have now chosen to self publish.

My About Me Page

During 2019, I wrote a blog post (About Me – Spring Clear). It was about making sure your About Me page is up-to-date on your website. It is one of the first pages you crate and easy to forget about.

I was shocked how out of date mine was and wrote a post to help prompt other to update theirs too. I’m glad I did. My About My Page has had 79 views!

Guess what? I checked it when writing this post and it needs updating again! If you haven’t checked your About Me page in a while, go check it out. In the meantime, here is mine: About Me (page)

Click my link tree to discover more ways to connect

March 28, 2019 Ally Aldridge Personal, Writing

Thank you to my followers

This month my blog reached 250 followers.

I am really proud of myself for keeping it going. Life with a newborn is super busy but I just try to write one or two articles a week. I easily could have let this go but since starting my blog I love it.

My blog is mainly about writing, sharing tips and my journey to publication. I also share some personal posts on my other interests (being a mum, organic beauty and Netflix recommendations).

I am so thankful for everyone who has not only taken the time to read my posts but to also subscribe to my blog. I hope you continue to enjoy my content.

My blog picture is from when I was modelling and taken by Natalie Collins (Instagram @neotheartist) who I hope to work with again one day. She is an amazing photographer and this shoot was extra special as I am wearing my wedding dress.

View on Instagram https://ift.tt/2O4NnCq

February 10, 2019 Ally Aldridge Personal

A little post on how I am doing…

The past week or so I’ve been pretty low. Someone has been putting me down and that someone is… Me.

I don’t know if you experience it too but when I get down I can be very critical of myself. I am my own worst enemy.

I try super hard to not go there by looking for the positives in situations but after a few days where no matter how hard I tried little things went wrong, it got harder to find those silver linings. Those little things added up and before I knew it, I began to feel like an absolute failure.

Nothing major happened but the amalgamation of it got me down. In retrospect some of those things weren’t even worth getting worked up about.

I failed to get my blog post for yesterday ready in time, and I’ve been late with some of my Instagram pictures for this months photo challenge. I also changed my editing goal from three months to one month which caused the task to be too much and resulted in nothing getting edited.

Once I opened up to friends and family I realised I’m not alone. A friend invited me over for a cup of tea. My son’s teacher offered support and advice to help with some naughty behaviour. My husband has been acknowledging my achievements to get me to recognise what I have achieved. And, family has helped give me a break from my gorgeous little girl who is non-stop.

Here is the little lady, just turned 6 months and already coasting around the furniture!

Just because I’ve had a busy week, I don’t stop being a writer. I attended an online course and worked on improving my pitch. I did write two blog posts (plus this one) and today I edited a poem and seven chapters! And, I’ve caught up on Instagram.

What changed? I took some time to take care of myself and my wellbeing. As a result, I came back energised. I was able to tackle my problems and get motivated to write.

December 3, 2018 Ally Aldridge Blogging, Goal setting, Goals, Personal, Writing

Thank you for helping me reach 200+ Followers

This is a really quick post as I can’t believe my blog now has over 200+ followers! Wow!

Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without all you amazing people who click ‘follow’. It means so much to me. That’s why I follow back most people who follow me.

When I first started blogging, I was scared to click post. I had this fear people would judge my writing and laugh at my amature content. I was intimidated by the thought of coming up with subjects to write and thought I would run out of ideas or be boring.

At the time, I had no idea how much I would enjoy blogging. I have suprised myself with how I always have a generous stream of ideas for blog posts. The most challenging this has been finding the time to write and take pictures for posts. I’ve learnt to schedule my posts to space them out and this also keeps me organised.

This year is the first year I have been consistent throughout. I used to post immediatley and I’d end up with a batch together. Learning to schedule is one of the most useful tools I have discovered.

Blogging has been a big commitment and I once my daughter was born I had to reduce my schedule a little. But, I couldn’t stop bloggin now. I love it!

There will defiitley be more blogging next year. I am seriously considering paying for my blog as I use it every week and love interacting with others that share my interests.

To some people 200 might not seem a lot but for me it is. I am really proud of myself and I’m daring to set myself a goal to double my followers by the end of next year. Can you imagine that!

I hope you are loving your blogging journey too.

Please comment and let me know how long you have been blogging and what you blog about. Do you pay for your blog – do you recommend it?

September 24, 2018 Ally Aldridge Writing

How To Get More Followers On Your Blog For Free

Every other Monday, I like to feature a blog article that I found useful to help my readers discover other great bloggers. This article has been in my schedule list for a while but I loved how simple and feasible the ideas. The tips are achievable by anyone and free!

How To Get More Followers On Your Blog For Free
https://lifesfinewhine.wordpress.com/2018/07/10/how-to-get-more-followers-on-your-blog-for-free/
— Read on lifesfinewhine.wordpress.com/2018/07/10/how-to-get-more-followers-on-your-blog-for-free/

Do you want to be featured?

I am always looking for suitable articles to share with my readers. Please check out my post about what I look for and feel free to comment and encourage me to check out your content.

May 16, 2018 Ally Aldridge Writing

Free resources for blogging

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.

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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?

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