Related posts:

1. Writer’s Market UK 2009 – Review
2. Book Club Reminder
3. How to choose a children’s book for Christmas

For those of you who can’t make it, why not check out Rod’s guest posts right here on The Crafty Writer – Beginner Blogging for Writers 1, 2 & 3

Oh, he told me to tell you, he taught me everything I know. Mmm, well, not everything, Rod.

Related posts:

1. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 3
2. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 1
3. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 2

I’ve been wanting to write an annual spiritual devotional. They are either daily or weekly. The best ones, in my opinion, are those that realistically reflect the year’s progression. So this year I intended to write a weekly devotional called A Gardener’s Gospel which will follow my garden and my spiritual life through a full year’s cycle. I was just planning on making weekly notes in my handwritten journal then at the end of the year putting it together. But then it came to me, hey, why not use the blog as a writing journal? By the end of the year it will already be all typed up and ready to put into book form (with a bit of editing, of course!). And if I get any feedback along the way, all the better. Now many of you are probaby thinking: what’s she on? That’s what everyone does. But let me tell you, for me, this is a big breakthrough. I’m not going to be just blogging about my garden, I’m going to be blogging about my garden within a definitive timeframe and for a very specific writing purpose. It makes me feel better about myself anyway.

If you want to know more about how to start blogging visit the aforementioned internet manager’s post on blogging for beginners. And if you’re a little bit nosy about what’s going on in my garden, check out A Gardener’s Gospel.

Related posts:

1. Weekly Writing Sessions at Cumberland Arms
2. Beginner Blogging course
3. Christian writing outlets and courses

Writer’s block can halt productivity for days or merely hours, but it can be broken with positive action and a deliberate motivation to do so and a few techniques.

I was planning on writing a post on the mythical Writers’ Block, but another blogger beat me to it. Check out this great article on Breaking the Block by Neil Dixon:

You may also want to visit Neil’s new initiative, which looks like it’s going to make a positive contribution to the writing blogosphere. I particularly like his realistic approach to writing and publishing by refusing to lead people into believing that they too can be the next Dan Brown.

Related posts:

1. Overcoming writers’ block

• Blogging nuts and bolts
• Traffic and money

Ready? Let’s get started.

Blogging nuts and bolts

Blogging is like any other human activity, in that there are a few core processes that define it.

Your “About Me” page

This is the page on your blog where you introduce yourself to your audience. It is important to answer the following questions:

• who are you?
• what expertise do you have in your chosen area?
• how can people contact you?

This page sets the tone for your entire site, so play around with the text until it conveys the right feel, for example cheerful, carefree, concerned, conservative (OK, I didn’t intend for the alliteration, but you get the idea). Try to engage your reader, and above all, keep it honest. It’s tempting to exaggerate your credentials, but this can backfire horribly if you’re unable to back up your claims in terms of content. On the other hand, don’t undersell yourself either; if you have a relevent skill, qualification or skill, say so.

Your first post

Do you ever find it hard to start something, even when you know the direction you want to head in? I know I do. You could just jump right in with a meaty article on some aspect of your topic. Or you could ease your way in a bit more by writing an introductory post that explains a little about why you’re starting the blog and what readers can expect in the future. It’s completely up to you. Chances are few people will ever read your first post anyway, as you are unlikely to get any significant traffic in the beginning, and by the time you do, your first post will be quite far down the list. Still, it’s an important milestone, and a post you’re likely to look back on in a year or two’s time, so make sure that at least it’s something you would like to read!

Fiona took her first post and after a while, when the traffic picked up, she moved it into her ‘about’ page. She did this because the first post defined for her and her readers what they could expect from the blog in the future. You might want to do the same.

Length of posts

It’s often said that blog posts should be no more than 300 – 500 words because that is a cyber-reader’s attention span. I don’t always agree with that. On this site for example, there is a mixture of long and short posts. The short posts are the announcements, referrals and round-ups, the long posts are the informative ‘how to’ articles that The Crafty Writer is defined by. Short posts are of course quicker to do, but now and then give your readers a full meal rather than just a snack.

Commenting

The activity of blogging has often been summarised as “post, comment, repeat”. Notice how commenting is given equal importance with generating your own posts? That’s because unless you participate in the wider “blogosphere”, no-one will know you exist – kind of like going to a cocktail party and standing in the corner by yourself all evening.

The practice of leaving comments on other blogs and fora is widely recognised as the single most important thing you can do to attract traffic to your site. All the positive benefits we mentioned in session one (exposure, feedback, credibility and networking) are predicated on the idea that people are reading what you’ve written.

The easiest way to identify other blogs that are related to your own is to use technorati – simply enter the keyword(s) you’re interested in to generate a list of recent articles on the topic. Or you can search specifically for blogs that are focussed on the area you’re interested in.

Once you’ve read an interesting or thought-provoking article, leave a comment if you feel you can add something to the discussion. But please not just one of those “nice article – thanks” comments that we’ve all seen a thousand times, but something a little more insightful if possible! If you don’t already know, I’m sure you’ll soon find out that no-one likes spammers, and comment-spam is a big problem in the world of blogging. So make sure you’re not mistaken for one!

The other way of engaging with other bloggers is to refer to their blog in a link from one of your posts. Most blog software will send an automatic notification to the target blog (a trackback or pingback), and chances are the other blogger will visit your site to see what you have to say about him/her. With any luck they may link back to one of your articles, although of course there’s no obligation on their part.

A word of caution here: some bloggers are deliberately confrontational and set out to evoke a response in order to get links back to their site – one of many forms of linkbait. This can easily get nasty, and unless you have a thick skin, you should handle with care. A good rule of thumb is not to write anything you wouldn’t be able to say if you met the other person face to face.

Posting frequency

How often should you post to your blog? The short answer is: whenever you like. Be aware though that in blogging there is an expectation of frequent new content, and you should heed this if you want to be taken seriously. That’s not to say you have to publish new content three times a day – this is frankly unrealistic for someone starting out. Rather aim to post once or twice a week, and concentrate on delivering quality to your readers.

Traffic

Traffic is the currency of the web, and the lifeblood of any blog. We’ve already touched on this, but it’s pointless writing great content if no-one knows it’s there. I’ve already mentioned commenting as a strategy, but what else can you do? Here are some ideas which you could follow up:

• Encourage visitors to sign up to receive your site’s feed (here’s an explanation of what this is all about)
• Submit your articles to one or more Social Networking sites (del.icio.us, Digg, etc), and encourage your readers to do the same
• Participate in programs like Blogrush
• Let search engines know about your site, eg Google (most will find you eventually anyway, but it doesn’t hurt to help them along).
• There are many more strategies. If you know of one I haven’t mentioned, please share in the comments section.

Blog monetisation

So we get to the burning question: is it possible to make money blogging? Well yes, but if you’re looking for a get-rich-quick scheme, this probably isn’t it. There are plenty of people who blog full time and make a (good) living out of it. But equally there are loads more people who cannot afford to give up the day job just yet.

It’s important to be realistic about one’s expectations. Many bloggers have started out with the simple intention of making enough to cover their blog expenses (hosting etc), and I think this is sensible. It’s achievable in a fairly short time-frame, and the process of doing this will be great experience which will stand you in good stead in the future. It’s all about traffic, traffic, traffic; once you have this, converting it into hard cash isn’t particularly difficult.

Here’s a brief overview of the easiest way to get started; for more in-depth study of this vast topic, check out the excellent Problogger, or Steve Pavlina’s overview. Or simply Google “make money from blogging” and you’ll have more information than you can read in a lifetime.

A good reference book (I know how you writers like clogging up your bookshelves!) is Writing for the Web.

Well, I hope this series has given you a taste of the possibilities and opportunities that blogging offers. Please drop us a line and let us know how it’s going, particularly if you make it big (you can share how you did it!). Any questions or comments, as usual please feel free to leave a comment below.

Related posts:

1. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 1
2. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 2
3. Beginner Blogging course

• Free vs self-hosted
• 3 steps to set up a WordPress.org blog

Free vs self-hosted blogs

As you may have noticed, there is a bewildering array of different types of blogs out there, with respect to the blog platform they run on. I’m referring here not to the actual content of the blog, but rather to the software that underlies everything – WordPress, Blogger, Typepad, etc. This is what provides all those nice blog features like archives, categories, permalinks, sidebars, pingbacks, comments and much more without you having to worry about how it’s all done (don’t worry if you don’t know what some of those things are – the point is you’ll quickly learn what you need to, and the blog software will take care of the rest for you!).

By far the most widely used ones are WordPress.org (used on this site) and Blogger, and these illustrate the point I’m trying to make about free versus self-hosted blogs. Blogger represents the free category, which is the easiest to set up, and costs you nothing in terms of hosting; WordPress.org represents the self-hosted option, which requires more setup, but gives you more control.

The attraction of the free option is the ease of use and maintenance. It’s very quick to get started, and the whole thing is managed behind the scenes on your behalf. In addition, the pricetag means it’s an attractive option for someone who wants to just feel the water without any major commitment of time and resources.

One minor concern is that Google, which operates the Blogger service, may “in its sole discretion, at any time and for any reason, terminate the Service, terminate this Agreement or suspend or terminate your account”. How likely this is to happen, and what happens to your content in cases like this are questions you should consider if you decide to pursue this option beyond experimentation.

Self-hosting, on the other hand, basically means you pay a web hosting company to host your blog on their servers. This gives you full control of every aspect of your blog, for the cost of a little bit of money and a commitment to taking responsibility for the ongoing running of your site. It’s a little more technically challenging than the first option, but well within the reach of most intelligent people (which you are, right?).

For the remainder of this article I’m going to be focussing on the latter option, since there is very little in the way of setup of a free blog. Some of what I say may be equally applicable to both camps though.

WordPress.org vs WordPress.com

As a little aside I’d like to point out that there are two flavours of WordPress out there. WordPress.com is a free, non self-hosted option, the same as Blogger; WordPress.org is the version you can host on your own server. Just to muddy the waters a bit more, I should point out that WordPress.org is also free – it’s open source software which is made freely available to whoever wants to use it by the online community that carries out the ongoing development. The only non-free bit is the cost of hosting your site that is built with it. Clear? So, to save myself from RSI, from now on when I refer to WordPress, I’ll be referring to the .org version. If you’re interested in a more detailed comparison of these two WordPress editions, check out WordPress.com versus WordPress.org.

3 steps to set up your WordPress blog

This is where the fun starts! Follow these steps, and you should be up and running very shortly.

1. Register your domain
2. Sign up for a web hosting account
3. Install and configure WordPress

I’ll keep the discussion fairly general because there are a number of variables here to do with the particular hosting account you decide to go for. However, it shouldn’t be too hard to apply the information to your particular setup.

Step 1: Register your domain

A domain is the website address of your blog, eg thecraftywriter.com. You’re free to choose more or less whatever you like, as long as it’s not already taken and you’re not infringing on anyone else’s trademark. There are a few technical restrictions about length, and certain characters that are not allowed, but rather than bore you with the details, it’s easier to simply test prospective names to see if they’re available – you’ll be informed if your choice is invalid for some or other technical reason.

You also need to choose a “top-level domain” (eg your-domain.com, your-domain.net, your-domain.co.uk, etc). This comes down to personal preference, and also your target audience. If your main readership is likely to be in the UK, then it might make sense to go for a .co.uk; if you have more of an international audience in mind, you’ll probably want a .com or .net. Generally the country-specific ones are cheaper, and you’re also more likely to find the name you want is available.

It goes without saying that it’s worth spending some time choosing your blog name carefully, because you’re likely going to be stuck with it for some time.

• Try to use one or more keywords relating to the topic of your site in the name, if at all possible.
• Try to come up with something catchy and memorable
• Try to keep it as short as possible.

You may well find that all the names you come up with are already taken; in that case, try variations, using hyphens, etc to come up with something unique.

Once you’ve come up with a domain, head over to a domain registrar and register it. You can expect to pay around $10 (USD) to book your chosen domain for a year, although many sites charge far more than this. In some cases you may get a better deal if you register your domain at the same time as you sign up for web hosting.

Step 2: Sign up for web hosting

A web hosting account simply allows you to store your website on a server that is accessible to the internet so others can view your site. There are a wide variety of options available, ranging from completely free accounts to ones costing hundreds of pounds a year. It’s not really worth considering free hosting at this stage – you’d be better off signing up for a free blog account as outlined above. Free hosts tend to be unreliable, may place advertising on your site, and may not be around the day after tomorrow. I’d advise you to budget $5-$10 (USD) per month for a decent hosting package.

Whichever host you decide to go with, check before signing up that they meet the requirements to run WordPress. If they don’t explicitly state which applications you’re allowed to install, at least check that your account will come equipped with the following features, which are the minimum requirements to run WordPress:

• PHP version 4.2 or greater, and
• MySQL version 4.0 or greater

If in any doubt, get in touch with the host’s technical support and ask them directly. This is also a good way of checking how quickly they respond to requests for support.

If you’re looking for a recommendation, The Crafty Writer has had excellent service from Hippo Web Solutions’s WordPress hosting.

Step 3: Install and configure WordPress

The easiest way to get WordPress set up within your hosting account is to choose a host that offers “one-click” installation of popular applications. Many do these days, and it can save you a bit of hassle (also down the line if you need to upgrade the software).

If this is not an option for you, then you will need to download and install the application as per the instructions – there’s no point me re-iterating them here as they are pretty self-explanatory.

And that’s that – you’re ready to unleash your talents on an unsuspecting world. Please feel free to leave comments or questions below, and I’ll do my best to get back to you. And please join me again next time as we look at some of the nuts and bolts of blogging.

Related posts:

1. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 3
2. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 1
3. Beginner Blogging course

Hi, Rod here. The kind of comments I hear a lot from those just learning about blogging for the first time are often very similar, and fall into two main categories:

• “Why would I want to start a blog? That’s just for technogeeks!”
• “I want to start a blog, but have no idea how.”

This series of posts will concentrate on providing some pointers for those in the second camp, but before we get onto that, I want to spend the rest of this article addressing the concerns of those in the first.

Why blog?

I’m sure Fiona won’t mind me saying that not so long ago she shared the view that blogging is often ‘just a way for sad, lonely people to air their (often) inane views, interspersed with the occasional rant about the state of things’ – kind of an online diary that no-one really wants to read. But while it’s true that many blogs fall into that category, there is a lot more to it than that, and you should be careful not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

There are plenty of very informative, content-rich blogs out there that provide real value to their readers. Here are just a few examples:

He wrote, she wrote – a year-long workshop, updated twice weekly, on the craft of writing a novel presented by NY Times best-selling authors Jenny Crusie and Bob Mayer.
• problogger – nuts and bolts of blogging and how to make it pay.
• Get rich slowly – personal finance for real people.

See what I mean?

Yes, but why should I blog?

There are a number of benefits to running a blog, for example:

• Exposure
• Feedback
• Credibility
• Networking

That’s apart from the potential financial benefits, but we’ll be looking at that in a future post.

Exposure

Having your own blog gives you a creative outlet for your work – you decide what gets published, and bear the consequences of those decisions. Even if you turn out to be very bad at it (although I’m sure you won’t), the experience you gain from having to produce quality writing for public consumption on a regular basis, is invaluable.

And if your portfolio is a little thin on the ground, it’s great to be able to point people to your blog so they can see what you can do.

Feedback

You cannot learn without feedback, whether positive or negative. And this is where blogging comes into its own, via comments and being a part of the “online conversation”. Used correctly, this can really help improve your writing.

Credibility

One of the big spin-offs of running a blog is that you become recognised as an expert in your field (assuming of course that your content itself is credible and helpful to your audience). This can result in lots of other opportunities to get freelance work, speaking engagements, book deals, you name it. It takes time and commitment, but with patience and perseverance, you’ll be amazed at the results.

Networking

Blogging is very much about hooking into the online community that exists around a particular topic or niche. The extent to which you can do this successfully will not only have a direct bearing on the success of your blog, but can also have many indirect benefits. For instance, you can not only get to hear about useful opportunities, but can also draw on the collective experiences of the community when faced with a particular challenge.

What should I write about?

This is a question that only you can answer. The general answer is to focus on a specific niche or topic, as the above examples do, rather than write about anything and everything. This will give your blog a focus, which in turn will attract a certain type of readership, and draw you into a specific online community. Ideally the topic will be broad enough to give you plenty of scope, whilst still maintaining a degree of cohesion.

Obviously you should choose an area where you already have a certain amount of knowledge, or at the very least have the skills to be able to research and learn about as you go.

It’s also important to choose something that interests you and you have some passion for, or it’s unlikely that you’ll be motivated to sustain the blog for long.

Who’s your audience?

Closely related to your choice of topic is your target audience. You should have some idea of the profile of your potential readership so you can tailor your content accordingly.

This kind of up-front planning can be frustrating, particularly when you’re raring to get going, but consider it a worthwhile investment, as you’ll be more likely to find yourself with a loyal readership down the line.

What’s your timeframe?

Some people are quite happy to start something with no thought of how or when it might end – and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if it helps you, why not put some kind of limit on it, for example “I’ll try blogging for six months, at the end of which I’ll re-evaluate and decide whether to continue or not.” Or you could blog about a specific project you’re involved with, in which case the blog’s timeframe will be constrained by the project’s.

Ready to get started?

Hopefully this has helped you to make up your mind about jumping into blogging, and given you some idea of what it’s all about. One final thought I’d like to mention is that being already a writer gives you a distinct advantage over many other bloggers: you know how to string a coherent sentence together; you’d be surprised how many don’t!

Be sure to join me next time to look at some of the technicalities involved in setting up a blog.

Related posts:

1. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 3
2. Beginner Blogging for Writers: part 2
3. Beginner Blogging course