How to Create a Successful Blog! {Part 1}

Since I’ve been blogging for six years, I figure I might as well let you in on my secrets for creating a successful blog. Please note that I am NOT an expert in this and these tips are only suggestions! I’ve made little lists and sorted them into categories. Posts, Designs, Sharing, and Other. I’m going to be posting these lists in four little parts, like a series. Today, I’m talking about how to make great blog posts. Hope you enjoy!

Posts:

1. Start simple. You may want to post a bazillion posts on your first day, but this might cause a reader to find your blog overwhelming. Begin your blogging experience with one or two deep, welcoming posts that will help the reader think Wow, this is a great blog! (If you really want to write those posts, try saving them as drafts so that you can post them ASAP the next time you need something new on your blog)
2. Time tracking. Once you’ve gotten used to having your blog, I advise posting on a regular basis. If you only post once every five months, people will be less likely to check your blog as often (even if they love your blog) since they pretty much know there won’t be any new posts. If you make a post every Sunday, though, people will want to check your blog more to see those posts! I try to post at least once every two weeks, but am hoping to start posting more frequently.
3. A little or a lot? Post size is definitely something you’ll want to look into if you haven’t already. What makes a good size for a blog post? I like having variety in the lengths of my posts and pages, but I generally keep them within 500-1500 words long and normally containing a photo or two. You should decide for yourself if you like a little or a lot of words, but keep this in mind: If it’s too short, you might not have time to put in all your wonderful thoughts. If it’s too long, other people might not read the whole thing and just scan over it. You have to find the right ballance!
4. Picture perfect. I almost always post a picture or two with my blog posts. I think that it just makes my blog more attractive and fun, and can also hint followers on what they’re about to read. WordPress used to have a whole bunch of images at the side of the page that they reccomended for you based on your post, but I don’t think they do that even more, so I just look around on the web for something cute to use. Important Note-Make sure you have permission to use an image before you take it! Otherwise, using the picture could be considered piracy, which can get you in jail. And they probably won’t let you blog in jail, so…
5. Theme scheme. What types of posts do you want on your blog? Here on Rainbow of Words, I do pretty much anything and everything that tickles my fancy, but you might want to zoom in a little more and have posts JUST about animals or JUST about writing. That’s up to you. But whatever theme it is you choose for your posts, when you’re writing a post, try to stick to the main idea of that post. If you wander too much, so might the attention span of your loyal readers! If you do get an even better idea for a post while you’re posting something completely different, just jot your idea down as a draft post. That’s what I do when I get a blog idea, I’ll just begin working on it and put it on my drafts and then someday pull it out and work on it. I actually started this post in September but never finished it!
6. Style swap. Writing style is also something you might want to consider. Do you want your posts to be funny, serious, or written only in text lingo? its all up 2 u but just rmembr that any grammr freaks who read ur blog mite leave u a bunch of comments corecting all ur errors if u talk like this, lol. Mix it up, have some fun, experiment to discover your style!
7. Variety. Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little with your posts! A blog offers so many options, like TAG posts (a list of questions bloggers answer, sort of like a challenge sent from blogger to blogger), vlogs (video blogs), picture posts (a post made of just pictures and captions), quotes, the list goes on and on! Try out something new instead of staying in the same old format.

Stay tuned for part 2, coming soon!

Hello, My Name Is…53 Fun Activities to Get to Know your Character!

Isn’t it annoying when you have one of those characters who absolutely refuses to have any personality, and yet needs to be in the story? Don’t trash the charrie, and definitely don’t stop writing! Here are some random ideas on simple and fun things you can do to dig a little deeper into your character’s soul.

1. Create a diary, blog, or social networking account for your character. Update it often with posts or entries related to what’s going on in your story at the moment-and how they feel about it. If you’re on a social network, make sure you fill in all of the about me questions in your profile!
2. “Be” your character for a day. Dress up in their style, change your talking and walking to suit what they’d do, and don’t forget to forget about yourself, since your character has no idea who you are!
3. Recreate your character’s room in a cardboard box! You can use little toy furniture, paint, cardboard, fabric, whatever. Don’t forget to fill it with things they love!
4. Give your character a pretend cell phone. Using a piece of paper and a pen, create their own phone case, show what apps they have, jot down their voicemail messages and contacts, note some text and call transcripts, whatever!
5. Make a list of everything that comes to mind when you think of your character. Cut up the list and use the words/sentences in a collage based on your charrie, complete with pictures and artwork!
6. Use a building toy such as LEGO to create your character’s dream world.
7. Invent a funky dance based on your character.
8. Let your friends read a scene that your character is in. Then, interview them, asking a bunch of questions about that character, such as how they think the character spends their weekends or what they think that character likes to doodle. Afterwards, consider your friend’s opinions on your character. Are any of them valid? Are those opinions the type of thing you want your readers to think when they read that scene?
9. Eat nothing but foods your character likes for a day.
10. Make a scrapbook for your character. Add pictures, quotes, poems, words, fabric scraps, paint samples, and/or more unique objects related to your character.
11. Write a story about your character’s childhood.
12. Write a story about your character becoming a parent.
13. Take a Magic 8 ball and ask it yes/no questions about your character. Those things don’t actually work to tell the future, but it could inspire you!
14. Stick your character into a parallel universe where everything is exactly the opposite as it is in their normal world. How does he/she react?
15. Ask your character a simple question, then keep asking “Why?” (example: What’s your favorite color? Blue. Why? It’s calming. Why?)
16. Let your character write a chapter of your book for you. What type of writer are they? Do they make things go their way, or do they sacrifice what they want for what needs to happen?
17. Write about your character going to your favorite store. What do they buy, if they buy anything?
18. Design a menu for a resturant your character would die to visit.
19. Make a Pinterest board (or account) for your character and pin anything you think that they’d like onto it.
20. Create a playlist especially for your character. Play it whenever you need to get some character work done.
21. Try out some of your character’s favorite hobbies. Maybe you’ll like one of them and will be able to add more passion into your writing!
22. Create a fashion line for your character with clothes from your closet, the internet, your favorite clothing shop, or a pen and some paper.
23. Go on a blog such as andthatswhoiam or justgirythings and find things that relate to your character.
24. Create an email address for your character. Invite your friends to send your character emails and reply in the way your charrie would. No breaking character!
25. Write a song about one of your character’s guilty pleasures.
26. Look up personality quizzes in magazines or online and make your character take them.
27. Give your character a catchphrase to suit their personality.
28. Compare your character to your favorite book character. How are they similar? How are they different?
29. Compare your character to YOU. How are the two of you similar or different?
30. Make a time capsule for your character. Fill it with small items that they love, as well as a letter to their future self. Hide it somewhere. Let your character find it again in a few weeks, months, or years.
31. Let your character give you a makeover.
32. Give your character a makeover.
33. Treat your character to their dream vacation… But make everything go completely wrong. How do they react?
34. Create a meme inspired by your character.
35. Take the plot of another book (for example, Harry Potter) and replace the main character with your character. How does the story change based on your character’s choices? How does your character change from that plot experience?
36. Make a ‘real portrait’ of your character, which is basically a portrait but not necessarily a picture of their face. Use art to represent who they really are. Use colors, words, sketches, clay, paint, gel pens, or whatever you want to express who you think your character really is in one simple piece of art.
37. Create an art gallery all about your character, making lots of ‘real portraits’ (see 36)
38. Draw a detailed picture of your character’s feet. Are they wearing shoes or are they barefoot? Do they smell good or bad? Do they have socks on? If so, what do they look like? Are their toenails short or long, painted or nude? Any jewelry such as toe rings, anklets, etc?
39. Do the same thing with their hands.
40. Make your characters take part in a secret santa gift exchange. Write three paragraphs for each of them, one about them drawing the name out of the hat and their reaction, one about them choosing out the right gift, and one about the actual exchange and getting their own gift. You can do this with as many characters as you want from as many books as you want. You can even throw yourself and your peers into the mix!
41. Give your character a notebook. It is their job to fill it with all the top ten lists they can think of. Top ten bands, top ten ways to get rid of a foe… Whatever.
42. Give your character your homework and see how they cope and what they do (but don’t make any promises to hand it in, the teachers might not approve of you forcing others to do your work)
43. Find a font that you think suits your character’s personality.
44. Do you like to sew or knit? Make some sort of clothing or accessory that your character would wear.
45. Write a paragraph on your character’s favorite sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and things to touch.
46. Get some essential oils and mix them together to create the perfect scent for your character.
47. Make a list of ten things your character would not willingly survive without.
48. Have an email/phone/instant message/note-passing/face to face chat with your friend- but let your character take over your keyboard and one of your friends’ take over hers. The characters can interact and develop together while you have a fun time with your friend!
49. Write 500 words on your character’s favorite types of juice from when they were born to right now.
50. Write about your character being stranded on a desert island.How do they survive?
51. Fill in a character development sheet (you can find oodles online and in writing help books)
52. Let your character write their own list of ways to develop a character!
53. (Special thanks to Gibble96 for suggesting this!) Envision your character on a completely ordinary day. What is their morning routine? Do they go to school or work, or are they a stay-at-home person? How do they use their free time?

Okay, so I know they’re not the best ideas, but they’re something!

Do you have what it takes for the Writing Apocalypse challenge?

If you’re loosing your mind with worry that you’re behind on your novel, sit down for a nice long writing session. And I mean SERIOUSLY long, as in 2 or 3 hours minimum. This is a writing challenge the can be done solo or in a group, and is guaranteed to boost you up thousands of words! Don’t worry if you can’t finish all of this challenge all at once, I’ve only managed to get it up to part two, I’m going to get into part three tomorrow, as I’m super tired right now, and then chip away at it throughout the rest of NaNo. Good luck!

 

1.The apocalypse is coming! It’s inevitable and the only thing you can do is try to be prepared… time to start prepping! Race to 100 words to try to gather as many supplies as you can!

2.You find shelter. It’s a decent, well secured area and you have a good amount of supplies. You choose to stay put for a while. Word war for 30 minutes.

3.You’re under attack! Someone found out about your supply stash! Not everyone was as prepared as you and now they want to take your supplies! Fight them off! The battle is fairly quick, so word war for five minutes. If you get over 150 words, you win. Under 150 and you lose!

4.If you won the battle: Great job, you were born for this! You’re practically an apocalypse natural… are you sure you didn’t plan this!? Never-the-less, it’s probably time to move on now that the raiders know where your camp is. Go on an hour long word war in search for a new camp, far, far away from the raiders.

4.If you lost the battle: Write an extra 50 words to try to regain some health and supplies. Those raiders hit you pretty hard. Once you’re done, get out of there before the raiders come back to finish you off! You don’t have transportation means, so it’s gonna take a while to get away. Walk for an hour during an hour long WW.

5.The area you find looks all right for the night, but you definitely don’t wanna stick around too long… the field is pretty open, after all… word war for ten minutes and then get outta there!

6.Time to find a new permanent camp! Make sure it’s a good one though, so word war for twenty minutes.

7.Congratulations on the new camp site! Celebrate with a word race to 500 words!

8.Time to fortify your camp! Race to 1,000 words this time to compete for the best supplies!

9.Let’s have a music word war! Music always raises morale, even during apocalyptic times… just don’t play it too loud, wouldn’t wanna attract any hostiles! Word war for the length of a chosen song!

10.Oh, no! The enemies heard your music anyways! Fight them off in a 15 minute word war!

11.Wait it out! Word race to 750 words while you wait for things to clear up!

Congratulations! You survived the apocalypse!

STUCK.

Hello, everyone!

So, as you know, it’s almost November already, and November is another word for NANO. I’ve already set my wordcount goal, The only problem? I have no idea what to do for my novel! I’ve had ideas before, but they all sound weird and lame now. So, I must go dig around in my musty chamber of ideas to find one that suits me… or dream up a new one. But what? I guess now is the time to put my Pinterest inspiration boards to the test…

 

Here are some random ideas I’ve had while searching through some inspiring images.

–Will she be brave enough to do what nobody’s done before? A young princess runs away from her oh-so-proper life to live with a tribe of warrior men, disguised at one of them. She does very well in all her tasks,  but when they discover that she’s female, she must prove herself worthy of being an honorary male by taking The Quest-a journey which nobody has ever returned from.

–How did the Aurora Borealis get there? When a young girl receives a mysterious dream of a young girl imprisoned in the lights for a crime she never did, she thinks nothing of it. Yet when two other people confess of the same vision, the three must join together to rescue her, as well as themselves, from a fate worse than death.

–What if your world was contained in a jar? Melody has always been average compared to her genius siblings, but when she finds a magical jar with a whole world war inside it, one thing is clear- the destiny of this jar is in her hands.

–Our world is melting. And there’s no way out. The year is 3013, and we humans have destroyed everything. Two unlikely friends are forced to join together on a quest through space to find the key to a better world before the gravity abandons our planet and the water melts away.

–What if the world was at peace-forever? All religious wars and thoughts of a God are abandoned when a clumsy scientist discovers the Golden Eye, a mystical spirit who creates and devours all things. The world is at peace… And that might not be a  good thing.

–Imagine opening your eyes for the first time in 13 years-and finding chaos. Dr. Doomsday has invented a wonderful invention- glasses that can cure anyone and everyone of blindness! But when all the sightless children of Rainbowfall Springs open their eyes for the first time with the magic glasses, their minds are taken over by three frightening words- Kill. Destory. Repeat. Can a small town blind girl make an incredible sacrifice to save everyone from the Doomsday zombies?

 

So, they’re not the best ideas, but, hey, I like them. Now, the question is- WHICH ONE DO I CHOOSE?!?! AAH. Please comment with your opinions, I could really use some feedback.

 

 

Writing Prompt of the Week #1

Every Sunday, I will add a new writing prompt to this blog, and every Saturday, I will post my and other’s work, inspired by the prompt. Click the image above to submit your work! It is due by the Friday of that week, at 11:59PM PST, and can be in any form, unless the prompt says otherwise. Be creative! This isn’t required at all, I just thought it would be a fun way for us writers to share what we’ve done. Nothing has to be perfect. Good luck! Click the image for more info and to safely submit your writing.

How to get inspired (With the help of my friend, the internet)

Here’s a very simple way to get inspired.

1. Go online. If you are reading this, you have already completed step one (unless, ya know, someone printed this out for you, dunno why they would.)
2. Go on Google or Yahoo or Bing or whatever search engine you like. (I also find Goodreads is excellent for this)
3. Type in something you like (happiness), plus “quotes (happiness quotes)
4. Click on a promising looking result.
5. Read the quotes and get inspired! (or find a new role model who says a bajillion inspiring things.

Here’s an example!

I just went onto Goodreads, which is an awesome site where you can write book reviews, learn about new books, share writing, and connect with friends) and searched the name of my favorite musical artist, Taylor Swift,  in the search bar. Then, I clicked ‘quotes’. Here’s what I found…

 

“To me, Fearless is not the absense of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, Fearless is having fears. Fearless is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, Fearless is living in spite of those things that scare you to death.” -Taylor Swift

“Everybody has that point in their life where you hit a crossroads and you’ve had a bunch of bad days and there’s different ways you can deal with it and the way I dealt with it was I just turned completely to music.” -Taylor Swift

“No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind.” -Taylor Swift

“Just be yourself, there is no one better.” -Taylor Swift

“Words can break someone into a million pieces, but they can also put them back together. I hope you use yours for good, because the only words you’ll regret more than the ones left unsaid are the ones you use to intentionally hurt someone.” -Taylor Swift

“Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes you’re just strong enough to let go.” -Taylor Swift

“Be that strong girl that everyone knew would make it through the worst, be that fearless girl, the one who would dare to do anything, be that independent girl who didn’t need a man; be that girl who never backed down.” -Taylor Swift

“I still love sparkles and grocery shopping and really old cats that are only nice to you half the time. I still love writing in my journal and wearing dresses all the time and staring at chandeliers.” -Taylor Swift

“Life is like walking, you take one step at a time.” -Taylor Swift

Yes, I know, I could go on with these quotes forever. But I shall cease them, as is it getting late and all these Taylor Swift quotes make me want to have a Swiftathon with my iPod before bedtime. 😀 Ciao for now!

A Word Of Advice…

If you’re not extremely ahead, don’t lack off on your novel for a week or so.

I learned this the hard way, writing about 24 words per day for 5 days straight. I was six thousand words behind. Lucky for me, I was in the Zone all day yesterday and so it was easy to catch up. Still, I could have had a fate much worse.

So, I have nothing else to say but to heed this warning…

How to Get a HIGH Wordcount without Writing your Actual Novel >:)

The Dedication Page…

 This book is dedicated to all the people that the characters in this book are based on. Sam (For all of the sleepovers and ninja badges-what happened to those? They were awesome!), Selah (For being just plain awesome and liking pigs), Matthias (Thanks for the compliment about my singing. You seem really nice, it’s a shame we never really got to know each other.), Joel (Don’t ask me why! You inspired me for some reason! I think it’s because you’re taking over my brain. Evil Joel. By the way, did you know me and my friends call you Tweedle-Beedle? I feel so evil right now, typing this. I could type a lot of other stuff about you, but I shall not. >:D) Alexis (Because you have an awesome singing voice.), Maya (You’re highly awesome. And your name rhymes with “Hiya”.), Jada (I wouldn’t have won Camp NaNoWriMo without all those WWs and failed NOWs!), Morning (for all those life pep talks. Including the one I gave you), everyone! Especially to the people whom shall remain anonymous who inspired Avani, Evelyn, Koka, Cassandra, and Leo. You guys rock my world in more ways than you’ll ever know!

 

Peace, Love, and Cupcakes ~ CHLOE!

 

Acknowledgements…

 

 First off, I want to thank YOU! Why? For bothering to read the acknowledgements. I mean, acknowledgements are always the part in the book that I skip. Why? Cause they bore me. They always say the same things like “Thank you to my editor, she/he’s the best” blah blah blah. But you clearly don’t mind, otherwise you’d be skipping ahead to read about Orreana! But without you, the reader, this wouldn’t be possible, so thanks for reading. Second, thank you to Rosie, 13, Maine for being the first person to buy my previous novel, Totally Spaced Out! Third, thanks to CreateSpace.com for self-publishing my novels. And finally, thank you to all you NaNoers for inspiring me. I never would have published a novel-let alone write one-at such a long age if it were not for all of you cheering me along the way. So thank you to everyone. For everything.

 What do you notice about these 355 words? If you guessed “They’re not part of your story, but  part of your novel!”, you’re right! So next time you’re bored/falling behind/grateful to your friends for giving you ideas, write a page of dedication/acknowledgement. It’s bound to boost your wordcount and your passion! Enjoy! Chloe signing off.

How to get into The Zone

>Sometimes you just can’t write if you’re not in the mood, you know?  That’s why I just made up STOP to help you when you need to get into The Zone! Or maybe I just made it cause I’m procrastinating. 

• SETTING:Grab a good setting to write in.  A comfortable (and private) spot like a bed, chair, or couch normally works best for me, but some people like being outdoors when they write or with others. Experiment with options to see what works for you. Some people like to turn on music or something while they write, but normally I work best in silence, otherwise I end up writing to the beat. Which is bad, cause I only have a few fast songs on my iPod.
• TIME:Weird but  true-most people  have a certain area of time that they write their best work in. For example, I am most likely to get in The Zone at night, which is when I get most of my ideas, since I’m alone and there’s nobody to disturb me. Normally I have to write for a while before I officially enter The Zone,  so if you know you have to go at 2pm and your writing zone is anytime after 1:30pm, start writing at least 1:00pm so you have time to get into rhythm.
• OBJECT:Know what you’re writing! Have a plan on what you want to write, don’t make it up on the spot. Sudden plot twists or ideas are OK, but try to have  a faint picture of what’s going to happen.
• PROCRASTINATION-FREE:Don’t procrastinate! Most people consider having multiple tabs open when you only need one to do your job “procrastinating”, so shut down those super-cool forums or that weird video and log off of any video games or websites you’re on. If you’re chatting with a friend who’s helping you write and not distracting you or researching something, that’s okay, but try to procrastinate before or after you write, not in-between (I’m setting a bad example right now)

So STOP whatever you’re doing and start STOPping! xD That sounded strange.

Inspiring Stuff

The thing about being an author is everyone always asks you “what inspired you to write this?” And I never know what to say, cause I can never remember. For example, TSO. I have no idea how I got the idea, I just did. Same with Whisk me Away. I just got the idea. Like, SHABAM! KAPOW! ZOOMWHIZ!

Normally it happens while I’m thinking my usual train of thoughts. Like how I got the idea for Whisk Me Away-first I’ll be thinking about flowers and then I think of this flowery perfume and then I think of the Taylor Swift perfume I saw today and then I think of Taylor Swift and then I think of music IN GENERAL and then I think of my friend’s new iPod and then I think of a song my friend wrote (Orreana) and then I think what if I wrote a book about the land Orreana? And then the idea expands and grows and SHABAM. But I can’t say that song inspired me, because the whole thought train did. Which started with flowers. So I suppose my inspiration for Whisk me Away was… flowers.

Anyways, I’ve decided to make a list of surefire ways to inspire me. Ya know, in case you wonder how I get my (very brilliant) ideas:

• MUSIC! Any music and every music. Taylor Swift mostly, but sometimes Carly Rae Jepsen.
• BOOKS AND MOVIES! Most of my ideas have a little kernel of similarity between it and a book or movie I watched or read recently. HINT: Have you noticed how Ours is similar to The Parent Trap?
• FRIENDS! In WMA, all my charries are going to be based on somebody I know. Which might be good, but it might be bad… I’m not telling you who you are, so don’t bother asking.
• INTERESTING THOUGHTS! Sometimes I just have to tune in to what my brain thinks I should do. It can lead to some great ideas!