Through the month of November, Jen Nipps participated in what has become an international event, National Novel Writing Month. She was kind enough to share her post-NaNoWriMo thoughts with us. Do you have any reflections post-NaNoWriMo to share?

Another National Novel Writing Month ended a few days ago. Whether I won or lost doesn’t matter, even though I do prefer to “win” (reach 50,000 words).

Regardless of whether or not I win, NaNoWriMo is a catalyst for getting a project started. I intend to use it to get the bones of a story down. After that, I can go back in and flesh out what is too lean and trim back on what has too much. If I don’t get it done, at the very least, I have more at the end of the month than I did before NaNoWriMo.

That’s the point of it, as far as I can tell: to be a catalyst. Even if you are a fast writer, chances are you can’t produce a completed, polished manuscript in 30 days.

Novels written quickly need work. They have plot holes that need to be filled, character discrepancies that need to be revised, and passive voice that needs to be activated, just to name a few things.

My current novel is half-way through the rough draft stage. At the rate I have been going, It will be done by Christmas. I had three false starts and one stall-out before I pulled it out again for NaNoWriMo.

At almost 30,000 words, I am leaps and bounds beyond where I was before NaNo. So, no, I did not win, but I “won” in that I have a great deal to work with in a story I like with characters that are well developed and (to my thinking) likeable.

“Jen Nipps is a freelance writer in south-central Oklahoma. She currently writes website reviews for the OWFI Report, the newsletter for the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc., and has been published in WritingForDollars. Progress notes on her work(s)-in-progress and other writing-related posts can be found on her blog, Creatif.”

How did you fair in NaNoWriMo this year? Did you ‘win’? More importantly, did you have fun and create unique?

Today, many of those basic tips and techniques are still valid. Search Engines are smarter, faster, and have expanded to consume the girth of the internet. Robots scan and index hundreds of sites every minute. Finding your placement amongst search rankings has never been harder but thankfully, it is not all out of our hands.

Of course, I could never explain how it all works in a single blog post. Why does it work? How does it work? Does anyone truly know? Thankfully, everything I know about SEO I learned online and you can too.

ê¿êspi20.com recently covered a few key SEO techniques that anyone can get started on right now and create a huge impact on their search engine results. Learn, “Just What The Heck Is SEO And Why Do You Want It?“, why “Pictures Are Not Only Worth 1000 Words They’re Worth SEO“, and “One Last Step To Achieve SEO Nirvana“.

One of my favorite resources for mastering the blogiverse is Darren Rowse’s Problogger.Net. Along with a wealth of information such as, “7 Essential Things You Should Be Doing When Your Blog Is Still Young” you’ll find you are only just breaking the surface of Problogger’s fantastic content with, “How To Get Search Engine Traffic To Your Blog“.

I’ve even dug a gold nugget of information from Chris Garrett on “The Right Way To Build Internal Links For Blog SEO“.

With so much information available it can be hard to distill and absorb. Would you rather I broke it all down for you element by element? Or should I just keep the links coming from time to time?

When I started my blog just over a year ago I knew about writing. After all, I’d written hundreds of articles. I was making money from my writing. I was complimented, rewarded, praised, and touted. I wrote articles all about ‘you’, because freelance markets focus on their readers. I knew how to write captivating titles. I knew how to keep my points sharp and posts short. I even knew how to optimize content for the internet.

What I didn’t know was one fundamental element of a successful blog. I didn’t know “ME”.

Over the past year I’ve written some great posts about “you”. They were jazzy and informative. They would make excellent magazine articles. But Writer’s Round-About isn’t a magazine, it’s a blog. Month after month I created new magazine content and grew more and more deflated by the lack of response and the shallowness of growth. I didn’t understand that blog readers do not just want to know new information that can help them, they want to know real people have walked their path before them. Blog readers don’t come to Writer’s Round-About to know about themselves, they come because they want to know about me.

The First Clue: My All Time, Most Popular Post

Do you know what my all time, most popular post, on Writer’s Round-About is? It is a short, reflective post that is 100% about me and A Sax outside My Window.

I’ve often gazed at my site stats wondering, “What nugget of truth does this post hold? Why is it so popular? Why does it still get new hits every single day while other posts wither from loneliness in my archives?” The secret is, “me”.

The Second Clue: Following The Trend

Other posts in my statistics show similar trends. Reflecting on An Australian Writer’s Australia Day brought a wave of readers. The post has nothing to do with ‘you’, it’s all “me”. But enthralled readers were captivated by the story, the truth, the heart.

The Third Clue: Comments Say It All

I might have started to catch on by now but perhaps my inner child was calling out for acceptance because it took another element before I caught on. Your comments! When I talk about myself, you interact with me. Of course! Why would you interact with yourself, you don’t want to talk to you, you want to talk to others!

Why Freelance Writing Isn’t Blog Writing

In the end it comes down to this. A blog has a different audience, a different expectation, than a magazine. The writing needs a different perspective, a different depth and integrity. When I read a blog I want to meet a person. I want to know them. I want to walk a mile in their shoes and learn from their mistakes. I want to make a friend, to pat a back, to smile at a memory. I bet you want that from the blogs you read as well.

From now on I’m going to make more effort to share myself, my experiences, my thoughts, my heart. I hope you’ll respond in kind and remember, do not be afraid to talk about yourself. Blogging has created a new social acceptance. Ego is no longer taboo. Build your confidence and your voice. Be yourself!

The pro-activeness of each blogger plays a large role in the growth and potential of their blog. A blogger who can settle into a niche and feel comfortable posting a quality blog entry every day might find their blog boom earlier than one who chooses to post every other day or three times a week. If you can maintain the integrity of your posting schedule you’ll find your growth more stream-like and steady.

Committing to a niche with which you remain passionate is a key element in maintaining the momentum and motivation to push through challenges and break through “The Wall”. Understanding your personal boundaries, potential, and resistances will help you know the best way to approach your blogging goals.

Recently, I asked readers Why Are You Here? In my way I was attempting to get a feel for Writer’s Round-About’s audience. Writing a blog is never something you do as a solo except in life and I wanted to make sure what I wrote here was productive. Nobody likes spending several hours a week on a pursuit that has zero potential for growth, it’s the true loathing I have for housework that makes me so certain of this fact.

Reflecting on this time of personal turmoil and indecisiveness I recognize, “The Wall”. It rears it’s ugly head and is familiar at this point since I’m facing it with my current novel-in-progress also. In fact, many of those who faced National Novel Writing Month are perhaps intimate with “The Wall” right now. You might be hitting the 29th of November firmly face-planted into it or are rejoicing in the rush of energy having successfully broken through.

For writers and bloggers the solution is the same. The only way to get beyond “The Wall” is to move forward, push ahead, keep writing, keep blogging, and put one foot firmly in front of the other. If your blog feels stagnant, if you are struggling to maintain a consistent posting schedule, if you’re facing the blank page with horror and remorse, if you’re looking back over days or weeks when there have been zero updates, take comfort in the fact that there are others around the world facing the same thing each and every day.

Of course, in the end the only solution is to BIC (Butt-In-Chair). Sit yourself down, decide that you really want to accomplish this goal, and begin. If it helps, return to your Goal Setting Workshop notes to discover why this accomplishment is so important to you. If you haven’t created leverage do it now. Then get back to the grindstone, write onward, move forward. The rush of adrenaline and euphoria is just over that wall.

Break through the barrier with me!

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Why Are You Here?

Every time we open our web browser, click a link, or search the internet, we are looking for something. When I read blogs I am usually looking for new information. I want to learn more about a topic that interests me. At Writer’s Round-About I’ve tried to share information about topics that interest me. As such, it’s grown from a blog about writing to a blog that covers several key topics and a diverse range of themes.

What brings ‘YOU’ to Writer’s Round-About? Are you here to learn about writing, editing, web design? Is your interest more specific in freelance writing, writing for the web, writing non-fiction, fiction writing, novel writing? Do you just like the atmosphere or are interested in what I’m doing? Are you here to drop your EntreCard and then move on?

Branching Out Or Breaking In

All blogs go through their individual growth stages. Even the probloggers admit that it takes years before a blog has truly found its feet and millions of blogs come and go. I have to admit that I was proud to say, “Happy Birthday” to Writer’s Round-About. The earliest post dates back to June 2007 making us nearly a year and a half old. We’ve had a good run with ups and downs but a fairly consistent posting scale on average. We survived a domain name change and two or three site redesigns.

Is it time to branch out? I could establish at least two new blogs so those of you interested in fiction writing aren’t butting heads against content about web design.

Do we go on as we are? We could continue to expand to allow for a growing range of interests and information.

It’s Your Blog You Choose

Many other blog owners might say this to me but I’m turning around to say this to you. It is the readers who really make a blog, who really own it. What do you want to see happen with Writer’s Round-About? What do you want from this blogs future? Would you be sorry to see it disappear into the abyss of the web?

At this turning point I’m filled with uncertainty and honestly feel pretty naked putting that out there. Writer’s Round-About needs direction, a path, a future. Google Maps can’t help when it comes to choosing a path on the internet or in our personal future, but maybe you can!

Where do we go from here?

Speaking of designing beautiful blogs I wanted to give a little link love to blogs who have designs I adore! Feel free to share your own blog links in the comments if you want to show off your blog theme. Which blog themes do you love the most?

Momma Helpers with Arthemia

Hope Wilbank’s site, Momma Helpers looks fabulous in Arthemia. The original theme is sharp, sassy, professional and actually rather drab and dark. I use elements of this theme at Writer’s Round-About but Hope jazzed the theme with bright ‘Mommy’ colors (pink and chocolate). Momma Helpers has a darling header that creates an inviting atmosphere perfect for her target audience and warm images to highlight posts.

To really bliss this site I’d love to see, MORE CONTENT! From a design perspective it would be great to see the Entrecard button moved below “Our Faves”. The uneven layout of that widget amongst the “Sponsors” looks disorganized. One of the images doesn’t appear to load correctly any longer so fixing this ‘bug’ is a must. Giving the “For Mom” section uniform width/height that ensures the “Featured” and “For Mom” sections are always the same size would tidy that section of the site.

Top Ten Blog Tips with Aeros

Ben Barden’s latest blog, Top Ten Blog Tips has a professional, tech edge based on the Aeros Theme. There are so many elements in this theme I love that I’ve actually considered adopting a few of them. The rounded edges give the blog a smoother, friendlier look that softens the dark color scheme. The date and comment count are little tabs to the left which is very clever from a design perspective. It increases the white space to the left margin and puts valuable information where it is unobtrusive but catchy.

I have two peeves about Ben’s design however, the first is that he tends to use large images at the beginning of his posts. Images in posts is fantastic! I love them but I also prefer to see the meat of a blog post first. Using slightly smaller images aligned to the side of the opening paragraphs gives a balance that is more aesthetically pleasing and makes better use of layout. I also feel the sidebar is ‘messy’. Sidebars often grow and shape with time so the youth of this blog puts this element at a disadvantage.

Leo Babauta’s Zen Habits

I’m not sure if Zen Habits is a completely unique theme or if it is based on something more universal but it looks empowering while maintaining a relaxed, welcoming balance. Leo knows how to highlight his posts with images and the site has a cool blend of colors that come together beautifully. The two things I love most about this theme is the simple appeal above the fold and the “Popular Posts by category” in the footer.

However, while I love the uniform feel of the font I can’t help but have a growing sensation of being boxed in by it. I also find his main content block is a little wider than my dyslexia would like to read and while the top half of his sidebar looks fantastic the bottom half is a cluster of images in a large variety of sizes with no balance or aesthetics.

Freelance Parent by Sawtooth

A final site to mention is, Freelance Parent. This site is classy and happening. A detailed header gets you where you need to go with well placed marketing elements such as the RSS links and free Internet Business Guide. The content is kept in a manageable segment with a surprisingly large sidebar packed with goodies.

The downside of all this content is that viewed as a whole the site looks daunting and busy. Even above the fold there is so much going on that it is kind of scary and I’m sure there are newcomers who run a mile. The sidebar tries to do too much. In this case a little less would do so much more. Let readers dig deep rather than trying to cram so much information on the first page.

Now It’s Your Turn!

Are there any blogs whose design thrill you? Are there sites you go to just for the buzz or glow of looking upon them? Do you think your own blog’s design rocks or wonder how to improve your design?

You are welcome to share your own favorite blogs in the comments (links please!). What do you love and hate about their designs? What do you love and hate about the themes of these four sites I’ve introduced? What do you love and hate about Writer’s Round-About’s current theme?

Hope has flourished through some of life’s most challenging adversities and comes out the other side with a message of Hope, Love, and Joy. Her book, Cup of Hope, shares spiritual insights, personal reflections, and compassionate inspiration to guide and protect readers as they face the road ahead.

You can preview the book and find out more at Lulu. Buy a print or download copy for yourself or share this little treasure with your loved ones.

@Teeg of SU Comments wished someone would offer social media insights and created her blog to share her experiences with FaceBook, Twitter, Plurk and more. If you want the 4.1.1. on a social media website she’s the woman to go to and since she loves to socialize you can catch her on your favorite social networking sites to ask ‘in person’.

While SU Comments is a fantastic place to browse hints and tips for using Stumble Upon what drew me to @Teeg’s site originally was her 10-Minute-Guides to Plurk. Plurk is a challenging social networking site to get started with so in my early Plurk days I worshiped her short tutorial style guides.

1. Plurk Guide Part 1: Getting Started
2. Plurk Guide Part 2: Let’s Get Plurking
3. Plurk Guide Part 3: Cliques
4. Plurk Guide Part 3a: Printable Emoticon List
5. Plurk Guide Part 4: Mobile Plurking

I have three other favorite posts on the site that you should read if you want to leave your mark on the social media world.

SU Comments Asks: What Type Of Social Network User Are You? Do you love to bookmark sites you’ve visited so that you can come back to or share sites with others? Would you rather rate sites or Digg up the treasures to share with others in the online universe’s favorite popularity games? Do you like to build your list of friends, with friends, and more friends? Or do you love to chat and hang out with online buddies from across the globe who share your interests?

In September, @Teeg wrote about Keeping the ‘Social’ in Social Media. Have you ever wondered exactly where all this networking is taking you? It may be time to put on your running shoes and get out into real life. Meet your social media friends in person, gather together and make a deeper connection. Turn your social network into friendships.

Finally, a year ago (I like to dig deep into archives.) @Teeg asked, “How Would You Describe Twitter? Twitter hasn’t changed a great deal in the past year. The Great Fail Whale might have been replaced with some friendly looking birds but Twitter is still “a service [...] to stay communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?”

Do you have a favorite SU Comments post? Do you know of other Social Media Hints and Tips blogs? What do you love best about SU Comments?