a website & community for women who write & blog
On Saturday, March 29 I attended the Natural Hair & Health Expo at the BJCC in Birmingham. Ironically, however, I didn’t attend this event to learn more about how to care for my curls. I went hoping to learn how to be a better blogger. And I was not disappointed.
I’ve been thinking about food a lot lately and not just because I’m fasting meat, sweets, and dairy for my church’s annual 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting.
I have also (like every other middle class American) resolved to eat a more healthful diet this year. If you need some help with your own aspiration to eat right in 2014, check out the recipe for Brussels sprouts with fried egg and curried spiced yogurt salad by Christy Turnipseed that was featured last week on SeeJaneWriteMagazine.com.
I’ve also been thinking a lot about food because on Saturday, January 25, I will be speaking at the annual food blogging conference FoodBlogSouth. Yes, I know I’m not a food blogger, but I’ll be speaking to attendees about generating blog post ideas.
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| Thanks to Carol Marks for creating this graphic for us! |
Today is the day! Today is Day 1 of #bloglikecrazy. I’ll be participating in the challenge with my personal blog, The Writeous Babe Project.
Here are the rules:
1. Visit the See Jane Write Magazine announcement of #bloglikecrazy and leave your name, blog URL, and Twitter handle in the comments section of the article to let me know you’re in!
2. Publish a new post on your blog every day in the month of November.
3. If you’re on Facebook, share links to your posts in the See Jane Write Birmingham Facebook group.
4. If you’re on Twitter, tweet out links to your posts and use the hashtag #bloglikecrazy.
5. Have fun!
You’re free to write about anything you want this month, but if you find yourself struggling with blogger’s block, use these prompts for inspiration.
I’d love for you to also grab the code for the image above and add it to your blog sidebar in case your readers would like to join the fun. (You can find the code to the right of this post.)
Now let’s blog like crazy!
It’s about to be that time again; it’s almost time to blog like crazy!
Last year I challenged the women of See Jane Write and some of my other blogger buddies to “blog like crazy.” The challenge was simple: for the month of November post new content to your blog every day. That’s a new blog post every day for the 30 days. Sure, it sounds simple, but if you’re a blogger you know that posting every day is a lot easier said than done.
But many ladies of See Jane Write gladly stepped up to the challenge, posting daily and sharing their posts in the See Jane Write Birmingham Facebook group and on Twitter using the hashtag #bloglikecrazy.
Starting Nov. 1 we’re going to #bloglikecrazy again this year. I hope you’ll join us. You don’t have to be a member of See Jane Write or live in Birmingham to participate. You just need a blog and willingness to write.
You may be wondering why you should bother blogging every day. Some people believe that writing daily can kill your creativity or result in sub-par content. While I believe there is some truth in those statements I also believe in the power of practice. Natalie Goldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones explained this notion best:
This is the practice school of writing. Like running, the more you do it, the better you get at it. Some days you don’t want to run and you resist every step of the three miles, but you do it anyway. You practice whether you want to or not. You don’t wait around for inspiration and deep desire to run. It’ll never happen, especially if you’re out of shape or have been avoiding it. But if you run regularly, you train your mind to cut through or ignore your resistance. You just do it. And in the middle of the run, you love it. When you come to the end, you never want to stop. And you stop, hungry for the next time.
This summer I exercised every day for 30 days as I was working to complete Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred workout plan. This meant that one night, after a very busy day and an evening spent at a friend’s birthday dinner, I had to exercise at 10:30 p.m. with a belly full of Indian food. But I was determined not to skip a day. That month I likened exercise to brushing my teeth and in November I’ll do the same with blogging. You don’t skip brushing your teeth because you’re too tired or too busy, do you? (I sure hope not.)
I believe that choosing not to write simply because you don’t feel like will, in the long run, hurt your craft because you won’t learn the discipline and dedication necessary to succeed at writing.
You may be thinking, “But what if I have nothing to write about?”
If you plan to participate, visit the See Jane Write Magazine announcement of #bloglikecrazy and leave your name, blog URL, and Twitter handle in the comments section of that post.
‘Fro Fashion Week is one of the most popular celebrations of natural hair and fashion in the country, drawing thousands of attendees from all over the nation. Now in its 6th cycle, ‘Fro Fashion Week is headed to New York, Sept. 5-8, 2013, just in time for New York Fashion Week.
Since its first Blogger Brunch featuring Patrice Yursik of Afrobella, ‘Fro Fashion Week has always worked to equip bloggers with the tools they need to build relationships with beauty and style brands as well as grow their own brands. This year ‘Fro Fashion Week is taking those efforts a step further with Blogger Boot Camp.
‘Fro Fashion Week is offering 10 natural hair or fashion bloggers the chance to take their media savvy to the next level. If selected for Blogger Boot Camp you will receive:
The deadline to submit your blog for consideration is TODAY, JULY 31, 2013.
To submit your blog for consideration for the ‘Fro Fashion Week Blogger Boot Camp, please contact Toni Martin at tmartin@brainchildassociates.com.