Tag Archives: blogging

Reread, Reread And Reread Again

You have spent eons polishing that poem. Read it through until the words swim like spectres before your eyes and, finally, being satisfied with the results of your labour pressed publish. What a feeling of satisfaction at a job well done flows through one when one’s perfectly crafted words our out there for the great reading public to pour over. A few days later you sit down and reread your pearls of wisdom. Oops your writing which seemed to constitute perfection personified suddenly reveals imperfections.
To take an example from my own work. Below is my poem “Fire” rendered twice. The first rendering appeared on this blog, newauthoronline.com and the second (polished) rewrite can be found in “Dalliance; A Collection of Poetry and Prose”.

Fire As It Appeared On Newauthoronline:

“I have felt the fire at midnight’s hour

It kindles brightly and sinks within the hour.

I have gazed at embers dying fast

Looked into the future and gazed into the past

I have raked the ashes cold, felt the bleakness in my soul”.

Fire As Published in “Dalliance: A Collection of Poetry and Prose”:

“I have felt the fire’s power;
It kindles brightly and sinks within the hour.
I have watched the embers dying fast;
Looked into the future and gazed into the past.
I have raked the ashes cold, felt the bleakness in my soul”.

In the first rendering the word “hour appears in the first and second lines while, in the second (rewrite)it is replaced by “power” in the first line. Again, in the original version the word “gazed” appears in lines 3 and 4 while, in the poem as published in “Dalliance” it is changed (in line 3 to “watched”, with “gazed” shown in line 4 only. Word repetition has a place in poetry. However in “Fire” the utilisation of “hour” and “gazed” so close together served to render my poem less than perfect, hence the rewrite.
Most of my writing takes place during daylight when my brain is firing on all cylinders. “Fire” was, if memory serves written during late evening which may explain in part at least the excessive repetition employed in the poem. The lesson I draw from all this is the importance of writing when one’s brain is at it’s sharpest or, if writing does take place when sleep is calling put one’s creation to one side and revisit it when the mind is fresh. Finally reread, reread and reread again.

For “Fire” as it appeared on my blog please go to (http://newauthoronline.com/2015/03/14/fire/). For “Dalliance; A Collection of Poetry and Prose” please visit (http://www.amazon.com/Dalliance-collection-poetry-prose-Morris-ebook/dp/B00QQVJC7E).

Kevin

Productivity Tips For Writers – A Guest Post By Kristy Megan

Thank you to Kristy Megan for the below post.

(Disclaimer: I have no association with Coursework Writing Service UK or Coursework Buzz. Inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement by me).

 

Get The Most Out Of Your Workday With These 7 Productivity Tips For Writers

You open up your favorite word processor to write a piece that should take you only an hour but ends up taking the whole day;does that sound like you?If so, read on to find out how you can increase your productivity as a writer and do away without any distractions:

  • Do Not Multitask

Yes, you are highly in demand and your clients and your employers continue to email you regarding something else that needs to be done. But, donot answer your email until you have finished what you are doing. Switching back and forth between tasks will switch your focus and it will take you time to bring yourself back in swing. This can also cause you to lose track of ideas and your writing will suffer eventually.

 

  • Daily Exercise

You may think that you do not have enough time for exercise but you will find that taking out twenty minutes for exercise will actually help you accomplish more. Exercise has the effect of helping you stay focused, keeping you relaxed and improving your stamina, all of which increases your output and productivity.

 

  • Complete Your Research Before You Start Writing

Take all the time you need to complete your research before you start writing. If you have multiple articles to finish in a single day, try to carry out all your research in one go before you begin writing. That way you will have everything in its place before you start with it. Keeping all the facts in front of you will help guide the flow of your article beforehand, saving the need for edits and rewrites.

 

  • Unplug From The Social World

It is very easy to open Facebook “for a bit” and end up spending hours browsing the Internet randomly; there is nothing in there that cannot be checked at a later time. If it is possible, disconnect your laptop from the Internet to minimize the distractions caused by social media, chat software and random Internet browsing. Make it as difficult as possible to re-connect – for instance, switch off the router. The easier it is to re-connect to the Internet, the greater will be the chances that you will do so.

 

  • Reward Yourself For Your Focus

Motivate yourself to stay focused with mini-rewards. For example, tell yourself if you can write non-stop for twenty minutes, then you can take a five-minute break or enjoy that favorite chocolate of yours that you have refrigerated. Remember to make sure the five-minute break does not extend to ten minutes though.

 

  • Avoid Timers That Time Your Productivity

They may be touted as productivity-enhancing apps but in reality they have the opposite effect. For people with extreme focus problems, these timers turn you into “clock-watchers”, who can then no longer think about anything else except when their “time is up”.

 

  • Maintain A Productive Work Environment

Work in an environment that is free of distractions. Set up your working gear in a remote corner of the house, away from the television and where the activities of the other members of the household will not disturb you.

Last but not the least, cut down on your dependency on alcohol and caffeineas writing requires you to be in a completely fresh state of mind. Alcohol numbs your mind so that you will not be able to write as much as you should. Caffeine may give you a temporary boost in productivity but it will cause you to crash, ruining your productivity in the long run. Watch yourself become highly productive by following the mentioned tips while writing.

 

Author Bio:

Kristy Megan is the editor in leader at Coursework Buzz, a platform that’s been offering coursework writing service uk for years. Her passion includes writing creative, fictional materials and someday be able to write like her favourite stimulation, JK Rowling.

 

Humans Have Shorter Attention Span Than Goldfish Thanks To Smartphones

Thanks to my friend, Brian for drawing the below article to my attention. According to a study by Microsoft, the attention span of the average human has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2015. According to scientists a goldfish can hold a thought in it’s brain for 9 seconds. The decline is, if one is to believe the research, due to the growth in the use of smartphones, which began in 2000.

Now what am I doing? What is the point of this post? Oh look a fly is buzzing around the room. How interesting. Let me just check that text. No, wait I will check my email instead!

For the article please visit, (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/11607315/Humans-have-shorter-attention-span-than-goldfish-thanks-to-smartphones.html).

Guest Post Submission Guidelines (New Page Added)

I have created a new page regarding guest post submissions which can be found here, http://newauthoronline.com/guest-post-submissions/).

I welcome guest posts, however please read the submission guidelines prior to getting in contact.

 

Many thanks,

 

Kevin

Author Websites – What Are They For?

I have been considering setting up an author website (separate from this blog). I am, however not sure as to what such a site would achieve other than replicating material already available here.
One advantage to a website is that it displays static pages while a blog has content in more or less constant flux. A blog post which attracts many likes and/or comments today will, in a week or so be buried by more recent posts. However my blog already has several static pages which visitors see when visiting the home page: About, Anthology To Raise Money For Guide Dogs, My Books, Reviews Of My Books and Contact Me. I could reproduce some or all of the content contained on these pages on a website. This would, however be pointless as visitors want to see something new, not recycled content when visiting sites.
This post is a “thinking aloud” piece and I would appreciate fellow authors (and readers) views. Do any of you have both a blog and a separate website? And, if so what distinguishes one from the other?

Kevin

My Past Five Years As A Blogger – My Guest Post On Cupitonians

Many thanks to Anju for inviting me to lull her readers to sleep, err I mean entertain them! By writing about the past five years of my life as a blogger. For my guest post please visit (https://cupitonians.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/last-5-years-by-new-author-online/).

 

Kevin

The Daydreamer Challenge – Day 3

I am participating in the Daydreamer Challenge which is being run by A Little Daydreamer, For day 3 participants are asked to say something nice about another blog, (https://theteendaydreamer.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/the-daydreamer-chllenge-day-3/). There are so many excellent blogs out there so picking one was a difficult task. Consequently I have chosen a number of blogs as follows:

 

  1. https://cupitonians.wordpress.com/ – Anju has a wonderful blog which deals with life, the universe and everything. Her posts include travels to other countries (she lives in India) and articles about Indian culture.
  2. https://letscutthecrap.wordpress.com/ – Tess has fascinating articles regarding her travels in China and some excellent flash fiction.

Seeking Guest Posters

I am always happy to accept guest posts. If you are interested in doing a guest post please contact me (putting “guest post” in the subject line of your email). Your post can be about any topic (within reason of course)! But subjects might include: a piece about your favourite book, why you write or anything of a literary nature. Please send emails to newauthoronline (at) gmail .com.

 

Kevin

The Daydreamer Challenge – Day 1

I am participating in the Daydreamer Challenge which is being run by Caitlin the Tean Daydreamer, (https://theteendaydreamer.wordpress.com/). For day 1 Caitlain asks that participants choose 1 of 3 topics. My choice is the beach. However, being tired I have cheated and reproduced below a post which first appeared on my blog in 2014, (apologies Caitlin, at this time of night my brain seeks the land of nod, hence my reposting of an earlier article rather than something new).

 

 

“I see you, bare feet leaving traces in the damp sand.

 

Lost in beauty, you watch the gulls as they wheel and cry.

 

The salt sea caresses your sun kissed skin.

 

The birds continue to scream overhead.

 

The sceen overpowers, your tears mingle and are lost in the great atlantic.

 

In my dreams I glimpse you, a girl walking along the beach”.

(for the original post please visit, http://newauthoronline.com/2014/10/24/beach/).

 

 

Love In 10 Sentences

I have been challenged by Caitlin the Teen Day Dreamer to write a poem about love,consisting of 10 sentences, each containing 4 words. Each sentence must contain the word love. The challenge also asks that I include a favourite quote about love and nominate 15 bloggers to complete the challenge. I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to participate but, if you would like to do so please feel free to link back to this post once you have completed the challenge. For Caitlin’s post please see here (https://theteendaydreamer.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/challenge-love-in-10-sentences/).

Love is a kiss

Love is a hug

Love is true friendship

Sometimes love hurts terribly

Unrequited love hurts badly

Love turns to hate

Love is joy unbounded

Love is not lust

Love ends in dust

Love can’t be defined

 

Quote About Love

 

I have perhaps cheated here by including a poem by Shakespeare which, while mentioning love is not primarily about that emotion. I hope my readers will forgive this indulgence on my part.

 

“Fear no more the heat o’ the sun;

Nor the furious winter’s rages,

Thou thy worldly task hast done,

Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages;

Golden lads and girls all must,

As chimney sweepers come to dust.

 

Fear no more the frown of the great,

Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke:

Care no more to clothe and eat;

To thee the reed is as the oak:

The sceptre, learning, physic, must

All follow this, and come to dust.

 

Fear no more the lightning-flash,

Nor the all-dread thunder-stone;

Fear not slander, censure rash;

Thou hast finished joy and moan;

All lovers young, all lovers must

Consign to thee, and come to dust.

 

No exorciser harm thee!

Nor no witchcraft charm thee!

Ghost unlaid forbear thee!

Nothing ill come near thee!

Quiet consummation have;

And renowned be thy grave!”