SWA BlogLines: February 2016

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

The 12 Dos and Don’ts of Writing a Blog

Brian A. Klems is a published author and the online editor of WritersDigest.com. His blog, "The Writer’s Dig," which covers everything from grammar rules to publishing, is one of the most popular in the writing community. "The 12 Dos and Don’ts of Writing a Blog" is one of his most read articles.

Thinking about writing a blog? Been writing a blog for some time now and have yet to establish any growth (and by “growth” I mean “increased pageviews”)? Over the past 10 years I’ve refined my blogging skills—that’s right, I started my first blog back in 2001 and it is so embarrassing by today’s standards that I’m almost unwilling to link to it … almost. Blogs for writers are everywhere, and there’s often good advice on them about writing a blog. There’s also plenty of not-so-good advice. It can be frustrating.

Now I currently run several successful blogs, including "The Life of Dad" and this online editor blog. It’s been a challenge juggling them but, by sticking to these 12 specific dos and don’ts of writing a blog that I’ve developed over my years of experience, I’ve been able to establish growth (increased pageviews). I hope they can help you learn how to write a good blog too.

Read Brian's tips here...

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

ReBlogs: How A Novel Is Conceived

I grew up in western Oregon. It seemed, at least in terms of natural threats, a bucolic place in which to spend my youth. For instance, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes there were about as common as the Northern Lights in Georgia. Hurricanes were nonexistent. Such storms are born over warm oceans. If you’ve ever dipped a toe into the Pacific along the Oregon coast, you know it’s water in which Polar Bear Plungers could train even in August.

There were the occasional big winter storms, of course. But they certainly didn’t bear the DNA common to the meteorological monsters that inhabit other parts of the nation. I did, incidentally, experience the Northwest’s “Big Blow” in 1962 that hurled winds over 100 mph into Portland. Scary, but hardly Cat-5 stuff.

We’d get decent snowstorms once in awhile, too. But true blizzard conditions were rare (see Northern Lights comment above.)

Earthquakes? I recall a decent little shake in the late ‘40s, but Northwesterners didn’t dwell on such things....

Read the remainder of Buzz's article.

H.W. “Buzz” Bernard is a best-selling, award-winning novelist. His novels include Blizzard (the most recent), Eyewall, Plague and Supercell. Buzz is a native Oregonian and attended the University of Washington in Seattle where he earned a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science; he also studied creative writing. He’s currently vice president of the Southeastern Writers Association. He and his wife Christina live in Roswell, Georgia.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

41st Southeastern Writers Workshop: Contests with Cash Prizes!!!

41st Southeastern Writers Workshop ~ June 17-21

All attendees of the 41st Southeastern Writers Workshop are eligible to enter our many contests. And you can write just about anything you want: novels, short fiction, essays, funny stories, true stories, stories with a Southern flair, stories set in other worlds! And best of all....