Because Prompts Are Fun #1

I love prompts!  They are great for when I have a block or just when I want to be creative and need a reason to write what I write.  I even love the critiques I have received from some and made some great friendships through others.  It is why, when Darcy from Tales from the Nursery started a new project and wanted to include prompts I jumped at that the opportunity to help out.

I have participated in many over the years and am looking forward to seeing what comes out of our collaboration. 

The deal:  Every Monday we will publish a couple of prompts, you have all week to write something and on Friday, meet back up with us and link up.  Easy peasy.

Week #1 - Because Prompts Are Fun

Hard  /härd/

Adjective
Solid, firm, and resistant to pressure; not easily broken, bent, or pierced.

Adverb

With a great deal of effort.

Synonyms

adjective.
tough - severe - difficult - heavy - stiff - firm

adverb.
heavily - hardly

The prompts:

1. Hardest day as a mom (or dad)
2. Hardest thing about blogging
3. Hardest class you ever took

Don't forget to come back and link up on Friday, January 25.  

What I Have Learned as a @BloggerIdol Judge #WritersaretheNewRockStars

It seems a little strange right now, typing this, trying to pick the right words to create a sentence that may tell a story. It seems like ages since I have sat down to write when in reality it has not been that long.

I have been slacking… I may make it my New Year’s resolution but until then, well, I am going to bestow upon you what I have learned since joining the Blogger Idol team as a judge. Don’t worry; this will be short and sweet.

The 5 things I have learned being a Blogger Idol Judge

1. There is nothing unique in being a mommy or daddy blogger but there is when you are a mom or dad who blogs

It’s all in the delivery people. The majority of bloggers I have encountered in this competition have kids and significant others. We are all trying to be creative and sometimes funny and there is only one way to stand out – find your own voice and use it. Embrace you and don’t try to be anyone else or get discourage because you don't have their numbers.

2. Design, design, design…

Don’t take the lazy way out and download one from a free site. If you don’t feel creative enough to do it yourself (and don’t want to pay) than keep it simple. Pick a color scheme not the whole palette and for goodness sake please don’t animate anything or have songs auto play.

3. CAPTCHA is for those who don’t love their followers

I get it, you don’t want spam but trust me – if you are just starting out the likely hood of you getting spammed is pretty slim and if you read your comments you will be able to delete them easier than it is for me to type the silly string of words. Why are you punishing someone who took the time to write you a thoughtful comment?!!? I refuse to leave comments anymore if the CAPTCHA box pops up. Not that anyone would know, but I know…

4. You are only as relevant as your last post

In other words, even it is not your best post; don’t wait too long to post. There are way too many blogs out there and you want to remind your readers you are still going.

4.1 Don't post anything when on medicine especially cold medicine

You will have to go in and make edits

5. Make it easy to know you and follow you!

The only thing more frustrating than CAPTCHA is not being able to follow or know about a great blog! I might not comment if there is a CAPTCHA but I will at least tweet it, if it is easy to do so that is.

I may have a small blog but I know what I like in others and during my Blogger Idol experience, I had almost thrown in the towel. But it seems that will have to be another day and more of a reason to make that resolution.

Be certain to vote for who will be this year’s Blogger Idol.

Do it, do it now.

Class with Blogelina: To blog or not to blog - or something like that...

I am attempting to take Blogelina's Profitable Blogging for Beginners Online Class over the next few weeks and I am very excited that I am doing something that is blog related and something to improve my blog.  I say attempting because, well, I missed the first class... sigh.  I was all prepared and then, fell asleep.  I do this a lot.  Thankfully, all the notes are on-line and there is a brilliant community.  This gal has thought of everything and for that I say - Thank you!

The first assignment - goals.

#My7links post actually hit upon on one of the main focuses of this first class and that is - the importance of setting goals.  Okay, so maybe it did not have anything to do with setting goals but it did have to do with making lists (my post, not her class).  Lists are for organizing and focusing thoughts, just like goals are and that is what is important here.  Focusing ones blog.  I struggle with this because I have not completely found my voice, yet, but I am pretty close.  Then again...

When I started my blog, I was bored and I wanted a hobby.  I kept going with this blog because I have stories I would like to share, eventually.  What sustained me was my boobs.  Maybe not exactly my tits, but I wrote a lot about breastfeeding (even my first contest was breastfeeding related) and that gave my blog some weight or substance and allowed me to branch out from that point. Sure, writing about breastfeeding had a lot to do with the fact that breastfeeding is what I was doing the most of and can be all consuming.  It is certainly one of those go big or go home affairs.  But, it is just one part of me.  In a nut shell, I was writing what I knew at the time. I kept (or keep) going because of the opportunities.

Believe it or not -  I am still breastfeeding.  Sixteen months and counting!  I just don't write as much about it because it is not the focal point of my life.  I came to a point, when I was writing more often and felt that I needed to figure out my identity.  In short, I had an identity crises.  I knew I would not be writing about my baby or my son all the time, I knew I would not always be writing about breastfeeding and I knew I wanted this to be about - me.  I no longer liked the name for my blog and thankfully it was easy to change.  Apparently, I had unknowingly knew that I would want to write about being a woman and a mom but not necessarily a mommy.

I can be funny (I think).  I can entertain (I hope).  I wanted a way to express myself that was not an immediate extension of my family but one that incorporates them as well as allows me to be creative.  I even think that because of this I may be able to blog longer then if I had decided just to write about the baby or even my school age kid.  I did not want to be a mommy blogger but a mom who blogs because, let's face it... I get bored with my kids and kid related things - how would I be able to make that interesting and hold an audience for very long if I was bored?

So, there it is, my goals anyway - write a blog, that incorporates my family but entertains.  I get an outlet, that allows me, to tell my stories and hopefully *fingers crossed* an audience that wants to read them.  And, the bonus is all the other "perks" that comes along with writing a blog such as writing about products that I think are worth wild and getting to do things that are out of my comfort zone.

I am not looking for the biggest following just a small corner and if I can make a few dollars and a few friends along the way - so be it.

note: I do not think being a mom is boring  (because - duh, its not)  nor do I think my kids are (obviously they are not) but I think talking about them to much would be.