Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Wanderlust Librarian | The Art of Blogging

The Library Blog writers are a dedicated group of staff who have willingly given their time to write about topics they're interested in.  For this, I give much praise and love to the talented writers. All of the blogs are insightful, fun and embodies the life of its author. 

For me, writing about travel is liberating because it has unlimited avenues. As you can see by my Library Blog, I've written about a number of topics: staycationseating at a weekly food truck gathering and taking pictures when traveling

Coming up with fresh, new content weekly can be hard....especially when there are so many ideas floating around in my head. There are so many topics I have in the blog hopper, that when people read my work before it's finished, it's not really indicative of what the final post will be. The library carries many books on blogging that are available in both print format and through our e-book catalog. Check out our titles here

Every writer has a different writing method. My personal process is fairly simple:

*cue another famous Library Bloggess list!*

1. A Picture is worth at least 500 blog words. It's no surprise that I love to take pictures. In fact, almost every photo on my blog are ones that I take. The inspiration of just one image can launch a huge idea for me. Though the picture is always the start of an idea, it's the last thing I add before I share it with you. 

2. The Word Spew : Many writers call this a first draft or a "vomit pass". It's a burble of words and ideas meant to invoke the spirit of the topic. It's not always grammatically correct or spelled perfectly but the pieces are all ready to be put together. Just look at the Spew like making a mosaic. There are a lot of little bits and pieces that are going towards making one unified topic. It's going to be a mess for a bit until things start to get put together. 

3. Making it Work is my process of taking all of the pieces and making them fit in a cohesive, entertaining and understandable post. In the Blog Mosaic, not all of the pieces will be used. They were useful at the time of the Spew, but they're just not useful for this specific project. 

4. The Read through / Edit is when I read the post out loud to see if things make sense, if things need to be moved or just taken out. 

5. Celebratory cup of.... is when I pat myself on the back for a job well done and get myself a cup of: (choose from the following) coffee, tea, chai, cocoa, water or juice. I like to remind myself that it's okay to get excited about finishing a project. 

My friend and fellow blogger, Lori, wrote on a similar topic just a few weeks ago. I was pretty excited because my post expands on her great post. It was fun and she had a great book to share about the topic.

Writing is an adventure. It requires one to use their creativity and voice to express their story. Like all adventures... every single one is different and takes a different path. It should reflect the personality and of the person who shares it.  

Use your words to carve your path! 

Writing adventures are out there! 

The Library Bloggess





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