THE WRITE PLACE…

to find Patti Singleton these days.

Tag Archives: blogs


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EDDD 20: The Nature Of The Beast; The Friendly Side Of Social Media

“Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another:

“What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .””
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Let’s make that, “one person,” just to keep my inner humanist happy:>) Other than that one word, I’d say this quote is pretty much the mantra of Word Press. The “You too?” of it is what keeps “real” life support groups, and even service organizations going. I think it is the basic element that underlies many online social media forms.

Sure, we may be trying to build our “platform,” sell our book or our product. We may even be trying to “sell” our way of thinking; our own opinions. But underneath it all, when you post something that makes people think or write, You too? the human to human connection is made.

I’d venture to say that very few of us have the opportunity to share or receive many You too? moments in “real” life (RL). That’s usually where best friends come in. Sadly, many people out there just don’t have best friends, or any friends. I’ve run across several people like that online since I started my blog in March. Too many.

We are still judging people by their outside appearance; their clothes, their cars, their income and their socially acceptable rating on the attractiveness scale. We see none of that online, at least we don’t in the beginning. When we do see a photo, it is usually the best of the best that we can come up with, but often it is a cartoon or our cat or an anonymous design or shadow figure.

So we don’t know if they are a hippy, a banker, a butcher, a baker or a candle stick maker. We just know that we had that You too? feeling about something they wrote. The funny thing is, that it may be months before we find out that their political or religious beliefs are completely, totally, thoroughly OPPOSITE of ours.

Now what? That’s the interesting thing, to me, at least. Now we mentally get out the paper and pen to do the pro/con list, or we dig out the scales, to weigh the heft of “OPPOSITE” against “YOU TOO?”  It is my belief that if you have strong opposing beliefs, with little tolerance for the other side, and/or you have a bus load of friends in RL, you exit, stage left. On the other hand, if you are tolerant of other belief systems and/or have few, if any friends in RL, you hang in there.

Is this too simplistic or totally erroneous? What do you think? I confess, I am a cave woman, a loner (duh, you know that). I am very lucky to have 4 long-time best friends. I have solid friends that I have not known as long, and I have an incredibly supportive family. Why they put up with my anti-social ways, I may never know, but they do.

Then, I have this incredibly supportive group of friends online, including some from the previous paragraph. And STILL that You too? matters so much to me.  It matters so much, that I don’t care if we have some opposing beliefs. Hell, I am out of step with the strong beliefs of most of my RL family and friends! Really. And judging by Facebook posts, I’m REALLY out of step, or out of line, as they would say if they had the chance.

I will admit that I have stopped following a few people who I did not have the You too? feeling for in the first place, and in the second place, they showed their mean, cruel or intolerant side. I just love saying, “I will not tolerate intolerance!” That just cracks me up. But it is true.

How many creative artists have we missed in our everyday lives? How much knowledge has gone unknown? How many loving, compassionate people have we ignored? They have always been there, sometimes in our own circle. And now they are out there shining and being accepted and winning recognition, and best of all, they are building friendships. I hope they find my blog soon.

My point is that these blogs, and other social media forms, are bringing us closer together. (Okay, maybe not facebook:>) They are testing our tolerance, and I think we are all winning. We are getting to know and become friends with people from all walks of life. When that banker finds out that the guy he’s been sharing poetry with is a damn hippy, he hangs in because they have forged some kind of bond. (I do realize that the banker could BE a hippy.)

Do you see it too? Leave a comment and share your thoughts, please.

Peace,

Patti, who is not a hippy or a banker:>)

Okay, one totally unrelated photo…

beautiful blue sky and cottony clouds 2 days ago. Westport, WA PHALL PHOTO 2013

beautiful blue sky and cottony clouds 2 days ago. Westport, WA
PHALL PHOTO 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every Damn Day? Who’s idea was this anyway? The culprit can be found here: Every Damn Day December at http://treatmentofvisions.com/2013/11/26/evdadadec/


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EDDD 9; Do You Have Any Comments on Commenting?

Here’s my own horoscope for today, written by me. You will continue to sleep sporadically, which allows you to have active friendships online with people all over the world. You will add to some (FB & blog) conversations, dropping helpful links, opinions, ideas and names as you can. You will take away helpful links, names, ideas and be grateful for your growing circle of creative business and personal friendships. You WILL get those dishes done (yep). You will write and edit one story (1/2 yep). Don’t forget Every Damn Day December before midnight:>)

Sunset begins at Brady's Oysters and the Elk River Bridge outside of Westport, Wa. PHALL PHOTO 2013

Sunset begins at Brady’s Oysters and the Elk River Bridge, outside of Westport, Wa.
PHALL PHOTO 2013

READING COMMENTS:

After reading a well written, verrrry long article in an online journal earlier today, I began to wonder if others do as I do when reading online. I read the article or post, and form my opinions and thoughts about it as I go along. Next, I read about the author, and then I start in on the comments.

Sometimes, I learn more from the comments than I did from the article/post. I learn about making assumptions and jumping to conclusions. Those comments often help me think differently. Sometimes the comments sway my initial opinion, but usually they help me make a more thoughtful comment of my own, and give me a fuller understanding of the topic. And sometimes I get an “ah ha” moment, when a point is brought up that I never even considered.

It is obvious from reading the comments, that not everyone reads the previously written comments before posting their own. When several people ask the same question, it can get irritating. I scroll past those that are written from a soap box. Unless it gets out of hand and becomes a personal attack, I usually enjoy a good back and forth discussion/argument.

My biggest pet peeve is when I see that all the comments are floating in the ether, because the author of the article/post is not responding at all. Even that can turn out okay if the readers interact with each other, but that doesn’t often happen. If the author is too busy to respond to their readers/audience, how about just turning off the comment option?

What do you think about comments? Do you have a “system” for reading and commenting? Do you think authors should reply to the comments that their writing generates? We’d love to know what you think.

Peace,

Patti

From writing challenge at Every Damn Day December http://treatmentofvisions.com/2013/11/26/evdadadec/

And sunset ends at Bonge Beach, Westport, Wa. PHALL PHOTO 2013

And sunset ends at Bonge Beach, Westport, Wa.
PHALL PHOTO 2013


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My Favorite Writer Resource Sites, What are Yours?

The moon from my porch a few nights ago. Click on this and be amazed. I was! PHALL PHOTO 2013

The moon from my porch a few nights ago. Click on this and be amazed. I was!
PHALL PHOTO 2013

Add your great writer links and we will soon have a comprehensive community-built list! I think the value of this is sharing resources that we are using ourselves. Putting this list together gave me motivation to visit some of these resources more often, to make better use of what they offer. It’s always hard for me to maintain a healthy balance between researching and actually writing. How about you? Do you get carried away with researching and learning more about the craft of writing?

GREAT WRITER LINKS!!!!

Here is my list of great sites for writers. Please leave a comment to add other great sites to this list. Also, if you find some that are right up your alley, don’t forget to check out their other social media homes; FB, Twitter, Linkedin, Google +, etc.

http://www.freelancewritinggigs.com/  Freelance writers can look here for job leads, writing tips and more.

http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/  Look on the resource page for helpful writer links from a published author.

http://www.fundsforwriters.com/  From Hope Clark’s site, “This website has been awarded as a Best Writing Website. Sponsored by Writer’s Digest,Writer’s Market, Writer’s Digest University & Writer’s Digest Shop. Selected for the last 13 years in a row.” Hope is another no-nonsense writer’s friend who has valuable resources to share.

http://www.rachellegardner.com/  Rachelle says about her site, “My passion is partnering with authors to bring worthwhile books to publication. I started this blog as a way to create a community of writers, both published and seeking publication. I write about a wide variety of topics of interest to writers, and I consider the reader comments even more important than my own posts.”

http://annerallen.blogspot.com/  Anne’s is another well-known Best Writing Website. I get her newsletter and it is always helpful and engaging.

http://kriswrites.com/  Kris is a prolific (I mean really prolific!) author and has very cut and dried writing business advise, along with other helpful writing tips. Her newsletters are very wordy, but worth every minute spent reading them. There are no pretty pictures of fluffy fill, she just gets her point across.

http://winningwriters.com/index.php  Writing contests, free and otherwise. Regularly updated with reliable contest information.

http://www.everywritersresource.com/literarymagazines/  I love this place. I’ll use their own words to explain who they are, “We hope that everything we do benefits publishers, editors, and writers. We are concerned for the well-being and preservation of literary magazines and small publishers. Writing and editing is a business, but it is also a passion. Here we hope to promote both the well-being and community of writers, editors, and publishers. Everything on our site is a free public service.”

http://zguta.wordpress.com/2013/09/27/indie-review-sites/  Elisabeth Zguta’s Indie Review list. She is friendly and has many other resources for writers.

http://editminion.com/  EditMinion is a robotic copy editor to help you refine your writing by finding common mistakes. You just cut and paste a sample of your writing.

http://figment.com/   A community where you can share your writing, connect with other readers, and discover new stories and authors. Whatever you’re into, from sonnets to mysteries, from sci-fi stories to cell phone novels, you can find it all here.

http://janefriedman.com/   Jane has an article for every writer’s interest. She is up-to-date on all things writing, publishing, and editing. She’s big, but I did find a number of broken links. No worries, because there are always more links about the same topic.

http://grubdaily.org/  The blog is filled with great articles by a list of professionals in the business. Here’s part of their long, but worthy story, “Grub Street is the second largest independent center for creative writing in the United States. Our mission is to be an innovative, rigorous, and welcoming community for writers who together create their best work, find audience, and elevate the literary arts for all. We accomplish this by offering the highest quality classes and services for writers at all stages of development, by educating writers through the entire writing process from inspiration to publication and promotion, by putting a premium on teaching excellence, by welcoming as many writers as possible through generous scholarships and free outreach programming, by creating fulfilling employment for writers, by connecting people and ideas through writing, and by empowering writers to fully embrace new opportunities ushered in by the digital age.”

http://beyondthemargins.com/  Speaking of the former listing, these folks at BTM came from Grub Street. Here’s a bit of what they are up to, “A blog, a sounding board, a daily dose of insight. It offers essays on the craft of writing and the business of publishing. There are tips on creating memorable scenes and great dialogue. Interviews with authors, editors and agents. Humorous pokes at the craft, the industry and at ourselves. Think literary magazine run amok.”

http://nathanbransford.com/   Among the best and most well-known writer’s helper on the web.

http://writerunboxed.com/   Tons of good info here. In my top three best sites for writers. As a matter of fact, many of the people on my list are contributors on this site. Okay, and all of the people I missed are also on this site! When you are done exploring the general contents, start at the top and work your way down the list of contributors on the right-hand side of the main page. See ya in a few years :>)

http://pred-ed.com/  Preditors & Editors. A guide to publishers, and publishing services for serious writers since 1997. All writers should get familiar with this site.

http://www.swensonbookdevelopment.com/  Jill has some very good advice, and free or inexpensive downloads, and specifically;

http://www.swensonbookdevelopment.com/blog/2013/building-your-author-brand-checklist/

http://www.swensonbookdevelopment.com/blog/2013/ten-tips-for-building-an-audience-platform/

Please let me know if you have issues with any of these sites.

Peace,

Patti


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Writer’s Journal; Missing Alaska, My Home Away From Home

Calm evening, Peterson Bay, Homer, Alaska PHALL PHOTO 2011

Calm, cloudy evening, Peterson Bay, Homer, Alaska
PHALL PHOTO 2011

A soothing place for a morning cup of coffee. The Peterson Bay home of sis Sharon & Captain Honey.
A soothing place for a morning cup of coffee.
The Peterson Bay blueberry haven of sis Sharon & Captain Honey. PHALL PHOTO 2011

Homesick for Alaska and my peeps there.

I am writing! Get off me:>) If FB was never invented I would be writing more, but I am writing.

* Shared children’s stories w/new blog friend and we cross-edited. Done

* Read blog friend’s published book and will write up review this week.

*Promoting my blog site and “gutsy story” all over social media. Ongoing.

*Wrote essay for Chicken Soup submission. Being edited by two friends. Re-Write in progress.

*Socially involved with an incredible group of writers on WP blogs and commenting on many others.

*In the itchy-finger stage of writing for pay, on a site I was invited to join.

*Oh, yay, and 11 days left of Camp NNWM and am confident I will finish, although need to work harder at the shaping.

* Posting serial of Postcards on this site.

* My head is overflowing with stories, poetry and ideas for memoir series.

*Mr. I.V. Poley immortalized by inclusion in a story here: http://neverendingstorydepository.wordpress.com/2013/07/20/ionia-the-super-hero/

There must be more, but I need a nap now.

Stay tuned,

Patti


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Writer’s Pitfalls & Quandaries

It has been a long day running my son and grandsons on various errands. I’m beat! When I get home I wake up the computer and roll along to check in with the blogs I follow, find new ones and research writing, contests, memoirs, and publishing. Somewhere in there I edit and rewrite a few projects in my writing files.

I’m in a quandary about the memoir. There are several family members who will be less than thrilled about me writing a memoir that is primarily focused on the relationship between my husband and I, and the last year of his life. Will that be the deciding factor in my publishing this memoir? It may be. I need to consult with someone who knows the ins and outs of this issue.

I’m also researching the facts about posting my stories, poetry, etc on this blog, and how that may affect my ability to sell them, or even enter them in contests. Some may consider posting on a blog as publishing, which would exclude the writing I do here from being marketable. Hmm.

These are only a few of the issues that I am trying to find answers to. There are many more along the way. I am trying to be as professional as I can, while steering clear of amateur mistakes that are detrimental to my writing career.

Peace,

Patti