SEO is when you come up with an idea, write that idea right away.

How To Search for SEO Words – A Nature’s Guide

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SEO Your Audiences Way to Your Site

Creating content for your website that is searchable for your audience is much like bird watching. Some look for birds that fly by. Others look for colorful birds that are hard to find. If only those uncommon and rare specimens become attracted to you, then they will come to you.

The first step to have the best SEO plan is like creating a campground or nature center for your people to find the beautiful elements and draw their attention. When you find the right domain name, it is now time to communicate to your audience what you have in mind. Start writing.

But then, for now, you find you have nothing in mind. You have no ideas to inspire others. The best place to start is to ask yourself important questions and topics. Let’s start with you. What thoughts are interesting to you?  Not what other people think are interesting, but to you alone, for now. What are you good at? Then, how can you bridge your idea to their minds so your audience will be interested in what you have to say? When you come up with an idea, write that idea right away. Then, you should have a good sense of which words are important to bring your readers onto your site.

What are the most important keywords in your blog message? What strategy can you use to bring those words out and bring your readers to your site? If you have no keywords in mind, then use research tools to find important keywords.

Here is a list of research tools available to you:

Google ad words keyword planner – https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

Google trends – http://www.google.com/trends/

Yoast suggests – https://yoast.com/suggest/

And for WordPress user use the Google analytics for WordPress plug-in – https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/#analytics

After you have found the appropriate keywords, use strategy to place them within your message. This will help your readers find your site with their favorite search engines. Place those keywords within your clear and compelling headlines. Also place your keywords in the first sentences. Your headlines and top sentences should have all the information the reader needs to know. And everything on the top screen before your reader scrolls down. What search engines and readers are looking for to answer their questions? Again, they want information. Remember, not only do you need to have informative keywords for your SEO strategy, but also simplify the message. Remember, a blog message needs to answer the reader’s questions.

But getting back to bird watching, it’s important for you to carry your field guidebook with you. When you spot an interesting bird, look up that bird (word) in your field guide. Keywords and informative titles can help you do that. If your book does not answer your question then it is time to look for another field guide book. So, make it easy for your audience to find what they’re looking for through your website.

 

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

What do your characters like to do? Why do they do these things? Keep watching what they say and do.

Bird watching at 65 miles per hour

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Bird Watching is Like Writing

Yes, texting while driving can be dangerous to your health. If you’re not watching the road, looked down at your cell phone, the best that would happen is that you land in the ditch. Distractions caused disasters. That is something we all know. Then, why do we allow ourselves to become distracted?

Most of the time I drive down the highway I find myself distracted. For me, I like to count birds every year. I have this desire to count different bird species. This is a fascination I had ever since I was a teenager. I’ve created lists of different species each year and watch the list grow when I see a new bird. This strong desire could prove difficult while I drive on the highway.

Well, hey, what if a bird flies in front of me? What if I see a bird through my side window? If I look in the rearview mirror and see no cars followed behind me, I will put on the brakes, slow to stop, get out my binoculars and look. And if need be, I would back up the car on the highway to get a better view.

Why do I do this? Is it just me?

What are the personalities of your characters in your stories? You know what they’re all about? For me, my behavior process shows a persistent, maybe close to obsession. What do your characters like to do? Why do they do these things? How obsessed are they?

When I was a teenage bird watcher, I spotted my first redheaded woodpecker. I was with friends. The bird flew into an occupied campground. Two men, who owned that site, sat on their lawn chairs, enjoyed the scenery and the nice weather.

“Excuse me,” I said and walked in without invitation and looked through the binoculars up the tree to see the bird. They smiled and allowed me to watch. When the woodpecker flew away, I walked back to my friends. They looked at me as if I was nuts.

“What?” I asked.

“You just walked into another campground just to see that bird? They looked at you as if you were some kind of stupid.”

What’s my character in this situation? I became determine despite onlookers who thought I was an oddball? All I wanted to do is to see something important. No harm, no foul. What was the character of my friends? Reserved, with no inner strength, to take chances for something they wanted?

One of my favorite movies was ‘The Big Year’. It stars three dynamite male actors obsessed with bird watching. Though the film, I understood because I also found myself in trouble when I count birds.

Let’s get back to storytelling. Someone told me that stories are stories about people. Writers create the story as they go along. Each came from different upbringing. Their back-stories help makes the character come to life, and with more realism. And/or how they would hinder the process of the story, the plot line? What resulted from their actions?

Maybe I’m not the best example for a character in your story. It is true. You can find your character by watching your friends and colleges. Like the birds of the world, each species has characteristics specific to them.  This is the same as humans. If one example does not fulfill your character’s personality and traits, then mix and match. A little of what he is and what she does is the heart of your story. Maybe he slammed on the brakes just to look for birds. If you find yourself behind him, just slow down and go around. It’s what all writers have to do to make their character’s characteristics fit.

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Having Other Arts and Crafts Help You to Become a Better Writer

Santa Carving and the Writer

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Having Other Arts and Crafts Help You to Become a Better Writer

My woodcarvings play a major role in my Santa Keeper Mystery series. Because of my artistic creativity in wood carving I decided to become a writer. I write magical realism mysteries in which woodcarvings come to life. The genre of magical realism is to accept magic in the rational world.

As a woodcarver who specializes in Santa Claus carvings, July is the time to prepare for my busy season. In August, I put all my other projects down and carve Santas and other holiday figures. I need to have a large inventory to fulfill the fall and winter markets. I use the summertime to design and create new pieces. By autumn I will have a good selection for the customers. This is much like finding time to start a new story.

Designing New Pieces

I create new designs to keep my inventory fresh, like brainstorming a new story. I can get ideas for new designs by observing other artist’s mediums such as paintings, illustrations, glasswork and photos. Observing other artist’s perspective makes the new design fresh and exciting. I look for color trends, decorative embellishments, repeated patterns and new techniques. Inspiration comes from many sources: nature, wall paper, clothing, catalogs, rugs, architecture, and others.

I have a coffee mug sitting on my paint table right now so I can look at the pattern and color of the decorative border around the bottom. I want to imitate the color and design on a Santa’s coat trim. It won’t be an exact imitation but more of an inspiration. Last year I purchased an old ugly sweater at a garage sale for $2 to examine a row of snowmen dancing across the chest. It is ugly but the snowmen pattern is great.

Once I have a design in mind, I sketch it out with pencil and paper. I keep in mind the nature of the wood and how I will convert the two-dimensional design to a three-dimensional woodcarving. Once I have a design, I create a pattern and cut it out to apply to the wood.

Wood

For most of my carvings I use basswood, also known as American linden. The wood is pale tan with fine close grain. A wood carver can cut into basswood with ease with hand tools and chisels. My basswood comes from northern Minnesota. The best time to harvest basswood is in February when it is cold and the sap hides deep in the roots. The cut pieces are air-dried or kiln dried.

For my Santa carvings, I will find a piece suitable in size and carve-ability. Most of my Santa carvings are between 8 to 12 inches in height.

I attached the paper pattern with glue or tape and trace the outline of the pattern on to the wood. I then use a band saw and cut out the rough shape. This would be like the drafting process. I know where the completed work needs to go from here.

Tools

I use hand tools to carve such as knives, chisels, gouges. And don’t forget the pencils, a writer’s tool. Some carvers use power rotary tools. I use power tools only when I want to carve harder woods like walnut, cherry, oak, maple, or ash. Keeping the tools sharp is important for the ease of carving and to make clean cuts. Tools must be sharp for safety. I use a pencil to establish the center lines and mark the wood where I plan to cut. The center line shows the carver direction to make cut. If I ignore the center line, the carving may come out lopsided.

There are many rules and guidelines to follow when carving faces. I want to keep the wood carved face anatomically correct to insure a balanced face. I observe the width of the eyes where the ear is placed and the width of the mouth as a few points of measurements. There are many levels of reality when carving faces. Some faces are caricatures, realistic or distorted to achieve humor or fright. With Santa carvings, the expression is important. Remember Santa is a ‘jolly old elf’ so a happy expression is the most desirable. As in writing, describing the right expression will add realism to your characters.

Painting and Finishing

The finished carving is cleaned and given a protective finish before I paint. I use acrylic paints to color and enhance the wood carving. I have taken several painting classes to learn techniques to gain confidence. Some of my carving colleagues fear the painting process. They have storage bins of unfinished and unpainted woodcarvings. Painting a piece is a challenge and a pleasure. I can’t wait to try new color combinations and designs. Like a character for my stories, there are many layers to his personality that give the story more depth.

Once the paint is dry, I spray on another protective coat. Then I apply a stain or colored wax to achieve an antique look.  When that is dry I buff the piece and initial my name at the bottom. The carving is now finished, priced, labeled and added to inventory and marketed. I have a sense of accomplishment. Finishing a carving is like finishing a story. I’m eager to see what the beholder thinks.

Time

People ask me how long it takes to carve a Santa. This question is difficult because there are so many steps involved to finish the carving. The answer depends on size, level of difficulty and my daily interruptions. And in my case whether the carvings speak to me or not – they can be so distracting at times.

Carving Santa characters is much like creating a story and the characters involved. With both, I start with nothing and create something alive and meaningful. I hope both give joy to those who possess my work. Well, on to carving the next.

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Use clarity. Don’t assume your readers will see what you see

Tighten the loop! Bring Clarity to Your Writing

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Use Clarity in Your Stories

Today, I’m thinking about fly-fishing and writing; two unrelated topics. You have may have seen fly fishermen with their funny hats and vests covered with tackle, standing knee-deep in a brook. Their long rod bows waving high in the air as they pull their line back and forth. The fly follows the line and drops, hopefully, in front of a trout’s mouth. If the trout does not take the bait, the stream carries the fly back to the fishermen and the cast starts over again, back and forth.

My brother tried to teach me the art of fly-fishing. I went through the motions to bring the line back and forth. My teacher kept an eye on my learning progress and shouts, “tighten the loop, tighten the loop” (scaring away the fish in the process). In layman’s terms when the bait moved one way and the pole switched and the line went the other direction, the line created a loop overhead. It was important to make a pinched loop, so the wind did not take the fly and send it off course. I knew all that, but what I didn’t know was how to tighten the loop. How should I handle the pole? How should I stand and everything else necessary to create a tight loop? To this day, I don’t recall him ever explaining how. He kept shouting, “Tighten the loop. Tighten the loop.”

Learning how to write, like learning how to fly-fish requires clarity from the teacher. A writer needs to learn how to lay out in a logical order to become understood and followed by a reader. Readers are not willing to work too hard to follow your story. If they become frustrated, they will give up as I gave up on fly-fishing.

Here are some techniques for improving clarity in your writing:

  • Don’t assume your readers will understand your intentions for your story – Produce clear statements. I do not believe in the philosophy of “let the readers fill in the blanks.” I want my readers to understand the story from my mind. If you cannot lead readers to your creative thoughts you will lose them.
  • Don’t believe your story will make sense without your focus – You came up with the characters, setting, and plot. You can see the story unfolding in your mind. If you want your readers to see what’s in your mind, you must give details. Do not write a few words assuming the reader will “get” what you mean. Consider your story from the reader’s perspective as he reads from scratch with no preconceived ideas.
  • Don’t assume your readers will see what you see – Use the five senses in your stories. See the color, write the color. Hear the sounds, write the sounds. If possible, smells and tastes will add a greater dimension to your story and put the readers deep into your scenes. If you don’t use the five senses in your writing what you see (and sense) you will lose your readers.

Remember, “Tighten the loop! Tighten the loop!”

More on Bring Clarity to Your Writing

Use this formula to bring clarity to your writing

25 Ways to Improve Your Writing in 30 Minutes a Day

 

 

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site

Building your character. Allow her to be open to unexpected personality traits that come out and add spice to the story.

My Nine Steps to Building a Character

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Building Your Character Helps Building Your Story

I have fun bringing great characters to life. Characters tell the story.  Building their personalities become colorful. They interact and respond to other characters and situations. These people change the typed letters from a computer screen or paper to a simple plot and timeline with a living story, from the beginning to the end. My characters are the moving parts that make the story work.

These are steps should help you develop your characters.

  1. She needs to stand out.

The first question I ask myself is what purpose will this character serve in the story? Is she the hero, the villain, the sidekick, the love interest or the comic relief?  How will other characters interact with her? What is her name? How will her name help the story? Is her name suitable for her personality? Where does she live? How will she respond to her surroundings? Is this a secondary or main character? And how is she treated by others?

  1. Build her personality.

I want to bring color and clarity so the characters’ personality brings depth to my story. Start with the basic statistics; age, height, weight, appearance, religion, eye and hair color? How was she raised (back-story)? Her likes and dislikes will make a good foundation of the personality. Then add skills, hopes and desires to the mix. Don’t forget to add how she visualizes herself and how she visualizes the surrounding characters.  However, do not limit her to the sets of behaviors you have created. Allow her to be open to unexpected personality traits that come out and add spice to the story. This will make her more interesting. Let her have unexpected reactions based on unforeseen events.

  1. Make her personality come out.

I like to put characters in a jar and give it a big shake. Characters have conflictions with their emotions and the emotions of others. How will she respond to other characters in these situations? How will other characters respond? She must react in all situations. What are her opinions about events, other people, or obstacles in your story? Be careful about changing the personality of a character during your writing process. Characters change during, and by the end, of the story.  But their basic values and moral beliefs will be consistent.  If you need to change your character drastically, you may have to go back through the entire story and re-write the changes for consistency.

  1. Create a past life.

How well do I know my characters? A back story for your character will show motivation to her actions and reactions. What trouble has she been in? Her back story will haunt her and cause her to do the things she does. How this character reacts and responds to situations moves your story along. But she does not need a traumatic past.

  1. Define her strengths.

Let’s put your characters back in the jar. This time we’ll add spiders and snakes. Give the jar a good shake and see how they respond. Is she brave? A brave character takes on responsibilities to survive or get ahead. Is she loyal? A loyal character will have no problem making and keeping friends. Does she seek justice? If so, she would do anything in her power to make sure justice will be served. Whatever the strengths are make sure she responds as she should. Define the strengths through actions in different situations. If one of her strengths is to improve, then don’t forget to bring out her flaws and weaknesses in the beginning.

  1. Define her weaknesses.

I go deep to look and bring out their flaws. This is not just about physical weakness, but imperfections within your character. Imperfections may cause other characters to react in embarrassment and loathing. Her weakness can include lying, cheating, drinking too much, or breaking the law.  Diving into your character’s past and revealing deep dark secrets could show her weakness. How did she deal with the weakness in her childhood?  How does your character hide the weakness?

  1. She must have a goal or goals.

What do they want? The characters need to tell me so I can help. Goals push her to respond. Her personality, emotions, strengths and weaknesses drive the story. Make her pay to achieve her goals. Achieving a goal can lead to a boring story. Have her strive and fail several times and make your readers route for her. Describe the steps she took to reach a goal.

  1. Create her based on someone you know.

This is fun for me. Shopping malls and public pools have oceans of characters. Use traits from someone you know or fictional people to build your character. Observe how real people react to situations. Dig deep. If you have someone in mind, take notes. These notes will help you writer her more three-dimensional and more believable. When you create characters by using your own life experiences, you use elements of reality to bring them to life in your writing.

  1. Make her real.

You may tend to make characters perfect. Everyone is imperfect. The more perfect the less believable she will be. If you delete all her flaws, she may become less realistic in her interactions with other characters and to the plot. Flaws make characters believable.

Conclusion:

Characters need to have a purpose in your story. They need to have dreams and beliefs that will lead to inner growth. A character must grow and develop through the story process. Experiences and memories affect their thoughts, attitude and actions. Let your character tell the story of how she changed and grew during the time it took from day one to the last page. Characters dictate

More on Character Building in Your Writing

How Do You Build A Strong Character In Your Writing?

Character Questionnaire

Writing Characters Who’ll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel

 

Tell everyone about your stories. Show them where they can buy your novel. Lure them in. More…

Need more help brainstorm the character traits in your story? More…

Don’t forget to edit your colorful character’s story. Do you use too many adverbs? Are you using the right words to describe them? More …

Start Writing Now – This book is for the dreamers who say one day they will write their stories and become a writer. Then they forget their dreams of writing. But they can write now – write those stories now. I mean right now.

How Not To Write A One Star Novel – Do you want to create a five star novel? Learn from other writers’ mistakes and prevent yourself from receiving any one star reviews for you hard work. Here is your free e-book.

R. M. Scott Author Site