March Top Commentator Update

Image via Wikipedia

Here's an update on those in the running for top commentator award for March which will end tomorrow. As of 8:20 pm today, here are the figures:

1. Yatot - 21
2. Elmot and Roy - 16
3. Dee - 14
4. Joji - 12
5. Bingkee - 10
6. Fifi- 10
7. Lemuel -9
8. Adrian - 8
9. Earthlingorgeous - 7
10. Petit and diTesco - 5

The top commentator widget on the sidebar sums up the last 500 comments made on this blog. This means if the total comments made for March is less than 500, this widget poaches on the comment count in February. That sucks right? But I will have to make do with it until I find a widget that can be configured to reflect the monthly comments made on a blog.

As you can see, I made a tally of the scores by hand a la Comelec. Pshaw, I should be on Twitter but here I am doing my little assignment. :) Which leaves me no choice but to ask you - do you have something to recommend? Please feel free to suggest a trick to make this a less bloody exercise.

Fifi, do you have a blog? Perhaps you want to share it with us? You can always start one, you know.

I'm also asking your recommendation for a popular post widget that's applicable in Blogger. Maybe you can help me out on that, too.

At stake for March top commentator award is a book. No, it's not Kama Sutra. Do you fancy John Grisham? Or perhaps John le Carre. Take your pick. It's a modest gift for now, dear friends. It's something I set aside from my modest salary. Lol. I hope that sufficiently explains it.

Related Post: Top Commentator for February

Tags: top commentator award, top commentator widget

Sssh: Your Writing Sucks, But I Still Love It

Eons ago somebody fell in love with me, and of course being curious and all that, I asked why. The verdict was that because I was fun to be with. Sure, I was hoping for more earth-shaking reasons such as irresistible good looks, sex appeal, and state of the art brain.

No such luck. But I learned to live with it. It was a good start and we had fun all right.

The same can be said in blogging. If you have fun with your blog, meaning you write things you're familiar with and have fun with it at the same time, I think you've got a winner in your hands. Readers will seek you out although you don't pass yourself off as a guru.

You can even make the shambles that is your life as a magnet to draw readers to your blog. There's something to be said about royal screw ups. People read to entertain themselves. And what higher entertainment than to read a guy's post that points out he's more miserable than you are.

Maybe it's the tone of voice you use. Or your quirky sense of humor. Or your extreme lack of humor - that can be funny,too. Add to this the lack of artifice in your writing. You write to share an interesting story even if you appear as the "balahura" (scoundrel). That's brave, I'd say.

Polished writing helps. Grammatical errors can savage your post such that it can be painful to read - true. But that's not the whole story. As my feed reader is my witness, I can proudly say that I'm subscribed to a lot of bloggers whose posts are riddled with grammatical mistakes. Over time, these mistakes can be remedied by careful study and industry. Paucity of ideas - this is the hardest challenge to master.

Jonathan Morrow gave very useful tips for bloggers who fear their writing suck . What astounds me in his post, however, was when he said:

You thought blogs were something more noble? Well, maybe they are… to you. To the average person though, they’re simply something to do while they sip their coffee in the morning, unwind before going to bed, or take a break at work. If they didn’t read your blog, they would have to think about how crappy their life is, and that’s unacceptable. So, they turn to something more interesting: you.

Learn to relax. Give yourself permission to goof once in a while. Trust me, it's a liberating experience.

Over to you now. You can tear at me now for advocating loose writing. That is, if you can find your target. Lol.

Tags: blogging, writing tips

The Day My Dead Mother Wrote Me a Blistering Memo

And I received it today. All because I wrote a wimpish post yesterday. In her book, it was enough to indict me.

When I hit the publish button on my previous post, I have forgotten who I am. I am my mother's son. My mother was a loving person but she was also strong willed. In her youth, she used to travel to Manila to bring supplies to my eldest siblings who were in college. She had with her all sorts of fresh vegetables, a couple of live chickens, and sometimes a sack of rice. At the pier, she fought off stevedores with her signature stoic demeanor. She'd stomp her foot on top of her assorted baggage and ward off pesky pier hands with her emphatic no.

Of course, she couldn't carry them all by herself. But she could not be pushed. Let her decide on her own sweet time which lucky hands to help her with her things.

Sure, I inherited my father's thirst for learning and writing, but it was mother's discipline and stoutness of heart that will serve me well in blogging. My mother was one of the most loving persons I've ever known who at a moment's notice could go feral on you when her brood was threatened. My father was maybe one of those rare breed whose love never strays, but I suspect my mother's flash of steel had a lot to do with my father keeping to the straight and narrow path of marriage.

I used to pride myself I have my mother's stubborn streak. It has never occurred to me my mother's spunk was the more important trait. I am my mother's son. And I have forgotten it.

I have to start anew.

Do you have a similar experience? Who do you give the credit to when you talk of the steadying influence in your life?

How Do You Protect Yourself From Your Online Friends?

Image via Wikipedia

This is a little story about how an unwieldy stimulus package can drive away your treasured online buddy.

I had this twitter app that emails me at several hours interval every day a summary of my direct messages in Twitter, the last 20 tweets, a list of new followers with their bio, Facebook updates, and list of persons who unfollowed me in twitter.

A reader of this blog has unfollowed me in Twitter. It struck me as odd. We had emailed each other before discussing our posts and interaction with readers. I felt a connection with her because she's a real charmer and what she writes about resonates with me.

I know, hundreds of thousands have lost their jobs worldwide. And there seems no assurance tomorrow or the day after will be any different.

And I have just lost only one blog reader. Get a grip, I have told myself. A dear online buddy told me the same thing and advised me to grow another layer of skin, the thicker the better.

If any other individual unfollowed me in Twitter I will not mind at all. The twittersphere is one thriving democracy. Everyone can do as he pleases.

Back to the story. Hours later, I've stumbled upon the probable reason why I fell out of grace. I had used an offending phrase which might have driven her nuts. Apparently, she's launched a crusade against the ill-advised use of the phrase "stimulus package." And I was a deer caught in the cross-hairs of her crossbow. This is how I've used the offensive phrase in my post If Tweet Be Told I Love Tweeter:

For somebody who has aspirations to uber blogging (I do, I do), I find Twitter a blessing. In this time of want and depressed economic realities, Twitter experience has become - excuse me, Mr. Barack Obama - the ultimate stimulus package. For the creative mind at least. And this makes me very happy.

Truth to tell, she's got a great catch on the day she wrote her post - all stupid uses of the phrase with a lot of her other pet peeves.She had them all fingerprinted and lined up the wall for the usual mug shots.

Reading on, I realized she has this abiding love for the language. That's an admirable trait in itself. I should not feel particularly singled out. In the first place, she didn't even link to my offending use of the language to make me feel stupid in the eyes of her other readers.

My only beef is that I just wish she had called me out on the comment section of this blog. Here. So I can defend my position and choice of words. I maybe careless with my use of the language, but I can always listen especially from an online buddy. This old dog can still learn new tricks, I earnestly believe that.

Of course, I've also considered the possibility that I tweeted too much. And she wanted out. As simple as that.

I'm not fishing for sympathy here. I have already done any sane man will do under this circumstance: scamper under the safety of the table and whine, tail between my legs. And I'm fine with this.

So, I'm curious and would like to hear your opinion. How do you deal with online flak? And how do you protect yourself from your online buddies?

25 Things I Wish You Did Not Know About Me

Image by Denis Collette...!!! via Flickr

Douglas Adams: "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

Me: I love them, too. I don't live my life, however, in complete terror of their approaching steps. Besides I have made a commitment to post every other day. I don't like to give readers an excuse to expel a sigh of relief on account of me being tongue-tied.

Not.

So here goes, my list of 25 things I owe Dee ,Chuvaness , Yatot , and Bingkee .

1. I was born in September.

2. In Oriental Mindoro during the decade when man first landed on the moon.

3. Don't snicker. Don't ask me my age. You'll not get far. Plurk did and I promptly deleted my account.

4. No writing genes in the family as far as I know. Maybe I can include my departed father who wrote like a man possessed during the last years of his life - because he needed to wage war against failing memory.

5. He called it his autobiography - accounts of his courtship of my mother, early family life, ghosts, "aswang", and his life as a guerrilla in World War 2.

6. He might have been a better blogger than I could have ever been. He had such an interesting life and had that gift with people. He was a natural

7. whereas I have to be shoved to get myself seen in social gatherings.

8. My father had a great influence in my reading habits. Our home then was like a periodical section of a good sized library.

9. I did not know I can write until my senior year in high school. I was made editor of the school paper because the brilliant students were into more high profile clubs like boy/girl scouting and speech and drama clubs. Only a handful of useless dorks were left. Writing is a great equalizer for lonely dorks, I soon found out.

10. Did not see a hint of panic or sense of hopelessness in my journalism adviser. She chose us without flinching - could have been her devoutness at work there.

11. So I wrote and thought myself a writer. It suited me just fine because I was an introvert.

12. Studied Communication Arts/Journalism in college because it had the least number of mathematics subjects.

13. Got involved again with the college paper. Worked my way up the rung - from junior writer in my freshman year to editor in my last year in college.

14. Met Ayn Rand. Graham Greene. Somerset Maugham. John le Carre. And went to bed with all of them. My only concession to promiscuity.

15. Bought once the humongous War and Peace and carried it around campus like a proper prick. Never got around to reading it though.

16. Lost it to a niece who filched it from me. Maybe she used it to intimidate her male admirers. Not sure.

17. But somebody in college read a whole collection of Graham Greene on my account. No, the ploy did not work.

18. I had other things in mind. Like being alone. And being in love with chocnuts, coffee, beer, and lately - blogging.

19. I find blogging less intimidating. Unlike writing, don't you think so, too?

20. I've been keeping alive the dream that I can write. Blogging does that to my head.

21. Maybe you will call that copping out if you're a purist. Maybe it is. It is a terrible thing to realize you're not equal to your dream after all.

22. But I don't let it bother me too much. The sooner I realize it the better. At least I'll know when it's come staring me in the face.

23. Hold it - here's a thought. May be this holds the clue why I'm so guarded about my age. I'm getting old and yet I have nothing to show for it. Whoa - terrible thought, that.

24. And here's another thing - I still smoke. It's not death wish. Gosh, I intend to write/blog as long as I can.

25. Because I consider this blog my surrogate child. And though this child can be such a pain in the ass sometimes, I can deal with it. I will stay the course. Meredith of Grey's Anatomy says it best: "That knowing is better than wondering, that waking is better than sleeping, and even the biggest failure, even the worst, beat the hell out of never trying."

That's all, folks. Unfortunately, I'm not passing this to anybody. Help yourself to it if you must.

Tags: tag, meme, writing, blogging

Why Shacking Up with Twitter Injects Life to Your Blog

Image by UniqueO Mania♥ via Flickr

My regular readers I suspect must be puzzled by my increasing fascination with Twitter. Am I falling out of love with my blog and shacking up with social media heartthrob that is Twitter?

Am I turning into an internet fop? Others may perhaps suggest another term: social media whore. Oh boy, am I becoming a streetwalker in Twitterverse? Sheesh. Of course not.

Tapping Into the Power of Twitter and Other Social Media

Frankly my dear, internet conversation is not taking place in the confines of a blog anymore. It has left in a huff and set up camp in Twitter. Or Facebook. What's a blog author got to do?

Well, put on your party dress and let's go to Twitter. There's the party. Others dismiss Twitter as the new office water cooler that will soon outlive the buzz it is currently generating. Yeah, right - you wish it were so. It's your right to be in a state of denial. Guess what, Twitter is where the movers and shakers in every field gather. It's where conversations are taking place. It's a nice place to be seen and develop friendships and alliances.

It used to be you write a post and encourage reader interaction by asking questions, by keeping your writing conversational, by keeping them a little incomplete so readers will be encouraged to comment. And of course the old tactic of commenting on high traffic sites, article writing, and guest posting.

And they still work. And I still do it - except guest posting and article writing - because they are effective tools in getting readers for your blog. But there's another way of doing it and it is where Twitter comes in.

Twitter is the new power tool - the coolest contraption among the social media giants.

And yet there are still some misgivings about Twitter of course. Let me address some of them.

1. Twitter is so random - an endless stream of tweets going nowhere. You're following the wrong people. If your interest is in writing like I do it's best you follow fellow writers, or journalists, or people in the performing arts. Even bloggers from other niches who you hold in high esteem can help you to be a well rounded blog author. Those are the right people to connect to. Doing so makes the stream of tweets you see very relevant to your interest.

And nobody can spam you if you don't allow it. Just unfollow people who rub you the wrong way. Or block them as the case maybe.

Personally, I cast a wider net. Because I need to build up a wide base of followers who can hear what I have to say. But I'm not obsessed with numbers. I'm trimming my list as I add people to it. This evening, I'm axing a guy who tweets nothing but tips on how to get on the good side of women. I'm not a prude or anything, but I find it extremely vexing to hear all these ruses to get into a woman's pants. Every single frigging day. Is he a bot or something? Or an unimaginative paid hack?

2. It's not driving traffic to my site. Complete waste of time. Come on - you may have been tweeting nothing but links to your latest blog post. That guarantees you'd be ignored and written off as a spammer in no time. Take time to develop relationships first. Know who you follow and your followers as well. Be useful first. What expertise can you share that will help your own followers? Even a helpful link that points to a probable solution to their problem can help develop trust and likability in Twitter.

Likability delivers result. As it is in your blog, so it is in Twitter and in the other social media. Maybe your ideas are not outstanding. In fact they maybe average, but if you're helpful and take the time to develop friendships first then you have a better chance at getting noticed.

People have to like you first before you get yourself heard. Just like in a party. In no time, you will find yourself followers who tweet links to your post as soon as you hit the publish button. Because they like you and what you're doing.

Helping your fellow users do not literally mean having a hand in actually solving their problems. It can be as simple as retweeting another person's concerns. He needs work or a part-time job - by all means, spread the word. Retweet it among your followers. Here's a guide to RT or retweeting.

A fellow blogger needs a favorable review for his latest masterpiece and he sends you a DM (direct message) in Twitter. Reply immediately and see what you can do. Maybe you're pressed for time and can't write a proper review. But you can always give the post a simple thumbs up or a snappy but encouraging comment in his blog.

3. I'm not getting noticed. I have no use for it. Review your recent tweets. What are they about? Is it generally about what you're eating at the moment? Or a partial inventory of what constitutes your boring day at the office?

I say you're being too literal. The homepage of Twitter encourages you to say "what you are doing?" in 140 letters, but you're not limited to that. Be creative. Relax. Share what's on your mind with candor. And joke a little, for Pete's sake. It shows you're a likable fellow.

Here's @linksmonkey: Intermission: "Off to attend a funeral. Expecting a 10 minute eulogy followed by 30 minutes of rebuttal."

And here's @dooce: Me: "Leta, you finished your cereal, and I didn't even have to threaten you!" Leta: "It's because I'm five now. It's what we do."

Unless you're Oscar Wilde personified don't limit yourself to tweeting about quotations and proverbs. If I'm really interested I'd go straight to the site in question and not bother with what you've dug up. Don't be afraid to be original because it's your passport to getting noticed.

Last night, I retweeted a particularly lovely quote. A lady named @jansimpson sent me a tweet debunking the quote and explained why. I was floored, but not offended. And we exchanged tweets about the subject. In the end, I accepted her version of the quote because I felt she improved upon it.

@jansimpson says: Hopefulness doesn't need a lamp with a bulb to burn out-hopefulness has an internal heater.

Of course, I retweeted her revised version. That to me is meaningful conversation. Not every tweet is about you, your post, or the particular brand or product you're selling. It's about making human connection with another fellow we like. In real life, we go to the market to buy say fish or meat. We don't go about this mundane task by buying from the first person that we notice. We go straight to the fish vendor who we personally know and trust. And so it is with Twitter. Both of us maybe coming from opposite ends of the hemisphere but if I have a personal connection with you remarkable things can happen afterward. Maybe I gain a reader to my blog. Or better yet - a friend. Or future creative collaboration may not be a little far off.

4. I'm a serious blogger - would rather trust Google and other resource-rich sites to give heft and substance to my writing. I have no beef against Google. I find it still relevant. All I'm saying is Twitter is fast coming up as the best alternative search engine. Google's powerful machines are still churning out relevant search results, but I'm increasingly getting seduced by Twitter's potentiality as a search engine. Top users in every field, the geeks, and virtually all the leading lights in every profession are in Twitter and this collective wealth of personal recommendations I'm lusting after.

Say for example, I need to come up with video blogging to spice up my blog. Who do I trust more? Google's algorithm? I'd rather hear out first Robert Scoble/@sobleizer and other known video bloggers who are all in Twitter.

I'm in a serious dilemma with my writing. Do I ask the impersonal Google? No, I'd hear out what Brian Clark has to say first. If he's caught up with something else at the moment, then I go to @joannayoung who I have a personal connection with in Twitter.

The benefit of this is I get a real shot at following up on my concerns in real time. In Google and other traditional search engines,you may find the results relevant, but nothing beats a personal recommendation from a person you trust and respect.

5. Why waste time and ideas on a site you do not own. Post it on your blog where there's a likelihood that it will make you a tidy sum. I use Twitter as a listening post, a tool that amplifies my presence and voice. My activities there - holding virtual pow-wows with like-minded persons, helping people with retweets and links to precious resources I found in the internet, bonding with friends and developing relationships with other people - are but an extension of my blog. It's my five senses all right, but not necessarily all of me.

It's not a waste of time expending nuggets of wisdom or a germ of a wonderful idea in 140 letters. I can always take them home with me to this blog and snip off the ragged edges and hone them till they shine. Twitter is a good sounding board, but it is in your blog where the real work takes place. It's wasted on you, of course, if you're just kicking around useful ideas like pebbles in twitterverse road and then go out to complain it has been a waste of time.

This may be a hosted blog, but in it still resides my bloody entrails and my soul. Twitter is a party I go to, but this blog is my home and where I go to touch base with what is essentially me.

Recommended reading: Why It's Worth Sticking with Twitter

Here's a guide on how to brand yourself on Twitter.

Tags: Twitter, social media

Hateful Online Behavior That Sets You on a Warpath

Image by ElDave via Flickr

@houseofpuroy sent a tweet yesterday. He held a contest on his flagship blog to gain more readers and subscribers. One of the requirements in entering the contest was to subscribe to Roy's feed. After the winner was announced, Roy noticed a big number of those who did not win had unsubscribed.

^!?#&!!!

Yes, you can say that again. I felt the same way, too.

Being the gentleman that he is, Roy did not bust a vein ranting on his blog. If not for his tweet, I'd hardly know this has irked him. If I were in his shoes, I would have spent hours devising a painful revenge. But that's just me. And my low frustration threshold.

Although, in retrospect, those are the kind of readers any blog author can afford losing. Really. They're after the freebies. They come buttering you up in small talk, but with one eye cocked in the direction of your refrigerator. Or cupboard. Other than that you'd find more joy in talking and having a romp with your dog, or cat as the case maybe.

I'd rather be impaled by my quick-thinking readers on a questionable idea I raise here. Or be favored by a troll. At least you know where they are coming from. The former raises the level of conversation going on in your blog community. A troll can spice up a sleepy blog, but up to a certain point only, of course.

So this gets me thinking: What riles you up to the quick? Greasy online flattery? Grammar vigilantes who laugh and point at you every time you trip over it's and its? Supposed online buddies who steal your blog post ideas? A stalker who wants to get into your blogging pants maybe?

Over to you, my friends.

Tags: troll, hateful online behavior

If Tweet Be Told I Love Twitter

Image via Wikipedia

@dr.Annpetit sent me a tweet: "How come you have many tweets?"

Knowing Ann, she means well. It's not a question uttered in clenched teeth, both-hands-on-the-hips kind of question. She's just making conversation. She's not my mom after all. And she has her hands full in her real role as a doctor in her part of the world. I can understand her puzzlement at my odd behavior.

Perhaps this explains the sudden surge of my tweets lately: Hard choices of life and death in a third world setting confront Dr. Ann daily. I am not.

So why do I have many tweets?By the way, my twitter stats are in the hundreds only - puny by Twitter standards. But let's take a closer look anyway.

Because I am happy. I am connecting with new found online buddies in Twitter. We share common interests. We point to interesting links we found useful in the internet. We laugh at amusing pictures and videos. We do it in real time. Sometimes time constraints only allow me to just mine useful information that will become fodder for my writing tips for this blog. A quickie dip into twitterverse and an even quicker and immediate pull-out.

For somebody who has aspirations to uber blogging (I do, I do), I find Twitter a blessing. In this time of want and depressed economic realities, Twitter experience has become - excuse me, Mr. Barack Obama - the ultimate stimulus package. For the creative mind at least. And this makes me very happy.

Because I am lonely. When I'm having the blues I don't need to tweet. I can just stay there and listen. And chill out. And once in a while, I read a tweet which says, "Anybody home?" to no one in particular.

And I suddenly feel I'm not alone. Loneliness does not exist specifically to torment me. It's a human condition common to us all. And in an odd sort of way, I feel a little lighter and strive to pull myself together.

Because I want to connect in a more fundamental way. Twitter delivers that promise. This blog is still the heart of my online existence, but Twitter - sweet Twitter - effectively becomes the five senses that connect me to what's out there in the digital wilderness. A listening post like no other.

Now, let me ask you - where do you find the mother lode of blog post ideas that powers your blogging? Care to share?

If you like this post and want to hang out with me in Twitter click this.

Recommended Reading: Make your blog go viral with Twitter retweets

Tags: Twitter, social media, writing tips

Top Foolproof Writing Tip

Image by Kelly Sims via Flickr

This post is inspired by a compilation of the best writing tips by John Roach of prowritingtips.com . I've read all 17 of them but what resonated most with me is @raimalarter 's tip: My writing tip: seat time. As in “Put your seat in the chair and stay there!”

Raima is so spot on that if there's only one advice I can share with you to transform yourself into a creative writer it is that common task. Very startling in its stark simplicity it's a wonder it escapes our attention.

That's all there is it to it. No magic bullet. No strange sounding mantra to set you in the mood. Just this: sit down and write.

Twitter after and not before (you may never extricate yourself). Certainly not during your writing time because you may never finish what you started. And close your browser tabs. All of them - email, IM, Facebook, Friendster, Friendfeed, LinkedIn. Better yet close down your internet connection.

After you've done you're pre-writing rituals and unplugged yourself from the hive then you're ready to -

* Sit down and search your notes (you keep a notebook of blogpost ideas, don't you?) and pick one to write.
* Sit down even if you decide your cache of ideas is worthless.
* Sit down even if you have no idea what to write about. You'll have better luck next time.
* Sit down because you're rewiring your brain every time you keep your appointed time to write.
* Sit down until you have the guts to plunk your heart on the table and smudge your post with it.

Over time you'd be comfortable with the idea of your alone time. Every day that you keep to your schedule you're becoming more attuned to the promptings of your inner voice. Listen to it. Acknowledge it. Capture what it has to say.

You have great friends in real life. You're a power user in social media with a large following. But are you friends with your creative voice? Can you honestly say every time you sit down to write this untapped creative spirit has got your back covered?

Yes, consider it a date. Keep to your schedule every day. Until your ass muscles will have developed what athletes call muscle memory and drag you to your desk to write. Give in to its prompting. Your indecisive brain may falter but muscle memory will save your day.

Your ass knows best, after all.

This is just one idea. I know you've a useful tip or two to make blogging or creative writing less of a brain bleed. Over to you, dear readers. And out with it. :)

Tags: writing tips, creative blogging

Here's Why I Deserve to Win A WordPress Blog

To qualify for the blog contest at TheWeBlogZone, I have to write a post why I think I deserve to win it.

(Author's Note: Please read the next post for the details of this contest.)

Here are my main points why I think I deserve to win this contest:


I need to take my blogging to the next level.

I have been blogging for only 70 days and already I feel the constraints of a hosted blog platform. But pundits will say I should have started with WordPress on day one and while their reasons are exemplary, let's not go into that.

Some background. The blogging virus caught me when I had read Jehzeel's blog. I did not know I was already infected. I kept coming to his blog to read his latest post. When there was a new update, I'd dig deep into his archives. Consequently, I started commenting on his post and from thereon we kept exchanging emails about blogging. He offered to host my blog. For free. The only thing I had to do is to get a domain name.

I had found a new found love: blogging. But I took the opposite route by registring with Blogger. It took me a while to visit Jehz blog again because I was ashamed of my stubbornness. But he did not take it against me. We're still good online buddies.

Through these three months that I have been checking in on my blog neighbors, I always feel inferior about my blog. They have WordPress themes to die for. And marvelous plug-ins and widgets. I can only stand along the picket fence with mouth open in wonderment. I've been keeping up a carefree facade but deep inside I always feel like a poor cousin among my online friends. After all, I have been living under the bridge at the pittance of Blogger.

Image by Sailing "Footprints: Real to Reel" (Ronn ashore) via Flickr

Why should I be ashamed when I am not hurting anybody in the course of my blogging?

I know. I have been faithful to my blog - posting every other day. But faith and perseverance is not enough.

I have been studying to better my craft: subscribed to the big guns in the blogosphere, sitting practically at their feet to learn as much as my feeble brain can. But passion is not enough.

I have sacrificed many things so I can sit every day at my desktop so I can blog. Gave up prime time television. Which meant no more 24. No more Lost. No more American Idol. Gave up online gaming (I miss you, Nortrom the Silencer. LOL). But sacrifices are sometimes not enough.

I have been writing my own content. They may be a little skewed, a little off-putting sometimes, or juvenile and this I concede, but they are my own. They are not scraped materials from some obscure underbelly of the internet. Forensic blood spatter experts will tell you the microscopic stains on my posts are mine alone. But originality is not enough.

Unless I take my blogging to another level.

I need to be taken seriously as a blog author. I'm blogging on borrowed time, living under the pittance of Blogger. Any day, any hour, my blog can be taken off the blogosphere by Google. And Google doesn't need any earthshaking reason to do away with my blog. It can do so on a whim. Maybe down the road, for some quirk of fate, I will hit it big with Digg, driving monstrous traffic into this quiet blog. And Google will have been alarmed about the traffic spike and might have pulled the rug from under Sa Labas ng Mandaluyong. No amount of appeal can bring it back. You're a splog, Jan, we're sorry. End of discussion.

I have joined the blogging world without much thinking. I thought my enthusiasm was enough. Seriously, who will remember Sa Labas ng Mandaluyong? That's quite a mouthful and bad for the palate. It's obscure. What does it mean? Unless you're a medical personnel from the mental institution in Mandaluyong City and goes about town with a straitjacket and a zapper. But you're not. You have no time for this inside joke. Sa Labas ng Mandaluyong is a joke gone stale. It's not enough if I want to be taken seriously as a blog author. And I do need to be taken seriously.

To sum up, let me borrow some words of wisdom from Friedrich Nietzsche, "No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself."

Winning this contest will give me the opportunity to do just so. A good start so I can rightfully claim the privilege of owning myself.

Invitation to you, dear readers. I'm lusting to win this contest, but I'm inviting you to join me. If I don't clinch this, I'd feel less crestfallen if one of you can take it home with you. Elmot, Joji, James, Lemuel, Adrian,Jade and Yatot - this is for us, guys.

Come on, let's make this our project.

Related Post: 10 Traits of a Die-Hard Blogger

Tags: blog contest, WordPress, Blogger

If You Don't Join This Contest, You'll Hate Yourself Later

If you're a web author on Blogger this contest is for you. Rocky John Tayaban of TheWeBlogZone has cooked up a contest to put all other blog contests to shame. Here's what he's giving away:

* One Year Blog Hosting with BlueHost
* Domain Name (Subject to availability)
* Thesis Wordpress Theme-
* Custom Header, Logo and Banner
* Wordpress, Thesis And Plug-ins Installations
* Blog Transfer: Blogger To Wordpress
* One Month Free Support + 30 Minutes Telephone Support

What's great about this contest is that Rocky will personally create a custom header, logo and banner for your Thesis theme until you're satisfied with the outcome. If you're technically challenged with everything about HTML and such arcane stuff you'd be pleased Rocky will do some more heavy lifting for your pleasure. He's going to set up the WordPress blog himself including the installation of WP plug ins. He'd be monitoring your progress even if your blog is up and running. His technical support is nothing to sneeze at - he'd be calling you at his own expense.

Who Can Join.

This contest is open to all blogspot authors who have been blogging for at least two months. He/she must have a minimum of 20 unique posts.

How To Join

To be eligible for this contest, you must be subscribed to TheWeBlogZone. You must announce this contest in your own blog and state the reason why you think you should win this contest. When you're done posting about the contest, you must inform Rocky by leaving the URL of your post in his comment section.

Tags: blog contest, Thesis Theme, WordPress

Finding the Right Balance Between Social Media and Productivity

The social media can spread the good news about you, bring you traffic to your blog and the brand you painstakingly cultivate. Alas, they can also make you less productive.

Atop my to-do list is to build a fair number of future posts for this blog. It's like saving for the rainy days when inspiration ebbs. Or when life wrests you away to deal with real life problems and other emergencies.

But of late, I find myself becoming sucked in a black hole called Twitter. My reasons for going there are unassailable:

1. I'm on a treasure hunt for valuable links I can take back to this blog - seedlings of future post ideas.

2. I'm networking - connecting with prospective readers and online friends.

3. I'm taking the pulse of what's out there - news, new trends, emerging technologies that might impact on my writing.

4. Of course, I'm also striking a pose and somewhat liking it.

Twittergrader after all gave me a report card of 95.5. Another Twitter application Twitterholic ranked me 65th among users in the Philippines.

Should I be happy? No. I'm practically scrambling to beat my posting deadline, a clear case of blogging hand-to-mouth. It's taking me a lot harder to get into my writing groove. My attention span is shot. I'm even beginning to think there is a sliver of truth to the notion that online interaction is rewiring how we think and make decisions.

Gosh, can it be this technology overload is turning my brain into a flat pancake? You know the symptoms. You pick up a reasonably good book to read, but you can't concentrate. You keep throwing anxious looks at your desktop or your blackberry. Can't keep pace with what the author's driving at. His multi-layered subtleties don't send delicious chills down your spine anymore. You're impatient - how you wish he'd get to the point and give you the lowdown, preferably in bullet points.

Facebook and other social bookmarking sites

I rarely check to see what's up with Facebook lately. I used to like it a lot because interaction in Facebook is a little laid back. You can almost describe it as pastoral. I can play games, check messages, approve the occasional friend request and move out. That's the lovely part. Then it happened. I got poked a lot. What's with these people? Send me a message instead. I hate to be prodded and poked like so much sidewalk merchandise. And I don't need to hunt for Easter eggs. That and getting friend recommendations of half-naked punks - what am I now a casting couch or something?

It's good that whenever I twit this gets published as well in Facebook. Whenever I hit the stumble button this gets shown in Friendfeed and Twitter as well. Good. Efficient use of technology and all that But it's weird - like I shouted something and this echoes and reechoes in the vast Grand Canyons of the internet.

For all its benefits the social media have the power to make your productivity toast. I find it gobbling up large chunks of time that would otherwise have been put to better use: like actually living. And writing.

Over to you now, friends. How do you deal with these online temptations? What system do you have in place that guarantees productivity and optimum social media presence?

I'm all ears for your suggestions. And of course you can join me in Twitter later. :) Let's spook some people there, okay?

Recommended Post: 50+ Writer Uses for Twitter
Related Post: My Twitter Friends Mosaic

Tags: Twitter, friendfeed, stumbleupon, facebook, productivity

Give Me an Insightful Comment and I'll Promote You to Front Page

The previous post was a curious case of a comment that got promoted to the front page of this blog.

Several readers thought I wrote the previous post. I would love to pass it off as mine, but it's written by Adrian who ditched his dream of becoming a Filipino Fyodor Dostoevsky just so he can be an accomplished film critic. He may now sport a keen sensibility and air of high culture befitting a lover of high cinema, but I will not risk a scene here. We don't want a half-mad Raskolnikov - who knows for sure he's gone from Adrian's psyche? - trashing the furniture around here, let me tell you.

It's actually my fault. You're so used to hearing me from my bully pulpit. I should have prepared you in my earlier posts.

So Why Feature a Guest Post?

No, it's not a lazy blogger's way to fill his blog with content. Guest posts inject new voice in the conversations going on in any blog community. A fresh point of view - you can do no wrong with that. It defeats the likelihood of your blog community resembling an echo chamber.

I'd like to believe you're not reading this blog because of my personality. I recognize my skewed point of view somehow colors and determines how the posts here are shaped, but I trust you're here because of the content. And the discussion that these posts provoke. A more levelheaded voice - your voice - therefore will be to everyone's benefit.

Last month I suffered a mild case of writer's block. Remember? I invited several of you dear readers to submit a post here. You begged off. I understand your reluctance. I'm thinking of pitching a post to more well known bloggers myself, but I keep putting it off. I need more time. Lots of research. The usual excuses.

So when Adrian left a comment that obviously he gave a lot of himself into, I decided a simple thank you was not enough. I wrote him to tidy up what he wrote (We're all instant geniuses at 2:00 am after all). He did, adding a few relevant points. And so my first guest post came to be.

Thanks Adrian.

One more pitch for guest post. If you have a post feel free to submit it. Some ground rules:

1. It must be original. If you're bouncing off another blogger's post you have to put in the necessary credit or attribution.

2. It's best if you stick to topics that I get off on: writing, blogging, and technology

3. Not too spammy. I'd give two links to your site in the introduction. A relevant link in the body that points to your own post is all right. More than that and you'd have to ship me a Kindle2 e-reader.

4. There's no compensation, but every time I see you you'll get the red carpet treatment: Will wag my tail fiercely whenever I see you coming and slaver you up properly. Fair enough?

Of course you need not be regular reader or visitor here to contribute. You're all welcome.

Thank you Jena Isle for inviting me to guest post in your blog. Jena is interested in your contributions - inspirational stories, poems, articles and even drawings. This will be later compiled in a book. No compensation for now, but you get 5,000 Entrecard credits and a copy of the book. Plus you get your picture splashed on her pages. Now, isn't that marvelous?

A Film Critic's Take on Successful Blogging

Image via Wikipedia

I had a blast last night reading comments on my previous post. Adrian of Auditoire, a blog on serious explorations of contemplative and non-formulaic films, left an insightful comment about his progress as a writer and traits that make up a successful blogger. Seeing he put a lot of thought in his comment, I asked him to flesh out some points so I can put it here on the front page. End result? My first guest post.

Here is this blog's first guest post contributorAdrian:

I suddenly remember my first attempt to create a blog. I said to myself, "This is not a blog but a journal, a piece of writing, a mirror, a window to one's soul, and a remedy for a broken heart" (from my diary Feb 23, 2008)

I always felt euphoric coming out of my room, plunging into my daily life with a thought that I started something new: a blog. It changed me in many ways. It helped me a lot in battling writer's block, which plagued me for two years. I had always kept a diary, but I felt it wasn't enough to cure the blockage, so I started a blog.

I never thought of becoming a great blogger, but I always imagine myself becoming a great writer.

A great blogger is not necessarily a great writer. One has a quality different from the other. I find it surprising to find bloggers such as Bryanboy and Scott earning a lot of money without putting much effort in their writing.

After a year of immersion into the blogosphere I have realized that a great blogger should have the following characteristics:

1. PERSONA: This is the projected character of the author which manifests through his writing style. Although Bryanboy is known for his tongue-in-cheek and funny attitude as reflected in his criticisms on high fashion designers, he may turn out to be different when one meets him in person. If a blogger uses writing as a means to communicate with his audience, he should master his persona.

2. CONSISTENCY: Personally, I find it convenient to write about ONE subject that I know, a subject that i am interested in. I notice that most bloggers who focus on a particular subject (niche) e.g. cinema, art, fashion, self-help, current events, politics, photography survive well in the blogosphere than most who talk mostly of everything. One advantage of being consistent with a single niche is that it is easy! One topic to build, one niche to focus. It increases the stamina of blogging. Another advantage is the ease of finding an audience. Of course, a particular niche has a particular audience. You can never have a zero audience for a particular niche.

3. INFLUENTIAL: The best bloggers, like Scott and Mr. Manolo, have the capacity to influence current trends in both cyberspace and the 'outside' world. Scott is known for influencing some fashion designers across the globe because he photographs ordinary people, wearing extraordinary clothes on the street. Mr. Manolo, as we all know, continues to influence the current socio-political paradigms of our society.

Blogging has changed: the way we see it, the way it functions. It is not what we used to think in the past: a personal web log (contracted as 'blog') to record events of online techie geeks and college students. It has shaped our personal lives as well as the lives of others. It has carved a solid position in current media, in ethics and in the law. It has become part of the postmodern society where intertextuality (a principle which denies the existence of grand absolute universal truths) rules, and where opinions are much appreciated than the usual conventions.

We are moving into a different age. We are moving into the age of cyberspace. And as we are caught up into this dizzying swirl it's best to listen to our inner voice. The roles are cut out for us. Will we evolve into topnotch bloggers? Or will we transform into writers of note?

Who Else Wants to be a Topnotch Blogger?

In this post I'd continue where I left off in Get Rid of that Feeling of Inadequacy as a Writer. Two readers contributed practical and valuable writing tips. I'd like to highlight them here as I believe these will impact positively on our daily blogging:

1. Yatot: "As I said in the past, people can all be bloggers but not all of them can become writers... but then again, here's the good news... blogging can improve the way you write... it's like a practice ground to everything in writing!"

We all start at that awkward stage when it seems we're not making any progress. We start writing one thing and end up discussing another - a post that's at war with itself. Sometimes we mix metaphors unknowingly. Other times we let modifiers to dangle ever so perilously. And that's when we're being productive. We have yet to touch on those moments when are stuck with a blank page. But that's for another post.

If at this stage of your blogging career you still feel inadequate with your writing my advice is to press on. As a reader, I don't let myself get distracted by a few errors in grammar. That can't be helped. My writing is often visited by errors, too. What matters to me - and to a lot of people, I think - is your story, your voice, your ideas.

I will not name names. Because I find it awkward to cite fellow bloggers' work in this fashion. But I'm telling you this. I started blogging because of two individuals who have inadequate grasp of English. They inspire me to stop being mere reader and to become a blog author myself. What they wrote about and how they wrote it will make any self-respecting English teacher sob in anguish. Dig deep into the archives of some of our Filipino top bloggers and find out for yourself how awkward they were in the initial stage of their blogging career.

This did not stop me from reading them. Not because I'd like to feel superior and laugh at their faces. Nope. I love their unique voice and their personal stories more than the lapses in sentence construction. You guessed right - the primacy of their ideas won me over.

I keep reading them because I see great talent unfolding bit by bit. And I will be a fool not to be a witness or part of that transformation.

For the record, they have since improved a lot. Blogging improved their writing. Over time.

And I don't see why your case will be any different. With time, you'd find the going a little bit easier. Just keep on writing on a daily basis as Yatot suggested. If you feel you've a lot to learn, take heart because blogging can improve the way you write eventually.

2. Bingkee: "Read and read and read a lot. Write and write and write a lot. Develop a style of your own but be natural. Don't try to be what you are not. It's just gonna come out you're a T.H. (trying hard) if you do that."

Reading will help you big time especially if you need to improve your writing. Read the best web authors. Subscribe to their feed. What makes their writing sizzle? How do they do it? Break down their post in manageable pieces and find out why they work.

I had worked as a clerk in a factory years ago. I was straight from college. It was a culture shock to me. The language was colorful, blunt,sexually suggestive, and expletives? - oh boy. But it was not for long. Over time, I found myself quite at home speaking exclusively about genitalia and various acts of copulation to express disgust, admiration, sadness, surprise and whatever situation that presented itself.

It's the same with reading. Keep yourself with the company of the masters and you'd see remarkable progress in your writing. Bingkee is right - read up the classic books. How will this impact on your writing? A lot. Over time you'd find your voice and be more confident in your writing.

Now, over to you, dear readers. Care to share your top secret formula to become a great blogger?

Recommended Reading: Have that staying power in blogging. And here's another good read: How to turn your passion into a blog.

Tags: blogging tips

Get Rid of Your Feeling of Inadequacy as a Writer Once and for All

Cover of The Elements of Style

A reader left a comment on my post, Little Known Way to Overcome the Fear of Blogging, that got my attention. She says, "...thinking how good the bloggers here, I lose the zeal to write... you know, sometimes it's insecurity, or just simply afraid to be incorrect."

Do you feel the same? Do you sometimes have this suspicion at the back of your mind that you're not good enough? Or whatever it is you need to say has already been said before and that there's nothing new and useful that you can add?

Does it stop you?

Guess not. You're still here updating your blog. You have kept the faith. You realize there maybe nothing new under the sun. But - and here's the key -you also know it's your personal stamp that will make the difference in whatever you write about.

You're lucky. You know precisely how to deal with this. But for those whose self-doubt prevents them from realizing their true potentiality as a blogger this is not a small matter.

First off, let me tell you this. You're already a unique individual. You don't need fancy makeovers to be accepted by your peers. Your DNA is so configured that there's not a living thing on the face of the earth that is your exact match. This makes you unique as a web writer. Dig deep inside you and you will find - if you haven't already - what sets you apart.

You're a thoughtful and caring individual in real life. That will show in your writing, believe it or not. So be reflective in your writing. The blogosphere is filled with people forever in a hurry to nowhere and largely living unexamined lives. Be that voice of equanimity. And you will find harassed souls gravitating to hear your unique perspective on life.

You're impish, outgoing, and funny. These traits will color your posts and how you deal with your readers. Be yourself and astound your readers.

You're snarky, unpredictable, and sometimes hopelessly morose. That's still all right. Some blog authors' rise to prominence have been largely due to this venomous disposition. If you find the right mix - keeping a tight rein on this impulse can set you apart from those who pour bile on their writing day in and day out.

You thought of yourself as bland, not unique enough. Stop right there. Perish that thought. In persuasive writing, the value of ideas takes precedence over less significant considerations. Personal quirks can even get in the way of clear communication. What you mistake for great writing - those unnecessary flourishes and mannerisms are not style - even pulls you back from writing posts that truly pop.

It's not you who should hog the limelight. It's your ideas that should take center stage.

Grammar and mastery of the language.

These are fiddling matters - nothing that a disciplined study can remedy. In our writing class years ago, my teacher said a startling observation that I remember to this day, "See those teachers? Yeah, they know their noun-verb agreement. But can they write? You'd be surprised they cannot as well as you do."

"They're mere technicians of the language," she said, "But you - you have ideas. Believe in yourself. Remember that."

I still do.

Helpful Perspective

1. You're just writing a post. A little story or anecdote that happened in your way to the market. You are not defending a thesis. We are not here to make hell for you just because you said complement instead of compliment. Or because you thought luxuriant and luxurious both meant the same thing. Your visitors drop by to hear your story, and if time permits, for a little chat.

2. Think about this - you're on the web where readers peer inside your door, scan what you write, and move on. It's been said they do this at 60 mph, and that's the cruising speed, mind you.

But of course you want to improve your writing. You can feel it your bones. You're aching for it.

So what are your options?

1. Find a mentor

Yesterday, I noticed a spelling error on a friend's About Me page. I emailed my friend and ever so gently asked if it was a typographical error, confessing that it's bothering me every time I visit. That it felt like it was taunting me to do something about it. My friend took it well. He even appropriated me as his mentor, which of course means I'd alert him whenever he becomes sloppy with his posts. I agreed to guide him.

The community that you build around your blog is studded with generous people. Seek their help. You'd be surprised a lot of them will be happy to work out with you on your concerns.

2. Self-study. A treasure trove of rich online resources sits on your doorstep. Practically a click away. You're just sidestepping it in pursuit of more exciting web activities. Make self-study a top priority in your online schedule. You have time to give Easter eggs to your Facebook friends when you're not wasting hours playing Travian. Give up an hour or two for your study. Keep at it daily.

3. Buy this book - The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr and E. B. White. I highly recommend it. I swear by it. It's my bible. It's only 92 pages long but it's priceless. Bought it in college - that was eons ago - and I still keep it with me.

Because I consider this as a conversation, I'm asking for your suggestions and writing tips. There are a lot of things I have overlooked, I know. What in your experience have you found useful in dealing with the problem of writer's insecurity or feeling of inadequacy? What do you recommend?

Shaking My Tail Feathers

I'm so happy I can't help but shake my tail feathers.

Because I've won Top Commentator of the Month in Jaypee's blog. I thought I lost that one, but there's something to be said for grim determination. I'm still a little sore from all the commenting I've done over at Jaypee's blog. But hey, what's to be grumpy about. After all, I've won these goodies:

* $15 via Paypal
* some WordPress schwag pencil, pin, stickers and temporary tattoo, and
* a WordCamp Las Vegas or WordPress tshirt.

The good news is that this is an ongoing contest at Jaypee's cool technology and blogging news and reviews blog.
You still have time to participate. And even if you're not interested in joining the contest you'd find the posts compelling.

My top commentator of the month contest is still on. Here are the contest guidelines:

1. You can also react to a fellow reader's comment if you wish. Just keep it civil. Contrary views couched in hateful language will be struck down.

2. Comments must be relevant to the post. Spammy comments like "Great post. You did it again." will be deleted.

3. Kindly write in English so our international friends can join in the conversation. I can't edit your comments so there's no way I can provide a rough translation. Comments made in Filipino will not be deleted but these will not be reflected in your score.

4. I'm open to suggestions to make this more fun for you. Raising the monetary value of the prize? I wish I can do that but I'm feeling the pinch, too - what can I say?

Here's a video to give you an idea how happy I'd been since winning this contest. Shaking my tail feathers is my new skill. I hope you enjoy this -

Bird Shakes His Tailfeather @ Yahoo! Video

Tags: blogging, blog commenting

Top Commentator for February

Yatot of The Yatot Chronicles, a delicious online magazine, is this blog's Top Commentator of the Month. For his zestful interaction with all of us here he will receive Haruki Murakami's A Wild Sheep Chase.

I'm dying to send him a pair of native chickens, but I got nervous the last minute. I'm afraid Yatot would not take kindly to being greeted by squawking chickens in his place of work. So I settled for a book to give away. Much safer that way.

Please send me your address, Yatot. I need to send this first thing in the morning because I have this great itch to rip the plastic wrapping of the book and curl up in bed and just read it.

James Thurber once said, "There are two kinds of light--the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures."

In my eyes, Yatot is precisely that - a light that illuminates. Thanks Yatot for shining your light in my blog. It seems more alive with your laughter and voice in it. Your gift of friendship is deeply appreciated.

Visit Yatot in his flagship blog. Read my lips: he's got other blogs under his belt. It's got a new look - simple elegance. He is very outgoing and fun guy to be with. Show him some love. He's a funny cookie, but even a lovely cookie needs to be told once in a while that he's yummy and delicious and deserving of our mighty Rarr!