Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) was a wife, Mother and famous humour writer in the US.

I remember Erma Bombeck.

She was a newspaper columnist, a woman who shared a way of looking at life and living, telling everyone not to take it all so seriously and to actually live rather than just work your way through life. Erma Bombeck wanted women in particular, to remember to enjoy life and not worry about getting the laundry done or the oven cleaned.

How Erma Started Out

Erma lived in Ohio, married and had three children. As a child she was a great student and she loved to read, a lot. In 1940, she wrote a column for her high school newspaper. She worked as a copygirl for the Dayton Herald, newspaper, in 1942. Her first feature interview for the newspaper was with Shirley Temple when the actress was visiting town in 1943. After high school Erma continued working with the newspapers planning to attend the Ohio University. However, she didn't do well on her literary assignments, was rejected from writing for the university newspaper and was not able (for financial reasons) to return for another year at the university.

Maybe it was fate. If she had graduated from the Ohio University she may have become a reporter and never have created the career she did, as a humour writer.

What Erma Did

At the University of Dayton, Erma was inspired by Bro. Tom Price who told her "You can write." Sounds simple but this man inspired her to keep writing, even though she had been feeling discouraged. (There is an interview in the videos below where she talks about this).

Erma attended university and wrote for the student newspaper. During this time she worked at a department store and wrote for the company newsletter. She also worked part time at an advertising agency and as a public relations person for the YMCA. In 1949 she graduated and married Bill Bombeck, who had been at the same university.

Erma Bombeck Writes

You may think it was all writing from there. But, no. Her first career move was to become a Mother. One adopted child (they were told she could not have children) and then two sons were born afterwards. Those early years she was a wife and Mother first. But, she did write a series of columns for the Dayton Shopping News.

In 1964 Erma took up writing as a career again. She began with weekly columns, written in her bedroom/ home office. (In those days a home office was a desk with an old fashioned typewriter and something to sit on). From this small beginning Erma Bombeck's writing career took off. In 1965 she wrote two columns for the Dayton Herald Journal which were a hit within just weeks. Her column, "At Wit's End", was syndicated in 36 major US newspapers. In 1966 she was giving lectures and by 1967 her columns were being published in book form.

RIP Erma Bombeck

Not everyone will know who she was now. It doesn't seem like very long ago that she died, but it is actually about 18 years ago, in 1996. That's a lifetime ago for some of the young people walking and talking, even old enough to have a job, a vote and a family of their own, these days. What would Auntie Erma say to the fresh generation of people born?

Erma Bombeck Writers's Workshop

Erma Bombeck Collection

Make Blogging Fun Again

Keeping a site up and running isn't light work. Writing, scheduling, promoting, proofreading, maintaining, updating, replying, publishing... all of that takes time and energy. Bloggers get burnt out trying to keep up with it.

What can you do to avoid burning out while still being productive with fresh inspiration to go on creating more?

• Change where you write.
• Change how you write.
• Get some sleep!
• Make writing fun (again).

If all else fails, reconsider your topic. Maybe you just don't have a blog niche which really suits you? Make a list of the things you really do love to read about, find out about and above all - what do you like to DO? Chances are something you are actively participating in will be a much better topic than something you watch from the sidelines.

Write Something Different: Interview Troubleshooting - problems with solutions Profile someone or something Quiz or polls Personal stories Quotes Conversations Explain decisions Answer questions Thank someone Round ups Goals Update old posts Q & A Follow up Checklists Trends Controversial Live blogging - report on an event Life streaming - report on yourself Video posts Promotional - talk about your ebook, etc Contests Ask questions of your readers FAQ (Frequently asked questions) Top ten list Podcast Review Editorial Rant Critique Special reports Post in a series, linked together Cheat sheet Infographic Hand drawn post Web comic Art journal Jokes Webinar Repost a discussion held on Twitter Debate Curated links Collaboration (trade posts with another blogger). Historical Future predictions Shopping ideas How-to Seasonal On this day... Whatever happened to... Tutorial Images with minimal text Advice column Hypothetical (What if...) Satire Inspirational/ motivational News Definitions of words/ jargon Directory of links Join in on a meme, blog fair or other project

Write it Differently

Stop writing everything like a standard blog post. Look at other formats. If you run WordPress make note of the formats available in the toolbar menu to the right.

Get out of your same old post rut and try something new.

Work on scheduling too. Put together a few posts ahead of time and schedule them to be posted in the days ahead. This way you can actually take a few days off from your daily blogging grind. Do something else. (Besides blog stuff - there is a whole world out there, offline).

Write in a New Location

Do you always write in the same place, at the same time, with the same tools? Why not make a change, something simple which will give you a fresh perspective, fresh scenery and people to watch.

I especially like writing in a coffee shop. I find a window seat and let myself procrastinate for awhile with a good latte. Once I stop trying to write it becomes easier to think of things to write about.

Another great discovery is the local transit system. For the cost of a few dollars I can spend an hour on the bus (it doesn't really matter where I'm going) and let my mind drift. I keep pens and paper in my purse or backpack and make notes with ideas as I get them.

Write outdoors too. Put yourself under the open sky with all sorts of room to breathe, relax and wander. Just being outside never fails to lighten my mood.

Unclutter your mind. It's funny how much easier it is for new thoughts to seep in once you have given them some space. Sleep (That thing you close your eyes for). People who keep blogs work for themselves, set their own hours and can have the most demanding boss. Themselves.

How many times have you stayed up late to proofread a post? How many times have you worked through lunch to put in time posting on Twitter? How many times have you not taken a day off in an entire week? What job has such poor hours, unless it is also someone self-employed?

Go to bed. Take a weekend off. Take a vacation and really stop blogging. Don't check email. Don't write a few lines to Facebook or Twitter. Don't do anything... except maybe jot down a note or two when you get a great idea you can work on tomorrow when you're done with your day off blogging.

Remember When all this Seemed Fun? I began blogging because I loved it.

In time that gets forgotten buried and lost. There are so many demands we put on ourselves. So many things others tell us we should do if we care about marketing, traffic, SEO, readers, comments, guest posts, advertising, monetizing and the list goes on. It's all pressure. A lot of it is just plain peer pressure.

Consider this... why do you read a blog (other than your own?) In some cases you may be looking for news and information and nothing more. But, even then, why do you choose one blog over another?

Something sparks your interest, beyond the text content. Most likely the blogs which get and keep interest from their readers are the blogs which have some spark of life, a sense of fun or at least of not being anti-fun, all work and a real chore.

Put fun back into your own blog and your work there.

Do you still love your blog topic? If not, what can you change about it to make it interesting and fun for you again?

Is there a new niche you would love to know more about yourself, something relevant to your topic? Something you just haven't taken the time to find out about or dive into?

A stale blog can't be fun to write. Bring something fresh to your blog and to your time and energy spent on it. Don't be afraid to boldly renovate and go forth in a new direction. Better to make progress in a new way than to burn yourself out and have nothing at all left to say and no real desire to say anything.

Suite101 is closing and removing their ecourses from SuiteU. I've copied some of them here so they will not be lost and future/ current writers can still learn and benefit from the ecourse.

Technical Writing

By Thomas Martin

Introduction

Technical writers have been around for a long time. In some ways, you can even look upon the illuminated manuscripts from medieval times as early technical writing! I mean, they do instruct the faithful in the mysteries of establishing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth or failing that, how to find enough salvation to convince St. Peter let you past the "Pearly Gates."

However, the job title of technical writer has only existed since the late '70s or early '80s. Until then, the programmers who coded the software or the engineers who designed the products wrote most of the documentation. …more