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

When was the last time you wrote a letter? A real letter to a friend or family with news and other idle chatter? Letter writing is a skill. These days it's becoming quaint, old-fashioned as email and typed notes take over.

There is a little formality to letter writing. You start with the date and then add a greeting. It's easy to forget the date and it may not seem important when it's a casual, personal letter. But, the date gives it relevance for when they read it later. Even now, it shows when you wrote the letter and how long it took to get through the mail.

The greeting is also known as the salutation. It's a fancier word for hello. Standard salutations for letters start with Dear. But, that's quite old now. I think even Emily Post would be ok with an update there. You could write Hello, just the person's name or something else which would mean the same to the person you are writing to. After all, this isn't a formal business letter, it's allowed be personal, friendly and intimate.

The body of the letter is freewriting. Write news, updates about past news, how your day is going, what you're thinking about, the town you live in, what you did on vacation, whatever comes to mind. Keep it in paragraph format. That just makes it easier to read. Everyone likes a break in reading now and then. Add a double space between paragraphs. Not everyone does this and it's only become the standard since letters started being typed. But, I think it's a very practical practice. The clever use of white space can only add to the presentation whether it's a magazine layout, a website or a family newsletter.

At the end you sign off. This is a time to be really creative. You can wind down your letter with comments about hope you write back soon, hope you are well, how was your vacation, etc. Or this could all be included in the body. But, there should be some sort of wind down to the closing. Still, every letter ends with some version of good bye: "Take care, Laura" That is my standard close to a letter or an email. It's polite, slightly formal and works for just about anyone I'm writing to. But, I don't have to stick with that and either do you. Be informal, be memorable or just be personable, it's up to you. Don't forget to sign your name though. I once had a letter from a penpal who didn't sign their name, didn't mention who they were in the letter and didn't add a return address to the outside of the envelope. I guessed who they were; the postage was a help since I was writing to people all over the world at that time.

So we come to the last part of writing a letter, the envelope. If you have used fancy stationary you may need to choose the best spot to write the addresses and stick the stamps. Some stationary doesn't leave space in the right places. The post office likes everything done just the same for their machines to read the letters. This also gives your letter an edge in delivery time. If the machines can handle it all the way it goes through the system faster. If humans have to take over it will be delayed. Anyway, the standard is to put the stamps in the upper right corner, which I'm sure you know well by now. But, did you know they actually like the address and postal code on the low side? I'd usually write them in the middle of the envelope so that the whole address was centered. But, I found that the postal machines are set up to read lower on the envelope, they pick out the postal code and sort it that way. (At least that's what I was told when I asked here, if someone works for the post office let me know if I'm mislead about this). Don't forget a return address. You can write it across from the stamp on the front of your letter, the upper left corner. Or you can write it on the back of your letter where there is more space. However, if there is a chance your letter won't reach your intended destination write the return address on the front. This makes it easier for the letter to be returned to you.

I feel like I've just written the Martha Stewart guide to writing a letter. Though this is simple stuff to most people I expect there are some people who have never written a personal letter. You're missing out on something. Letter writing is a great way of keeping in touch with people and with yourself. When you write about yourself, your life and your feelings you let go of some things and hang onto others that are good. At times it's like getting to know yourself. It's therapeutic and it's almost free.

Also, as writers, we can always use more writing to practice our skills with grammar, punctuation and spelling. More than that, we practice our skills with communicating in words. Letter writing gives you feedback in a way you miss out with writing articles, stories and such. People will reply to letters but you will seldom get feedback from any other writing you do. Another plus, letter writing feedback is tempered with good attitude and their comments about your grammar goofs will be meant well and given from a friend rather than a human dictionary who seems to just live to correct others. Don't you hate people like that? (Not that I mind learning from my mistakes but spare me the attitude).

One other excellent thing I found about writing penpal letters was how much I learned about the world and the people in it. Other cultures, lifestyles and values are at your pen tip. I always think it's a shame that some people cut themselves off from the world and live in a very small space inside their own head. There is so much out there in the world around us. Even if you never travel you can be an armchair traveler through your letters. Ask about things, find new ways of thinking, seeing and doing things. Make your life an expedition into the world, even if it's only through the paper of your letters.

Try this: Consider your website (or your computer if you don't have a site) and put together a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page all about your site. Don't forget a guide to how to use the site as well as the purpose for it being there. Study a few other FAQs to get ideas.

This is what I wrote as the new writing exercise for HerCorner. What do you think? Could you write a FAQ for your website? You should be able to. In theory at least, your site should have a theme, one main idea or purpose, right? So, it seems reasonable to expect a FAQ could be forthcoming.

Anyway, I like the idea. So tonight I am putting my fingers where my mouth is and I am creating a FAQ of my own for HerCorner. I might even do one for my personal site. But, I freely admit my personal site is not a great example of sticking with one idea.

So, getting down to the FAQ of it. What do you need to include in a FAQ? Likely you've read a few or skimmed them as I tend to do. Which is a good point, actually. Your FAQ should be skimmable when you get it into HTML. Do you know how to set up targets? Targets are those clickable points in the middle of a page. You can read a table of contents and find a clickable link to that exact section of the large body of content. If I sound like I'm gabbling send me an email and I will hunt out a link to demonstrate this target idea for you. Most FAQ's will use this, if you check for examples on your own.

Now, the meat of the matter. What does a FAQ need to include? I think the first thing is a statement of purpose. Someone reading this sentence (or short paragraph) should be able to understand what your site is about. But, this is a time to keep it simple. Just the basics. If it appeals to them they can dig into your FAQ for the details and specifics.

Next, explain the parts. Think basic and plan out what you really need people to know. Put it all into logical order, sort of a learn as you go thing. Read it back, try to think like someone who doesn't already know the answers. Did you miss anything?

Do your best, ask for feedback at the end and don't try to be some computer melded brain. It's almost certain you will leave something out that someone else will pick up on later. You are not the world's most perfect writer, you're just someone trying to be creative and share their FAQ with the world.

Now go get FAQ'ed!