Writing

There are 321 posts filed in Writing (this is page 4 of 33).

Why Aren’t You Writing for HubPages?

Note: This was originally posted on the HubPages site, June 2012. I have stopped writing at HubPages but still recommend the site for new writers or those who don’t want to set up their own site or weblog.

I was thinking about what I get out of writing for HubPages and decided it would actually make a good post. Other writers should know the benefits, the less obvious benefits, to writing for HubPages or other networks.

Yes, you get paid. But, yes… you actually do get paid.
You get to practice in front of a live audience.
You get your name out there, on topics relevant to you and your interests.
You get to dabble in blogging without opening a site or buying anything.
You can work on your spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Meet other writers and other people sharing your interests or interested in you.
Promote yourself on social media by linking back to your accounts on Twitter and etc.
If you have a site you can give yourself back links and interlink between relevant posts.
Learn from the guides, tips and rules on the network. Watch for changes to how they do things and find out the reasons behind them.
Get fresh, new ideas from what other people are posting. Use the ideas in your own way.
Making Money at HubPages

My time writing for HubPages is a bit skewed. I opened an account and didn’t start using it until about 3 years later. So my results are different from what your own may be. Of course, no one is going to have the exact same experience anyway.

However, when it comes to my time here versus my money earned, things are a bit complicated.

Still, as far as being paid by HubPages. I am getting paid and I am making money here. I signed up for other writing networks and did not get any money for my work and my time. In fact, I’ve only been paid for work on my own blog (which is outside of any writing network) and HubPages. None of the other networks have paid me a thing in the past year. So, of course, I am putting more into HubPages and my own sites.

My first payment from HubPags was just over $50 and I am halfway to a second $50 payment. Due to my own efforts – choosing topics, writing headlines, writing content and finding context, etc – I have made $25 in three months.

Now, if you look at your cost of living that doesn’t seem like much. But, it’s pretty good for a writing network. I know others are making more money in different ways. I’m not comparing apples and oranges though. I’m quite pleased with the money from HubPages.

Of course, the secret is time management. Don’t over do it. Keep your time, work and the returns you get in balance.

There’s More to Writing for a Network than Money

People always want to know about making money. But, as a writer, there is more you can get out of writing for an online network than money alone.

Don’t forget the importance of feedback, building up your skills, learning how things work and building a reputation/ creating an online presence for yourself. Those are all real things you can get from writing for a network like HubPages.

I also like HubPages because it gives me a goal to work towards. When I write for myself I have no boss, no one looking over my shoulder or keeping me on track. I sometimes go off on my own and daydream about some new idea or write a post because it appeals to me, just me. Having a bit of a task master at HubPages is a good thing. You need to keep your focus, watch how and what you write/ post and you can see the results and set yourself goals to improving based on the numbers HubPages tracks for you.

Right now I’m working on getting traffic numbers up. I want to go from 10K to 100K around the end of this year. It may be too much to reach for. But, I’m past the quarter point. Progress, even if I may fall short at the end, I can still see things might work out. I’m pushing extra buttons by promoting my posts, linking to them and continuing to write new posts.

Why Not Give HubPages a Try?

I’m not going to stick in a referral link here. If you do join I would appreciate the referral but I’m Canadian and I’m just not comfortable asking for something for myself.

But, if you have read this and think writing for a network is a good idea, try HubPages. You don’t have to pay to join, you don’t even have to start writing right away. Think about it, consider how useful it could be for you and then give it a spin.

Send me a note when you make your first post. I’ll leave you a welcome comment.

Web (Online) Games for Writers

Games of Destruction Inspire Me to Write

I admit I’m a procrastinating web writer. There should be a club or group for us – but we’d all be playing games or claim to be writing.

If I were all good and noble and proper, I’d play word games. Games that might put me in the writing mood, get me thinking along the lines of words and using those words to form sentences. Well, I do play some word games, you can’t take the words out of the writer, but I really enjoy city building sort of games. I like the type of games where you can build things up and then destroy them on a whim. It’s the evil in me.

Of course, some of the games I especially like are all about destruction, right from the start you begin as the destroyer. I haven’t analyzed why I like these games, it’s better not to know I think.

Online Word Games

Online Scrabble Games

Introducing… The Games of Destruction and Zombies

The following are my favourite games of online destruction. They are simple to play as far as the actual game play. You don’t need to jump around the screen or use a lot of keys to create the action. These games happen in your own mind – these are games you have to think about.

Infectionator is deceptively simple. You need some planning to get a great score.Or you can play without caring about your score – it’s fun that way too.

Pandemic

Rebuild

Infectionator

How to Turn Your Room into a Home Office

After getting divorced (after having moved to another country and then back home as well) I have a truckload of belongings and one room to my name. Clutter and chaos and a massive lack of storage space meant I had to part with a lot of things. I was able to store some away in the basement of the house I live in. However, that still leaves me living in a house where I only have the bedroom to use as my own space.

It’s not easy finding space for a home office and a home business. Often people aren’t running a business, but they have their computer and like to have a set up where it is easy to use all their electronic gadgets – like a digital camera, a printer, a scanner, possibly a fax and your recharger for the mobile phone too. That’s a lot of stuff to fit onto a computer desk. But, it can be set up in a corner if you don’t have a lot of clutter.

Treat Yourself to a Decent Computer Desk and Chair

I bought myself a computer desk. It has a shelf on top for the monitor and a shelf at foot level for the computer tower. I keep all the cables running down the backside and once in a while I give them a dusting off. The desk level is where I keep the computer mouse and the mousepad. (You should have a mousepad if you don’t already – they keep your mouse cleaner underneath).

I am currently sitting on the second of my computer chairs. The first wasn’t as comfortable as I thought it was going to be. Make sure you sit in any chair before you buy it. I also put felt furniture pads on the bottom of the chair legs to keep them from marking the floor or making noise when I pull the chair in and out. If a chair isn’t working out a week after you buy it, the store should let you exchange it for another.

It is a good idea to have a footstool as well. This lets you elevate your feet and will help your posture if you are going to be sitting in one place for a while.

Busting your Home Office Clutter

I don’t find it so uncluttered to have my home office set up in the same room I sleep in. But, I’m working with it – so can you, if that’s the space you have to work with.

Two things which are really important are to keep the two areas defined from each other and to stop any build up of stuff. This includes, but is not limited to, laundry, coffee cups, assorted paper, notes and notebooks, pens and the odd toothbrush.

I have been working on finding a space for everything and keeping everything in it’s given space. You may think that is easy, it is not. The paper clutter is the hardest to keep controlled. This is my area to work on all those little things and they soon pile up. I found a small filing cabinet and then I found a short plastic drawer tower (that’s what the manufacturer calls it). I have been trying to keep the paper in the file cabinet and the pens and paper (for drawing on or writing notes) in the drawer tower. I have them, one on either side of my computer desk.

I do have a scanner which is currently under a pile of paper clippings which I was sorting out this morning. There isn’t quite enough room for my scanner on the computer desk right now. I’m working on that. I took an old Mac computer from my sister which I wanted to explore and that is taking up space I really didn’t have to give away.

My cables for the digital camera(s) are on top of my desk. I want to get a hook which I can put up on the wall and then have them hang on the hook. This is a great way to keep them from being lost in the day to day clutter. It also helps prevent them being harmed from getting banged around or stepped on if they slide off the desk and onto the floor accidentally. You can even use a twist tie to wrap the cords so you won’t have them trailing down very far when you hang them up.

I do have a bookshelf too, which is for my non-fiction books only. I have them sorted by topic. I keep the fiction books in a mesh bag as I read each book it goes into the bag to be exchanged at the second hand bookstore. Not keeping every book goes a long way to helping keep clutter cleared up when I don’t have a lot of space.

Keep the Kitchen, Bathroom and Laundry Room out of Your Home Office

Last of all, I have two laundry baskets. One for clothes which are freshly cleaned and ready to be put away. Even if I slack off a bit, the clothes are still not being added to the clutter. The other laundry basket is for dirty clothes to be washed. Clothes are a big problem for clutter. Last winter I did my best to part with some of my clothes. I was surprised how hard it was to let go, even things which I have not worn in awhile for assorted reasons.

Also, I keep a container in the linen closet for all my shampoo, toothpaste and related bathroom things. I don’t like to keep my toothbrush in the bathroom itself. I think it would get mildewy. So it’s great having all those things in a small space of their own.

Another big thing which you should do for your home office is to keep all eating in the kitchen. I do have a coffee here while I’m working. However, I almost never eat food while sitting at the computer. It’s much easier not to have dishes and crumbs and crud on my keyboard and around my work area. Even if your keyboard looks not too gross, try picking it up and turning it upside down. Take a look at your computer mouse too. the bottom of it as well as the top. Clean the gross-ness you have wrought.

Rearrange Furniture to Suit Your Space and Your Needs

If you have more space than a bedroom you can do a lot more with your home office. For me, I have the computer desk on one side of the room and the bed and clothes closet and drawers on the other side. I also have two large storage containers with books, computer CDs/ DVDs and some hair clips, etc. One of these fits inside the clothes closet and the other sits at the bottom of the bed, like an old fashioned hope chest.

Don’t Forget Office Supplies

Office supplies stores can be a lot of fun to shop around in. Start out as a window shopper, looking but not buying much – if anything. Decide what will really be useful, what will fit in your space and is there assembly required (or extras to buy for it). For something like extra pens, pencil crayons, etc. You just need a place to put them. However, it’s nice to have a cork board or a whiteboard, some place to leave yourself notes, stick up magnets or fancy thumb tacks. You should also have a calendar.

How to Become a Contributing Writer to a Publication

atworkWhen you want to be a published writer and you don’t have a lot of writing to show an editor or publisher, choose a small publication and become a contributing writer for them.

Contributing usually does mean you aren’t getting paid in cash money. There might be some kind of trade of services or goods. You may get a percent of ad revenue for instance. Don’t deal with promises for future payment and avoid publications which have not begun yet. Too often those promises don’t come true. A publication should have a few issues in print or online so you can see what they are doing. Also, if the publication never gets off the ground you will have done all that writing work and not have any writing credit to show for it.

Getting paid is one thing to look at when you choose a publication. The other important thing to know is, do you keep all rights to your work? Those two things are the first things I want to know when I look at a publication which I am considering. You should always have the rights to your work – especially any work you have not been paid for. Never write for a publication which wants all rights to your work and does not pay for your work and those rights to using and keeping it.

Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation

Take time to brush up on your language basics: spelling, punctuation and grammar. Never underestimate the power of a few good words. If you want to sell your skills as a writer, make sure you have them.

Get second opinions. Ask editors to read your work and give feedback. If someone points out an error, learn from it. Make a note of it, a real physical note which you can keep right on your computer to remind you. As you work on fixing each error you will learn and become better. Never assume you aren’t making some kind of mistakes.

Treat yourself to a book about writing. Not character development but how to write. I mean those old rules we were taught in school and have forgotten since then. It may not seem like a real treat to work on your grammar, spelling and punctuation. But, it is nice to know you’re doing it right. Especially, when you contact publishers and you want to put your best foot forward.

Know the Publication

Pick a publication you would like to write for. If you’re just getting started aim a little low, give yourself a good chance of getting the job. Not because you want to sell yourself short, but think ahead. Getting this experience will give you a writing credit and a lot of experience which you can use to help sell yourself to the bigger, fancier and better known publications.

Before you contact a publication find out who the editor is. Get their name and make sure it’s current information. Then read the submission guidelines on the site. Even if you want to apply as a staff writer you should know the guidelines, know what they are looking for and what they expect. Writers guidelines can tell you a lot if you take the time to read through them.

Read all the back issues or online copies you can. Develop a feel for the publication the tone and voice the writers use. What kind of advertising do they run? As much as you want to write for your readers, publications will cater to their advertisers too.

Find out what you get as a byline. For an online publication you should get an author resource box, or a profile. However they work out the details, you should be getting your name and contact information in the publication when you write for them.

Writers Need a Portfolio

Give yourself a web presence, an online portfolio to show your past work, your skills and give some information about yourself. Keep it professional, an extension of your resume.

Add social media links, if they are safe to add. If your usual Twitter posts have been personal, start a fresh account for your business as a writer. Keep them sorted out, don’t merge them and take the chance on having something sneak out which you can’t control and may not want to explain.

If you can, print up business cards for yourself. Then when you send in a letter to the publication you can include your card. This gives them something they can keep with all your contact information. A business card may get kept even when they add a resume and cover letter to the recycling bin.

Last of All, Ask for What you Want

Once you have studied the publication, written your resume and cover letter, and sent them by snail mail or email… don’t forget to follow up. Actually talk to someone and ask them for the job. Remind them who you are, give them all your contact information and thank they for taking time to talk with you.

If they ask you for a query letter with an actual idea they want written, great! Get to work on it. Do the research, find the sources of information and put together a package showing what you can offer them on that topic. Meet their needs.

Don’t stop asking and applying with publishers and editors. Instead of dwelling on a negative reply get to work on your next query letter for someone else who could say ‘yes’.

Good luck and best wishes.

Stop Regurgitating Content – Write What YOU Know

Don’t be a bland and boring writer. Don’t pollute the Internet with regurgitated content.

Hate is a strong word, but I do (almost) hate people who blog about topics they really know nothing about. They use other sources for information; they quote other people rather than having any real knowledge or personal experience. In short, they regurgitate content.

Regurgitate is very much the right word for it. For those who aren’t sure what it means – think Mother bird bringing half eaten food for her baby birds, vomiting it up so they can eat without having to actually chew anything.

See? How appetizing is that? Why would you read something like that let alone be the one writing it and expecting people to come and read it. Readers want something to chew! Or, at least they want to do their own chewing. Reading recycled content is bland and boring, like an instruction manual, there is no life, no character, nothing personal. You could read the same stuff on half a dozen other sites or just pick up a book at the Library.

Most content regurgitaters write hoping to bring in traffic. They expect they just need to use enough keywords and the traffic will come. This doesn’t work so well. Yes, Google will pick up your keywords. But, when you write on a network like HubPages, Google will also check to see how fresh and original your content is. Google will look for duplication.

If you were writing from your own experience, your own perspective and knowledge you would not be spewing out duplicate content. Too bad you didn’t write about something YOU actually know about.

It isn’t so hard to write what you know. Take the topic you think will attract readers and find an angle that works for you. Or, write about an entirely new topic. You are more interesting than you think you are. There are simple skills you have or small experiences you have discovered which other people would like to know about.

Finding angles is kind of a game really. Take any topic, say knitting a sweater (as an example). I have never knit a sweater. I’m not even a knitting person at all. But, I can write a post about knitting a sweater if I want to. I just give it a spin and find an angle that works for me. In my case I would write about my Grandmother and my Mother who do knit sweaters. My Grandmother knit a lot and even got into using a knitting machine. My Mother wishes she knit more, she still buys patterns and does get a few projects started but they don’t all end up finished. She also tends to knit with big stitches so a hat could easily be converted to a tea cosy and a scarf she knit for my sister was so long she could wrap it around her whole body, like a mummy.

See how you find your own angle? Not so hard was it? Not so hard to read either. You can make almost any topic relevant to yourself. Not everything of course.

When you want to write about something you really don’t know about or have any experience… STOP. Think. What can you offer a reader about this topic? If you can’t come up with some original idea or a twist that can move the topic into something you do know about, you should not be writing that topic. If all you can do is regurgitate content, why bother? Why write such a boring, bland post?

Would you read a post by someone who has nothing new to say? A post that just says the same stuff another 50 posts all say? Unless you happen to be related to the writer and want to be nice… you’re not likely to read something like that. It’s not even as good as a re-run because even a re-run started out as something original when it was new. Your post will be secondhand, old new, a re-run right from the start.

If you have to write a topic you know nothing about – interview someone who does know about it. Get quotes and their experiences – but get the interview first hand. Send an email and request an interview. Most people are flattered and at least interested. Create and keep a schedule for the interview and the publish date. If they have a site they will likely give you some promotion too, telling other people to read your interview. You can interview a few people about the same topic. Give them all the same questions and write their answers in Q and A format so readers can compare how each person gave a different answer, had different thoughts and experiences to share.

The world is big. it has a lot of people on it. Somewhere there is something you can write about. First hand, new and unique and original content – something YOU know about so you can bring YOUR perspective and experience to the world.

 

Writer’s Block Is More Than The Fear Of White Paper (Or Screen)

Guest post by Deanna Dahlsad.

One of the things I now find myself doing in my consulting work is providing clients with a Writing Prompt Service. It was born, like any good service, from client needs. In working with my clients, it quickly became clear that whatever their reason for having a website or blog, writers, bloggers, marketers, etc. all struggle with coming up with fresh ideas to write about.

I shouldn’t have been surprised; I’ve been stuck there myself with my own writing for my own sites. wink Some days, you just feel like you’ve said everything you can, you have no spark of inspiration. But when someone else hands you the task — a task that is suited for your own goals, it is much easier.

As a freelance writer, I do provide custom written content; but this Writing Prompt Service is a less expensive, DIY option. My Writing Prompt Service is pretty simple really: I provide my clients with an idea to write about.

What makes this service something worth paying for is the fresh set of eyes. I see what their site or business is all about, what they are trying to do, and what is missing for readers and/or potential clients and customers. I take all that information and provide them with a prompt for writing. It may be a question, an inspirational photograph, a news story — anything to get them talking (writing) about an idea or issue their website should be covering.

Because I approach this the same way I do with my freelance writing — from the point of view of the client’s goals and the needs of their site visitors, the prompted posts provide engaging organic SEO.

For those who feel stuck with their writing, but do not wish to pay for writing prompts, here’s a quick little list of ways to get ideas for writing:

1) Get out of the office or house. Often, part of feeling stuck is largely due to feeling stuck in the same old place. To rid yourself of that funk, get away from your computer, out of the office, out of the building. The fresh air will do you good and bring you fresh ideas.

2) When out — even just running errands, open your eyes and ears. Notice what people are talking about in the checkout line. Look at the headlines on newspapers and magazines on the sales racks. What are people wearing? What are they doing? What are they not doing? What about the houses, buildings, roads, businesses, etc. Are the flowers in bloom? Is it snowing? What might any of this mean to you, your readers, your business? From larger trends to tiny minutia, there are things you can observe which can spark your writing.

3) Consume media. Listen to the radio, watch TV, read books and magazines.  And read online. Really read. Don’t just scroll past the links on Twitter and Facebook, but read the articles and posts. I know this can seem tricky…

On one hand, we fear disappearing down a rabbit hole of lost or wasted time. You can overcome this easily by setting an alarm for say an hour or so.

On the other hand, we fear reading articles and blogs by those in the same industry. Will you be accused of copying someone’s idea, of not having your own ideas? If you participate in the conversation (by linking to the source of your idea when you write about it), you won’t be lambasted. And you can also bypass this issue completely by simply not reading industry publications.

4) Get fresh (free) eyes. Ask a friend or family member to ask you questions about your business, work, or the "beat" you cover.

We are often too close to our own work. Too often we don’t write about something because we believe that "everyone knows that" or we think that we’ve already addressed something; but they don’t and we haven’t. Too often we mistakenly believe that we aren’t good enough, interesting enough, smart enough, etc. to write about something. Pessimistically we think, "No one wants to hear about this from me." But that’s nearly always wrong. If a friend or family member is asking you, likely your readers want to hear about it too — and from you.

How to Write Your Own Advice Column

Writing an advice column sounds fun and easy. Until you think about being responsible for the thoughts and actions of the person who takes your advice. Then it gets a little scary. None of us are omnipotent, all knowing. After all, how often do you take your own advice?

If you want to be an advice writer (and you don’t have some kind of background in therapy, psychology or anything else to particularly give you credentials) you can break into advice writing by doing it yourself. Start your own advice column.

Writing your own advice column will take a lot of promotion of yourself and the column you write. Be prepared to put yourself out there, especially if you tend to be the quiet type versus the social butterfly. If you really have a hard time with the social side then round up a friend to be your PR (public relations) person. You’re going to need friends to get you started in other ways too. Who do you think will be writing those first letters for your advice?

Finding a Niche for your Advice Column

These days, when there are already lots of advice columnists, you will need something to make yourself different. This can be your witty sense of humour, but it might be simpler to start out with a theme. I especially like the idea which started Dead Advice (though the site is now dormant).

Think about your own background, the things which interest you and consider a topic which you can sustain over a long time. Something you can keep fresh and have new opinions and ideas about for a long lasting column. You might focus on people fresh from divorce – if you have experience in that area. You might focus on new Mothers – if you have been a new Mother yourself. You might give advice to Grandparents, from the perspective of a new Mother.

Perhaps your advice is less personal and intimate, career oriented or more about how to do things than writing about feelings and emotions. You might write advice for people who work in office cubicles, customer service, online craft sellers, freelance writers, musicians, inventors, dog lovers, figure skaters, tourists, fast food vendors, beauty school drop-outs, any career, business or hobby. There are endless genres and topics and circles of people which you would be suitable to give advice.

If you really aren’t sure what niche you could fill, think about the last time you gave someone advice. Who did you give the advice to? What was the situation? What made you feel competent to give the advice you gave at the time?

  • How to Write Advice Columns | eHow.com
  • Advice Column Writer | Word Grrls

When Giving Advice…

Rad the question carefully, more than once. Understand what is really being asked under the emotions, the frustration or negative feelings expressed. As you begin your reply work in the original question, repeating back the information in order to make clear communication.

Stay focused on the main question, the point of the advice asked for. Don’t wander off topic into your own personal issues or agenda. You don’t need to judge your readers, lecture them or over explain things and make them feel belittled or stupid. Give them options for moving forward, whatever the problem may have been. Give them empathy and ideas, stay optimistic rather than discouraging them.

Give the reader different view points, a fresh perspective and help them see solutions which they may have been too close to the issue to see themselves. Show your readers the skills they have (and may have forgotten, or taken for granted) which could help solve the problem. Often people just need someone telling them to focus on what they do have, rather than what they don’t have. To look for what they want to find, rather than focusing on the things they don’t like.

If you don’t know the answer, or the question is somehow more than you can handle, don’t just answer it anyway, hoping for the best. Write back to the reader, explain that they are asking too much from an advice column but also, offer them other resources where they can get trained/ skilled help.

Get Writing It!

When you know what you are going to write, it’s time to decide how you will write it. This is the same for any writer in any topic. Should you choose a newsletter, a weblog? What about a podcast? Maybe you want to create a zine (an independent print publication)? The format should be something that will work for you. Consider the ups and downs of each and decide which of them you can work with and distribute to readers/ listeners.

At first you will have to begin your advice column with letters you write yourself for advice, or get family and friends to take this seriously and write the letters for you. Unless you are trying to write a humourous advice column, don’t start out with tacky, soap opera sounding advice requests. Begin as you mean to go on, as they say.

As you answer the advice you will find your voice, your tone, your personality and your perspective. Try at least a few practice letters before you begin to publish anything. Having your niche isn’t enough, now you need to find your style too. Are you practical and sensible, witty, sharp, or even abrasive? Is your column going to be snarky, for the point of making fun of people or genuine and sincere?

Whatever voice and style you choose, make sure you can maintain it for the long haul. You also want to develop loyal readers. People who will make up your fan base and stick with you each week, or as often as you publish. In order to find readers who stick with you and believe in your advice you need to be both visible and predictable as a publisher. Pick a publishing schedule and stick to it. If you need to be away, announce it first and give a return date. Answer comments from readers on your posts or in your forums, contact forms, etc. Try to answer every reader comment in less than a week and give readers an expected response time when they leave comments. Respond quickly and give them the feeling of having your personal attention and being someone you wanted to reply to.

Don’t forget to actually ask readers to send in their questions for your advice. Never assume people will understand this without being given instructions. Use a contact form in your blog for people to send you questions. Or, give them an email address which you have created just for the advice column. (You can set up a new email address on Gmail or another web account for free). Give instructions for asking advice in the top of the newsletter/ site and give the instructions again at the end of your site/ newsletter. (Don’t use the same text – write it differently for people who didn’t understand the first instructions for whatever reason).

Treat your readers well, promote your column and give good, authentic advice from a real human being – those are the important things for publishing your own advice column. Good luck and have fun with it.

What to do with your Old Books

It’s very hard to part with an old book, or a book you mean to read, someday. But, there comes a time for every book lover when the amount of books is a bit overwhelming and we need to narrow down the stacks of books just a little…

It is TOO easy to pile up an assortment of books. I confess, I’m a book hoarder. Once they stop being tidy, displayed on a bookshelf, you stray from being a book collector to being a book hoarder. That’s how I feel about it, for myself at the very least. I have books on my shelves. But, I have books in two large-sized storage containers too. Then there are a few stragglers on a dresser, in the dresser of another room… etc. There are more books than I can read.

For me the fiction books are not hard to deal with. I don’t keep any of them once I have read them. I used to keep some, favourites and those I wanted to read as part of a series. Now, I read them and remove them from my home. Otherwise, they just pile up – all too literally.

  • Could you Sell Your Old Books?
    Are you a book lover in need of some space? The best way to make space for more books is to let some of your old books depart for other homes. It’s not easy. But, you can sell your own books.

Get Rid of Your Unwanted Books (Make Space for More)

  • Recycle and repurpose old books into book art.
  • Donate your books to the local library or a charity.
  • Take your books to the thrift store or the Salvation Army to find new readers.
  • Trade your books at the second hand book store.
  • Exchange books with friends, relatives and co-workers.
  • Leave books for someone to find. (Like BookCrossing).

 Trading/ Selling Books to a Second Hand Book Store

One simple way to sell your old books is to find a second hand book store and trade them in for store credits. This is my first choice. I like knowing the book will be read again, recycled and reused. I also like being able to choose new books and getting a discount on them when I have brought in old books. This is budget friendly.

Some second hand book stores will not buy books. They will only trade for store credit. This is great for me because I love having a little credit left for the next book shopping spree I go on. Not everyone wants to buy more books though. So, check with the bookstore before you bring in a sack of books expecting to come out of the store with cash for them.

Also, if you want to sell books the store will only give about an eighth of the original cover price. If you are trading for store credit you can get a quarter of the original cover price.

Let Someone Else Find your Books

Keep Track of your Books Online (Don’t Buy Doubles)

 

How to be OK with Criticism or Negative Feedback

This Hub (as people at HubPages call the articles posted to the site) started from a question asked on the site.

“What do you tell anti hubbers?”

The first thing that bugged me about the question was "hubbers". Titles should be capitalized. The second thing that bugged me was the whole attitude of the question. It’s all WRONG!

First, why do we have to live as if everything is us and them?

Second, why is no one allowed to disagree? Why do we put down opinions that don’t agree with our own?

Third, why don’t people listen to criticism and use it to their advantage?

Fourth and lastly, why do people close their minds and then act proud of it? I admit, this attitude of being close minded and proud really annoys me. As if the arrogance isn’t enough; to be proud of being so close minded is just too much!

Turn a Negative into a Positive

I’m only going to write about the third point I made, using negative feedback to your advantage rather than closing your mind to it.

When we first hear something negative we get an instant reaction. Some will rebel or be aggressive, defend ourselves, ignore it and try let it slide off us, deny it all, or some of us hide away in our shell just that much deeper, unable or unwilling to cope with anything someone didn’t like about us or something we are doing. I tend to hide in my shell in that first moment but I have learned to see it differently, though it takes practice.

I won’t pretend it’s easy, but open your mind to the essence of the feedback or the opinion given. If you take out the negative delivery, the part of the comment just meant to cause a fight or hurt your feelings, there could be something of value in what was said. Even opinions which counter our own beliefs and values can have a bit of truth. Take the negative feedback, comment, opinion and use it to your advantage. Open your mind to the possibility that you can improve.

Some negative comments and opinions are a fantastic way to confirm your own ideals and values. My best example of this is from my own life as a Pagan. I do get feedback from other people, in other religions or even people who claim to have no religion or serious spiritual beliefs. Some of the comments are nasty, some are fear driven, some are aggressive and some are well meant. If I just listen to how the comments were delivered I could be offended, upset. But, what really works best is to listen to the comment, the information given. Sometimes the information confirms everything I already believe. Now and then I learn something completely new – that’s what I like best.

Of course, the great thing about listening to people who want to hurt you with their words is to turn it back to them, to surprise them by saying “Thank you” and meaning it. You can bet that confuses them. Unless they are foaming at the mouth, most people will be interested in what you have to say once they see you are actually listening to them. You won’t necessarily change their opinions (and you shouldn’t really try to) but you can start a conversation, have a discussion where both of you will learn a little or a lot and agree to disagree. At the very least, both of you have the opportunity to come away with your mind a bit less closed.

You might even find out you agree more than you disagree. It could be you have been arguing the same point from different sides. Even people from different religions want the same basic things, they just look at it from different points of view. In the end, it’s the big picture that counts. Little things mean a lot but there’s a reason big screen TV’s sell so well compared to the old smaller screens. The big picture shows more and makes a lasting impression.

Turn negative feedback/ comments/ opinions into positive action for yourself. Use new information to better yourself, to confirm you are on the right track or to understand how other people think. In this way you can turn something negative into a positive. A win-win situation for you!

Note: I don’t want to say anything for people who don’t like HubPages. They are welcome to their opinions. You’re a little foolish if you only value people who agree with you. It’s up to each person to listen to what is said and form our own opinion. Use the feedback to our advantage. It doesn’t have to be polite feedback in order to be true or right about things we could change to make HubPages, and our contributions to the site, better.

Horror Writers are Nice Girls Too

Writing horror is a unique experience. I have written horror and self published my horror writing. People have given me good feedback but I’ve yet to write something I feel really good about. So, I’m amateur horror writer. Still working on it.

I like the drama and the challenge of putting the things that really do scare me into words which will show someone else what really is scary. I don’t get scared by typical things: fictional monsters, serial killers and so on. No, the things that scare me are real and everyday like debt, job interviews and bumble bees that fly into my hair and keep buzzing around close to my head. The horror of deciding to hope the bee finds it’s own way out or risking getting your fingers stung while you try to get it out (before it stings your head or face) is a very real thing and something I have experienced.

It’s the real things that are scary, horrifying. Not the made up monsters. The only time a made up monster becomes frightening is when we talk ourselves into believing they are real, or could be real. It’s reality that really is the stuff of nightmares.

As a writer, I think writing horror makes you learn “show don’t tell” more than any other genre. An over narrated horror story will flat-line, fast!