WinExtra’s Steven Hodson has a great little post about the power of blog comments.  They’re more than just a calling card; they’re a great way to continue a conversation, show people what you know, and get in contact with other individuals.  (Both Caroline Middlebrook and Darren Rowse/Problogger have written about blog commenting strategies.)

This made me realize that I haven’t been leaving as many comments lately as I have in the past or else I haven’t been putting as much thought into they as I have before.  I think I’m missing out on something by skimping on this activity – mainly the interaction with bloggers and with other readers.

Food for thought, as always – thanks Steven!

I’m very pleased to tell you that I have a guest post at Copyblogger.com called The Doctor McCoy Guide To Healing Sick Content.

I’m equally pleased to note that Brian accepted my headline as is, without changes.  Heh.  (Background:  Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger, is recognized by many as the leading expert in crafting good blog post titles and headlines in general.  Just saying.)

Please head over and check it out, won’t you?

A number of weeks ago I asked whether social media was about the individual or the group.  Many of the responses indicated that they thought the group was the important part.  But what about the lone wolves that refuse to join any pack for any length of time?

Some people naturally love to be part of groups.  If I look at my two children, as an example, one is definitely a group person; the other is much more of an individual and a bit of a loner (not unlike his dad).  Both tendencies have their strengths and weaknesses.  The loner or outsider’s approach can be harder and more painful, but can have its own rewards when it comes to making choices that are consistent with your own personal values.  The group member can often be happier, but sacrifice part of themselves to comply with the group’s norms; this isn’t a very painful sacrifice for many people, but it can be hard when you can’t fully commit to the group’s norms and goals.

I’ve drifted through a number of websites, online groups, etc. and, consistent with my past, quite often I just continue on to look at the next thing.

I should note that networks of friends, associates, etc. can still exist without formal group membership.  These things are important to me.

I think that social media (and all media, really) should be able to incorporate the group member and the individual as long as their goals and actions do not conflict with each other.  I think you can gain a lot of value by helping other people, but you don’t always need to be a formal group member to do so.

Outside of the Web I’ve been a member of certain groups (including my employer’s company) for many, many years.  I know there’s power in that sort of thing.  But there’s also a lot of potential in being an independent individual who moves from group to group without necessarily belonging.

What do you think?

Do something good today.  Make good choices.

Photo by Soundman1024

I’m writing this post about that staple of fiction writing, the climax – when the most exciting, most important event in a story happens.

(No, this isn’t one of those how-to sexual technique posts. But you wouldn’t have expected that here, would you?)

Is your writing dull and uninspiring? Not getting traffic? Maybe it just needs a standard fiction technique to spice it up a bit.

TV shows, novels, plays and movies use scenes, dilemmas, and conflicts as ways to build excitement, tension and anticipation about how a story will end.  The climax occurs in a scene when the central conflict or dilemma of a story comes to a head, something happens and there’s a resolution of some kind, like:

• Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star
• Richard Gere’s character proposes to or marries Julia Robert’s character
• The soldiers finally do save Private Ryan

Here are some suggestions on how you can emulate this technique in your writing (this can include article writing, blogging, etc.):

• Start with a mystery, a question, or a controversial idea and construct a way to tell a story that addresses this topic.
• Gradually reveal clues or facts that either support or detract from the idea.  Think of this like presenting a series of scenes (or paragraphs) that describe the concept in more detail.  Take the reader on a journey from point A to point Z and all points inbetween.
• Work up to a revelation, including one or more surprises.  We all love twists and turns in fiction!
• Make the revelation colorful and exciting.  Sometimes predictable revelations are perfectly fine; other times something unexpected is really appropriate.
• Provide food for thought to your reader at the end:  did they learn anything?  Are they motivated to think or act differently?

Non-fiction doesn’t have to be boring.  Borrow some literary techniques and you might be surprised at how your content comes to life!

The move is complete.  Hopefully you’re all still here!