I didn’t realize the photos tip was so useful and poweful until after I read this post, did some research on other blogs and started placing photos.

Thank you again. I’ve added your blog to my favs and I look forward to reading more of your insights :)

the capital letters are loud and obnoxious and they hurt my eyes.

just an fyi,
Reed

WHY DON’T YOU DO “THE NEVER”? YOU KEEP WRITING STUFF THAT I COULD PAY A GHOST WRITER PENNIES TO WRITE AND IT WORKS PRETTY WELL FOR YOU SO WHY ARE YOU SUGGESTING PEOPLE DO OTHERWISE?

AND USING MAKI’S LONG POSTS AS AN EXAMPLE OF DOING “THE NEVER”… COME ON, ARE YOU SERIOUS?

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF NEVER: YOU TELL PEOPLE TO MAKE THEIR COMMENTS STAND OUT ON A-LIST BLOGGERS BLOGS. YOU TELL THEM TO BE A LITTLE CONTROVERSIAL AT TIMES. AND EVERYONE KNOWS THAT MOST “FOLLOWER” TYPES ARE SO DAMN SENSITIVE THAT THEY COMPLAIN ABOUT CAPITAL LETTERS AS “YELLING” OR “OBNOXIOUS” – LIKE IT REALLY HURTS THEM.

COME ON DARREN.. LOAD UP A COPY OF “LET’S GET STARTED” BY THE BLACK-EYED PEAS, ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND GIVE THEM SOMETHING THEY CAN REALLY TALK ABOUT…

Your friendly fan,
Sam

Since everyone has different experiences and backgrounds, it’s always fun to read about them and see how they dealt with a problem. A lot of people write about their own life experiences and post stories, but not every is that successful. Here are two ingredients I notice as an avid reader that make for successful anecdote stories (both in the blogopshere and in print):

1.) Honesty – No matter how embarrassing or silly the story may be, it’s always better to write it honestly and openly. It’s usually easy to determine whether someone is being genuine with a story. Don’t try and make yourself out to be something you’re not. If you write about the time you got dumped by the girl of your dreams and felt depressed, be honest and say you were depressed. Don’t lie and say it didn’t affect you just to make yourself look good when it did affect you, because everyone will see through your charade.

2.) It’s told in that author’s unique voice. This kind of goes along with #1 above, but sometimes I’ll read a story on the web just because that particular author writes in a way I like. Even if it’s a story about something that doesn’t interest me or seems boring at first, an author’s voice can still be it’s saving grace. Violent Acres is good at that.

I always try to be myself when I write and this seems to be changing as my experience grows. I suppose I may be getting better at it – you never know!

Chrissy