Desert Pond

Blog

  • Five Tips to Start Writing Again

    I started this section of my blog to help me get back into writing again – sort of a place to park my notes and build a platform that would encourage me to keep at it daily. Having a blog does that, by the way. Once you’ve set it up, you feel responsible for feeding it some daily dose of love and commitment. (Note to self: if husband suddenly changes his name to Blog, I should be concerned.)

    As a result, I really have been writing more than ever. My pages at Squidoo, blog posts on this blog, a personal journal I keep on Word, and my stories at Extreme Writing. I’m fulfilling my promise to myself, enjoying the process, and learning so much along the way. You can do the same. Need a push? Keep reading.

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  • Writer’s Day Off

    I felt a little worn out yesterday so I didn’t get much work done. Actually, worn out isn’t quite accurate. I didn’t feel tired, I just felt lazy. I should have done some writing. I should have worked on my Squidoo lenses. I meant to go around visiting. That’s what I call socializing – visiting those who have visited my lenses, finding new lensmasters, chatting on Twitter, or in the various Squidoo forums, and catching up on my favorite blogs. I surely should have called my mother. I did none of that, although I was on the computer most of the day. I was reading, until I found this cool little application…

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  • Excuse Me While I SEO

    I set out this weekend with one goal in mind. My research shows that having the same sidebar show up on every page of my blog is going to hurt my Google ranking as it could be considered duplicate content. I’ve been diligently working to understand search engine optimizaton (making a search-engine friendly website) ever since I added Squidoo to my list of online hobbies. I’d tried to change the sidebars around before with no success. WordPress code is in PHP, a scripting language I’m only beginning to learn. But I have a book, the web, and a few hours to kill. How bad could it get?

    You’ll have to excuse me, though, if while visiting this blog, you might have caught a glimpse of an unsightly blog sidebar. My new friend:

    Fatal error!

    Uh-oh, Houston, we have a problem.

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  • Informal Mentoring

    Many companies have formal mentoring programs today. The best and the brightest are selected and paired with a more senior, experienced employee in order to help the junior employee grow within the organization. My feeling is that this is exactly where companies miss a huge opportunity to add to their bottom line. In focusing only on the best and the brightest, those with the most growing to do get left behind.

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  • Writing at ExtremeWriting

    I’m a horrible blogger – please forgive me, I’m fairly new. (Three months and I still get to say I’m new, right?) I feel very honored to have been asked to contribute to a friend’s blog but I forgot to mention it on my own blog. He’s a writer. Let me restate that – he’s an incredible writer. Inspiring, dedicated, and passionate about his writing and when I read his work, it always makes me want to work harder at my own writing skills.

    Ever read someone else’s work and think, “If I had half of that talent?”. That’s Drifter. A motorcycle riding angel with a heart of gold and wicked sense of humor. If you want to feel challenged, if you want to read something that will make you want to pick up your pencil and give it a try, read any single piece of his work. Then read the rest of his writing, too, because you won’t be able to help yourself.

    You can find Drifter at Extreme Writing.

    Mixed in there are a few of my own fictional pieces under the category of Stone’s Throw. I’ll warn you…they pale in comparison.