After I wrote Book and Blog Highlights last month, I had the good fortune to connect with Laura Christianson, who offered to send me a copy of her latest e-book, Blogophobia Conquered: Overcome the 7 Most Common Fears & Create an Amazing Blog, if I wanted to write a review.

Not only did I enjoy this e-book, I learned a ton, and it’s now my go-to guide. I’ll read all 88 pages two, three, four, maybe five times. The advice is practical, concise, and not at all intimidating.

There are seven chapters, named for the fears that occur when writers ponder the great question: To blog or not to blog?

1. Technophobia
2. Decidophobia
3. Scriptophobia
4. Formatophobia (my favorite chapter, more on that in a bit)
5. Socialphobia
6. Borophobia
7. Addictophobia

I love Laura’s writing style and her use of similes, metaphors, and analogies to make her point. For example, on page 5: “Fear is a powerful force. When you allow it to creep in, fear squelches you, paralyzes you, and keeps you stranded on Someday Isle in the middle of the writing ocean.”

I also appreciated the idea of The Ready-Made Pie Crust Method, as someone who burns food often. Don’t fear that you aren’t technically inclined enough to write a blog. A blog-hosting service is like a ready-made pie crust. The shell, the structure, is already prepared, and all you have to do is pour in the filling you created.

Another great analogy, on page 13, discusses how a blog is the hub of your online social network. The spokes are sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and these spokes are attached to the hub. As I read this, I visualized a wheel.

While the focus is on how to write a blog, there’s guidance that can be applied to all forms of writing. For example, the last paragraph on page 31, about voice, is some of the best advice I’ve ever read on this subject.

Chapter 4, “Formatophobia,” my favorite chapter, contains step-by-step instructions on how to make your blog stand out and look pretty for bloggers who fear they can’t design a blog (like me). I cheered when I read this section (literally).

Sprinkled throughout are text boxes to reinforce points. My favorite text box is “5 Types of Blog Commenters” on page 53. There are tips on how to deal with less-than-desirable commenters. The encouragement file on page 56 is such a great idea, too!

As I read, I kept going back to my blog to check and make sure it lined up with what’s written in the book, and made notes for changes. I plan to utilize her suggestions on my own blog to the fullest. If you’re thinking about blogging or you’re a new blogger, this book is a must-read. Spring the $19.99 and avoid the pitfalls; it’s more than worth it. Before I started writing my blog, I read and studied blogs I liked, and I learned some of the information that’s contained in this e-book on my own. However, that process took me eight months. You can save lots of time reading and applying the information to your blog. I’m grateful to have read this book at the beginning of my blogging endeavor to save me time in the future.

Thanks to Laura Christianson for the opportunity to review her fabulous e-book!

“Remember, it’s good to get up every so often, anyway. Sitting for more than twenty or thirty minutes at a time compresses the discs in the vertebrae and brings on early arthritis. Take care of your health. Move around. Go for walks. Enjoy your life.”
–Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, from what might be my favorite book on writing ever, Pen on Fire. I’m seriously obsessed with this book right now. I first wrote about it here.

This is good advice for all of us, not just writers. I sit too much. And now I’m off for a stretch.

Happy New Year!

I want to take a moment to look back, at the Writing and Education category for the Group Writing Project: 90 Reviews of 2009. The Group Writing Project, from Daniel Scocco’s blog Daily Blog Tips, motivated me to commit to writing this blog.

I decided to highlight the Writing and Education posts because, well, that’s what interests me most.

I mentioned the first blog listed under Writing and Education, The 8 Books I Wish I Read in 2009, in an earlier post. Not only did Sara Lancaster inspire me to start reading Pen on Fire by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, she caused me to increase my list by three. Call it the Three Other Books I Wish I’d Read in 2009, or the Three Books I Want to Read in 2010:

1. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King. It seems like I read about this book everywhere. I must make it a priority to read it this year. I feel the way I felt before I read Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, as if I’m missing out on a big secret.

2. Old Friend From Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir, by Natalie Goldberg. Natalie Goldberg ranks in the top five of my favorite authors. I’d like to read every word she’s ever written. So far I’ve read Banana Rose, Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life, and I’ve begun but haven’t yet finished Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within.

3. Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind, by Kelly L. Stone. I read her other nonfiction book, Time to Write: More than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing into Your Busy Life, last spring. It changed my writing life. Chapter 10 is called, “Tap into the Wellspring of Creativity: Your Subconscious Mind.” It’s one of the shortest chapters, but it’s packed with information on a subject that fascinates me. I’m so happy she expanded this chapter into an entire book. In fact, she writes on her Web site that Thinking Write is the companion to Time to Write. Thinking Write comes with a bonus CD of guided meditations for writers.

The next blog entry, VAJ’s 10 Hottest Author Interviews of 2009, received much of my Internet browsing time. I love author interviews! Visual Arts Junction is a blog written by a team of professional visual artists from different disciplines. This particular post was written by Aggie Villaneuva, a photographer and writer known as “the Grandma Moses of the American Southwest.” These are the interviews I enjoyed the most:

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won’t

After I read this interview, I added The Frugal Book Promotor to my list. Carolyn Howard-Johnson , an award-winning and prolific author and marketing expert, wrote a terrific post on Visual Arts Junction titled Social Networking for Busy Authors.

Larry Brooks, Fix Your Story with the Help of Larry Brooks

As I read this interview, I got the feeling I’d read about Larry Brooks somewhere else recently. As it turns out, I had, here. I take these serendipitous clicks to mean I need to read Story Structure, Demystified this year.

Writing Coach Mark David Gerson, Awakening Your Muse

Mark David Gerson is an author, writing/life coach, editor, project consultant, script analyst, speaker, and teacher. He’s the author of The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write, and has also recorded The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers. I’m all about companions and there’s those words “guided meditation for writers” again.

The next blog post, 2009 Top Ten Hits, is from Geoffrey Philp’s Blogspot. Geoffrey Philp is a writer from Jamaica; you can read his impressive bio here. There’s a wonderful amount of inspiration on this blog. Check out Top 10 Things Every Writer Should Know and Am I a Writer? (Part Dos).

Social media guru Laura Christianson, who blogs at Blogging Bistro, wrote 10 Popular Phrases You Must Immediately Delete From Your Writing. I found this article to be helpful and entertaining. She writes about jargon and euphemisms and how to eliminate them from your writing. All writers can use knowledge in this area.

Nancy Hendrickson, a freelance writer and the owner and operator of Green Pony Press, Inc., wrote Amazon Kindle Publishing in 2009: The Sheriff Came to Town. I’m always interested in reading about the world of e-books. I liked the analogy she used throughout this post. Here’s a past post on the topic of e-books.

Lastly, from one of my favorite blogs, The Procrastinating Writers Blog, is the 43 Most Inspiring Writing Posts of 2009. This post led me to Daily Blog Tips and The Group Writing Project. Loaded with 43 more virtual places to glean writerly stimulation, I’ve resolved to devote space to some of them at a later date.

With so many books and online resources for writers, I felt compelled to share a few of them with you. I invite your thoughts, and if you have any books or Web sites you’d like to share, drop me a comment. Here’s to a new year filled with words!

Freckles dotted her skin like punctuation on the chalkboard during an English lesson. She had thick, frizzy hair; the color and texture reminded me of Little Orphan Annie’s hair, curls unfurled. Her name was Miss Hudik, and my fifth-grade class was her first when she began her career at Center Road Elementary. She assigned a short story with illustrations. I wrote a tale inspired by The Red Balloon, an award-winning children’s film directed by Albert Lamorisse.

On a rainy fall day in France, Pascal finds a balloon, round and red. The balloon, which has human qualities, is a companion to lonely Pascal until his jealous classmates steal it. One of them hits it with a slingshot. Hundreds of balloons escape, fly to Pascal, wrap their strings around him like a harness, and lift him in the air. This is where the idea for my first story came from.

My character, Holly, flew in a red hot air balloon with a brown woven basket, despite her fear of heights. Various situations threatened to pop the balloon. She landed unharmed, a braver girl. I used 11” x 14” white paper, folded in half to look like a book, silver staples at the seams. I traced lines with a ruler, four to a page; I printed my best handwriting with a black crayon. Above the words, I drew a stick figure with yellow pigtails and blue eyes, the sun, clouds, V-shaped birds. When I wrote my name on the cover, I felt, for the first time, like a writer.

I remember the immense joy creation brought. I couldn’t draw but I didn’t care; the words were much more fun to play with than the crayons. Miss Hudik confirmed it for me; she told me I should write stories. I started to dream about books, real books, bound with spines instead of staples, my name on the cover. When adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I said, “An author.”

A red balloon inspired me to create; a red-haired woman encouraged me to continue. She gave me the guts I needed to write on my own. Miss Hudik was my last childhood teacher. She sent me into junior high, and the rest of my life, armed with the core of my identity: writer.

What you just read is an essay I wrote in 2005 that won second place in the Lea Leever Oldham essay contest. The late Lea Leever Oldham founded the Western Reserve Writers’ Conference, held each March and September at Lakeland Comminuty College. The topic in 2005: When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I invite feedback from everyone, and for the writers, an additional question….when did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

Today I read this in C. Hope Clark’s December 13th, 2009 FFW Small Markets newsletter:

EVEN THE SMALL CAN SHINE BIG . . . AT FIRST

Everyone starts small. We have to begin somewhere. In our writing, we struggle with whether to write for free or not, whether to pitch to teeny websites or not, whether to write for a dollar per 500-word article for some writer mill. Regardless, we have to start small and work up.

Start small, but be the best darn person there and give it your impressive all. Make people read you and wonder why you are writing here instead of in a larger publication. Be a wonder, even if it’s on a no-name blog.

Be good enough to make people marvel at the work.

All professionals took on small roles in the outset, just for the chance to put on a show. They had a passion and would rather start small than not start at all.

However . . . these successful professionals moved on once they left an impression. They made a splash and graduated to a larger pool.

With Craigslist and writing forums stuffed full of nickle and dime writing offers, insecure writers have all the opportunity in the world to get stuck writing for trickle-pay venues. It takes guts and a desire to earn a living at this crazy craft to keep climbing, climbing out of the rut of small-time jobs.

Start small and shine big. Wow and amaze. But once you’ve become a known quantity in that teeny arena, step out and up, stretching your writing muscles and pulling those new-found fans with you.

Start with a tea light. You can keep replacing it with other teeny tea light candles as each burns out. However,you could replace it with a larger candle, then a bigger
one until you have a bonfire going that stays lit for many more folks to see.

Hope Clark

I love the analogy at the end. Now I’m ready to go write some more of the first draft of my essay for the Procrastinating Writers Blog essay contest. You still have time to enter if you’re so inclined.

Speaking of first drafts, I loathe them. (Although I do write them.) I’m always curious about the approaches other writers use to write first drafts. Readers who write out there, do you have any tips or techniques you’d like to share?

“Putting aside fears in love, in life, and in writing is the only way to have a shot at achieving any measure of success.”
–Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, from her book, Pen on Fire, which I started last week after I read Sara Lancaster’s blog post The 8 Books I Wish I Read in 2009. I bought Pen on Fire in April of 2009. As Sara writes, “What am I waiting for?” You’ll be hearing more about this book as I read it and once I finish it. I’ve read two chapters so far and I’m in love. Which doesn’t surprise me, since I’m a huge fan of Barbara’s weekly radio show, Pen on Fire (previously known as Writers on Writing).

What fears in love, life, or writing have you put aside and as a result achieved success? Tell us your story.

My name is Alanna Klapp, and if you’re reading this, thank you! I’m a writer and guest host for The Writing Show, a podcast which provides information and inspiration for writers. I love to read and write, and to explore the vast online opportunities that exist for writers of all levels.

My friend, neighbor, and fellow writer, Jenny, e-mailed me the link to the 43 Most Inspiring Writing Advice Posts of 2009, posted on the Procrastinating Writers Blog. Jenny’s aunt, Darrelyn Saloom, is a writer who made the list of 43 with her piece titled The Battle of Resistance. The inspiration for this list is the group writing project proposed by Daniel Scocco on Daily Blog Tips. The project? To write a 2009 Year in Review post.

I’d pondered a blog of my own since September (even wrote a short list of ideas for posts last month), but this is what motivated me to start. Through this project, I can introduce myself and share what I’ve done in 2009 as my first blog entry. What better way to begin than to reflect on an end?

So, with this in mind, here’s the list of Alanna Klapp’s Four Guest Host Podcasts for The Writing Show in 2009.

1. Writing Fiction, with author John Derhak, posted on February 8th

John Derhak is the author of two hilarious and scary novels, Tales from the moe.Republic and Tales to Chill Your Cockles.

2. Writing Fiction, with Thrity Umrigar, posted on July 5th

Thrity Umrigar is the national bestselling author of four novels, including The Space Between Us and The Weight of Heaven.

3. Writing Memoir, with Deanna R. Adams, posted September 27th

Deanna Adams is the author of the memoir Confessions of a Not-So-Good Catholic Girl.

4. The Importance of Detail, with Erin O’Brien, posted December 5th

Erin O’Brien is the author of the novel Harvey & Eck, written numerous nonfiction pieces for various publications, and blogs at The Erin O’Brien Owner’s Manual for Human Beings.

Some of you know me and have listened to these interviews, and I thank you! If you’re new to The Writing Show, I invite you to listen to these podcasts along with the other 2009 shows, and the archives that date back to 2005. There’s a show for you no matter what you write.

I also invite your comments and feedback. If you’ve listened to any writing podcasts in 2009 that you found informative and inspirational, please share them!

Thanks for reading and listening, and Happy Writing!