Being Positive to See the Positive

Last week in Sorting Your Life’s Junk I talked about how the way to being a positive and wonderful me, well a better me, was how I like to place events and thoughts into  Mental Folders. I called them:

  • Awesome
  • Needs Work
  • So Not Worth It

By doing this, I am able to sort through things quickly and move on. It’s a habit. A reflex, if you want to look at it that way. Just like driving a car. You see  something brake in front of you, you don’t have to think about it, you hit your brakes to stop something bad from happening. This is the same thing. By sorting those events or interactions into folders, those emotional/mental energy vampires/leeches/parasites don’t have a chance to latch on.

But you are probably thinking to yourself there are still things in the folders and you are likely to thumb through those files at some point. Ignoring the negative things doesn’t work. I like the adage or phrase “You got to own it.”

Accept it and Deal With it

Eventually whatever it is must be taken care of. Due to a concussion I’m not allowed to drive at the moment. I’ve driven 7 minutes in the past 18 months. And that was an emergency. Am I happy?

I guess you need to take a look at happy first. Everything that needs to get done in my life gets done. So in the grand scheme of things, not driving is not a major problem for me. I have filed it and dealt with it. I’m okay with it.

Does being okay with it mean I don’t miss the ability to get up and go whenever I want to? No, of course not. But I own the situation, I understand it, and I handle it. It does not get me down.

But what about REAL problems?

I knew you were thinking that. I’ll use my Fibromyalgia. It was discovered that the debilitating pain that I had been having for more than a decade was Fibromyalgia, which runs in my family. Walking is difficult. Sleeping is difficult. Sitting is difficult. Lying down is difficult. Maybe you see where this is headed. Combine that with migraines that are 24/7 and things are bad. By 24/7 I mean they never stop, just vary be intensity.

So what do I do about that? What do I do because I miss ball games and school events of my son? I deal with it. I have a son and one to be proud of. So I can’t do everything I would like, I am still proud of him and tell him that and show him every chance I get. And he knows it. Does it get me down at times? For a moment, then I shake it off.

It’s Not All Sunshine and Peanut Butter Cups

That’s one thing we have to remember, positive doesn’t happen 100% of the time. It’s just like anything else, it’s what you do with it. I had an old pastor friend say to me once that you can look at a woman and see she’s beautiful, just don’t turn around and watch her walk away, that is where the bad part comes in.

What’s in your folders is the same way. You see it, and you deal with it. Sure, it will hit you and you might have a moment of problem but then move on and don’t look back. It’s done. It’s over.

As time goes by and perhaps the problem comes up again, you will eventually have developed the habit. File, deal, and begone. The most positive people are the ones usually who have gone through the most junk.

The Positive Results of Being Positive

Being positive has its advantages. You begin to see the positive in many situations you never saw before. You see beauty where you only saw ugliness before. And you give words of encouragement when you at one time yelled or ignored.

I’m positive positivity will bring positive things to your life.

For the next in my Positivity Day series, it’s not really a series but just me focusing on being positive, you may want to read The Importance of Being You. It’s kind of neat to see how someone grows and where their thoughts carry them on a subject in order. Do they grow or not?

Join me and several other blogger friends as we start #BeWoW Bloggers. BeWoW means Be Wonderful on Wednesday. Be Positive, Encouraging, Inspiration, and Uplifiting. If you like something positive you read somewhere, or you write something yourself, Tweet it with the hashtag of #BeWoW on Wednesday and we see it and ReTweet it and visit it ourselves to be encouraged. If you don’t like to Tweet, then share the link to that article you have or you found in a comment here so people can find it that might not normally do so.

Much Respect and Much Love to You,

Ronovan

Ronovan Writes

@RonovanWrites

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Be A #BeWoW Blogger TOMORROW!!!

#BeWoW blogshare begins TOMORROW!

Write a post and tweet it with the hashtag of #BeWoW and I’ll RT it. Okay, I’ll RT it when I wake up. 🙂 And other bloggers will be RTing as well. Is RTing a word, well I mean like a social media word?

Make sure it’s a post that is positive, encouraging, uplifting. I think you get the message here. This is not for just a post you want to share. It MUST have the BeWoW message of positivity.

So what do you do?

  1. Create a post or choose one you have that meets the encouraging/positive/wonderful definition.
  2. Share that link from your blog here in the Wednesday BeWoW post I put out after midnight Wednesday EST. That way others that drop by here can go check you out if they like.
  3. When you share your post on Twitter use the hashtag #BeWoW, which I have registered and am the administrator of, on Wednesdays. We can all ReTweet what we see and like.
  4. You can include my twitter handle of @RonovanWrites in your Tweet and I will try to RT everything I see that is positive. Please don’t use this for anything but positive things.
  5. Probably Tweeting is the big part of this for some of you. You don’t HAVE to come to my post and comment, but if you would like to and get some people that don’t do Twitter, then go for it.
  6. If you don’t have Twitter, the original idea for this was for sharing amongst Blog World so drop in here and share.
  7. If you just can’t wait until Wednesday? Post and share later and just make sure to Tweet with the hashtag #BeWow and my handle if you remember and the RT will begin.

Here is my original article about it.

BeWoW stands for Be Wonderful on Wednesday. But really you don’t have to wait for Wednesdays. The idea is to post something about Wonderful on Wednesdays, though. It could be a  wonderful experience you had last week, a wonderful memory that came to you, something inspirational or motivational, maybe something encouraging, or just something that brings a feeling of wonderful to you that you want to share.ronovan writes

Each Wednesday a post will show up here on RonovanWrites about something Wonderful for me or maybe a BeWoW Guest Blogger will show up. Post a link to your Wonderful post in the comments to share with everyone.

I’ve been wanting to do a Wonderful Blogger Award but awards are very time consuming and are difficult for me, but writing about Wonderful is a lot easier. And I could even write about Wonderful Bloggers I’ve discovered as I’ve wandered Blog World.

Write a poem, a post, or pretty much anything that is Wonderful to you and share it. Look for the Post Wednesday just after midnight EST. That’s New York City time for people like me that don’t know. And if there aren’t many that post, or no one at all, my post about Wonderful will still be here. Regardless, Tweet your post with the hashtag #BeWoW and as soon as I wake up, I will start RT everything positive I see. You do the same. Share!

ronovan writes copyrightThis is the badge you can use if you like to put in your post and/or your sidebar. My side bar I found that 210×210 pixels is as large as it goes and shows everything. Why is there a copyright in the picture? My son “B” and I took the picture. He did blew the Bubbles while I was on the grown looking up at the sky. He loved popping it and splashing me with the water. Hey, I thought it was a good idea at the time. At least he laughed. And that’ why I chose it as the Wonderful image.

So what do you do?

  1. Create a post or choose one you have that meets the encouraging/positive/wonderful definition.
  2. Share that link from your blog here in the Wednesday BeWoW post I put out after midnight Wednesday EST. That way others that drop by here can go check you out if they like.
  3. When you share your post on Twitter use the hashtag #BeWoW, which I have registered and am the administrator of, on Wednesdays. We can all ReTweet what we see and like.
  4. You can include my twitter handle of @RonovanWrites in your Tweet and I will try to RT everything I see that is positive. Please don’t use this for anything but positive things.
  5. Probably Tweeting is the big part of this for some of you. You don’t HAVE to come to my post and comment, but if you would like to and get some people that don’t do Twitter, then go for it.
  6. If you don’t have Twitter, the original idea for this was for sharing amongst Blog World so drop in here and share.
  7. If you just can’t wait until Wednesday? Post and share later and just make sure to Tweet with the hashtag #BeWow and my handle if you remember and the RT will begin.

I do hope you join in and BeWoW every day.

And if you do like the idea, please feel free to share this post by reblogging or tweeting or facebooking (is that a thing?) Goggle+ing? um, Linkedining? Okay, I’m having too much fun with this now.

Much Love

Ronovan

Ronovan Writes

@RonovanWrites

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Be A #BeWoW Blogger

What in the world is a BeWoW Blogger?

BeWoW stands for Be Wonderful on Wednesday. But really you don’t have to wait for Wednesdays. The idea is to post something about Wonderful on Wednesdays, though. It could be a  wonderful experience you had last week, a wonderful memory that came to you, something inspirational or motivational, maybe something encouraging, or just something that brings a feeling of wonderful to you that you want to share.ronovan writes

Each Wednesday a post will show up here on RonovanWrites about something Wonderful for me or maybe a BeWoW Guest Blogger will show up. Post a link to your Wonderful post in the comments to share with everyone.

I’ve been wanting to do a Wonderful Blogger Award but awards are very time consuming and are difficult for me, but writing about Wonderful is a lot easier. And I could even write about Wonderful Bloggers I’ve discovered as I’ve wandered Blog World.

Write a poem, a post, or pretty much anything that is Wonderful to you and share it. Look for the Post Wednesday just after midnight EST. That’s New York City time for people like me that don’t know. And if there aren’t many that post, or no one at all, my post about Wonderful will still be here. Regardless, Tweet your post with the hashtag #BeWoW and as soon as I wake up, I will start RT everything positive I see. You do the same. Share!

ronovan writes copyrightThis is the badge you can use if you like to put in your post and/or your sidebar. My side bar I found that 210×210 pixels is as large as it goes and shows everything. Why is there a copyright in the picture? My son “B” and I took the picture. He did blew the Bubbles while I was on the grown looking up at the sky. He loved popping it and splashing me with the water. Hey, I thought it was a good idea at the time. At least he laughed. And that’ why I chose it as the Wonderful image.

So what do you do?

  1. Create a post or choose one you have that meets the encouraging/positive/wonderful definition.
  2. Share that link from your blog here in the Wednesday BeWoW post I put out after midnight Wednesday EST. That way others that drop by here can go check you out if they like.
  3. When you share your post on Twitter use the hashtag #BeWoW, which I have registered and am the administrator of, on Wednesdays. We can all ReTweet what we see and like.
  4. You can include my twitter handle of @RonovanWrites in your Tweet and I will try to RT everything I see that is positive. Please don’t use this for anything but positive things.
  5. Probably Tweeting is the big part of this for some of you. You don’t HAVE to come to my post and comment, but if you would like to and get some people that don’t do Twitter, then go for it.
  6. If you don’t have Twitter, the original idea for this was for sharing amongst Blog World so drop in here and share.
  7. If you just can’t wait until Wednesday? Post and share later and just make sure to Tweet with the hashtag #BeWow and my handle if you remember and the RT will begin.

I do hope you join in and BeWoW every day.

And if you do like the idea, please feel free to share this post by reblogging or tweeting or facebooking (is that a thing?) Goggle+ing? um, Linkedining? Okay, I’m having too much fun with this now.

Much Love

Ronovan

Ronovan Writes

@RonovanWrites

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

© Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com 2015

My Top Five Ways to NOT Gain Twitter Followers

Part of blogging is networking and part of networking is social networking.

GET BACK HERE!!!

I know, I said the word, networking. Anyone else have the full body shiver? But we’ll talk about one particular social networking platform today that really can apply to pretty much all of those dreaded diseases, well some of you call them that. Parasites. Life suckers. Time travelers. Well you call them that because somehow you sit down and suddenly you are two hours into the future.

But I have a solution for you.

blogging

My Top Five Ways to NOT Gain Twitter Followers

Yes—Twitter. What can Twitter do for you in regards to your blog? By connecting with other bloggers who then ReTweet or RT your Tweets other people then find you. Also if you Hashtag things properly you will get your blog noticed. But I’m not here to talk about those things. Those things just bring even more attention to your blog and cause you to have more people to read Comments from and watch click Like.

No, I want to tell you how NOT to get people to follow you on Twitter. I want to save you from those pains of progress.

It was difficult to decide the order because all are pretty close.

Number Five

Force account verification before letting someone Follow you.

So I see you, maybe you even Followed me and I am like, okay, I’ll bite. No, I’m not an Animal Animal Animal. Whoa, anyone else hear Maroon 5 for a moment there? Um, the verification thing, right. That’s when I get the message pop up that you require me to verify I am a human before I can Follow you, even if you have Followed me in the first place. That is an excellent way NOT to get a Follower. Tell me you think I am not Human. I love it. It makes my day. Please, sir, may I have another?

The great part of this is, a little thing is on your account, an image that lets us know you require verification. Even though it’s easy to do the verification process, it’s still a process and I ain’t doing a process. So if you don’t want me to Follow you, set that up and I’ll move along.

Number Four

Don’t put information in your Bio section.

Mystery. Ah yes. We all love them—in books, in movies. You should keep yourself a mystery by not telling anyone about who you are or what you are interested in or what you might be Tweeting about. That’s a way to make people keep moving on. If you Follow me and I go check you out, as I do everyone who Follows me, and I don’t see something that lets me know something about you, that you are a for real person, then enjoy my Tweets but I won’t be enjoying your advertising of whatever you are tweeting for someone about. Oh no. I just mentioned wanting to confirm you are human! Oops.

Really, I want to know you’re not a dummy account of something I will tell you about later. OOOOO cliff hanger.

Number Three

Keep the nice Egg photo as your image.

Twitter is the second coming of Easter at times. All those new eggs out there that have been around for a few years kind of smell after a time. I see egg I think, “What? Not even a cat photo?” I’ll go check them out but it’s rare I find a reason to Follow Back. So if you don’t want Followers keep the Egg and don’t use an approachable photo. Dom photos seem to scare me and others away as well. Doms and Eggs. Both have four letters. Interesting. Maybe four letter words keep me from Following. Hmm.

Number Two

Use a bunch of random letters as your handle.

I love not being able to pronounce a name or Twitter Handle. HZZxccSxCzzh might be a great person but I’ll never knooowwww. Bunches of messed up letters just screams to me, “No, do not look at me. I am not here. You can’t see me. I’m a ninja.” That’s right. I can’t see you. I am like, “What? Not even CatLover013?”

Number One

Put up Buy Twitter Followers as your header photo and/or Bio information.

I love how many people are part of the SPEED UP YOUR TWITTER MARKETING CAMPAIGN club. You can tell who they are because of that pretty blue header photo that tells you how much it costs to buy Followers. The blue brings out the color in my eyes. I’m not a club joiner and not into buying Followers. That doesn’t serve a purpose to me. But go ahead and join it and you won’t have to worry about me Following you. It just says to me, “I was told that this is a great way to get people to follow me and I fell for it and I have like no one really following me and I don’t really have anything to say but if I put up blue people will come and look at it and if they do it long enough they will learn the secret lottery winning numbers.” (Yes, this is how my mind just sort of flows sometimes. Scary, huh? Don’t you wish you were me?)

 

And a Bonus of How to Get me to UnFollow you fast.

I mentioned earlier how I want to know people aren’t dummy accounts so I look to see if they have bios or tweet things. Well, there is a reason I look for that. One reason is because often times as soon as I do follow someone that is like a total mystery they send me a Direct Message telling me how much I can pay them to Follow me with their 18,000 Twitter accounts. Do that and you have lost my Follow.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the advice and that you lose a lot of potential Followers. I love to help, as you all know. Live long, prosper, and Hermit like Kermit in the swamp.

 

Ronovan

Ronovan Writes

 

 

 

 

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Meet Hugh’s Views & News-Interview

As a happy ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY for Hugh’s Views & News, here is my interview with Hugh where Hugh and I began our friendship and partnership in writing and mayhem. ENJOY!  Make sure to visit Hugh today and wish him Happy Anniversary. He has a post up about it. (There has been a small video addition at the end of his favorite word. I found a short like 30 second clip of it.)

I blog. Amazing discovering isn’t it? Being a blogger you also follow other bloggers. Sometimes you don’t know how you ended up making the acquaintance of someone, yes I can make that joke about myself but no one else can (amnesiac rights), but you are glad you did stumble upon someone. One such person grabbed my attention not only because he liked my attempts at writing, but one day a photograph he posted jumped out at me. No it did not literally leap from the page, at least I don’t think it did. Perhaps he has sort of 3D Mac power. Yes, I am afraid to say that he is one of . . . those people.

Thinking now perhaps it was 3D and knocked the memory out of me. I do have a habit of following it  hitting my head. But I do have the memory that this man took a photograph that I loved enough to remember that of him and that means the world to me. Memories to me now are made more of impressions than of actual images.

So let me introduce to you, The one and only. . . wait wrong song now . . . on a mountain top, burning like a silver flame . . .

Hugh Roberts

Hugh’s Views & News

Ron Cover ShotRW: Hugh, I googled your name in fun because I love your name and it has such a strength of character about it that I just knew it had to be famous. Are you the same Hugh Roberts who was in charge of Windsor Castle after the fire in 1992 and was also director of Christie’s, the auction house?
 
IMG_0347HUGH: Gee, that’s really kind of you, but no, I am not him.  I have many times though, been introduced as Hugh Grant or Huw Edwards (for those of your followers outside of the UK, the latter is a famous BBC news reader over here).  I suppose the mix up occurs because there aren’t many of us ‘Hughs’ around.  I’ve never been asked for an autograph after being introduced as Hugh Grant, but I have on the odd occasional been stared at for a long period of time and imagined the word ‘really?’ going through that person’s mind as they stand there open mouthed and gobsmacked at Hugh Grant standing in front of them.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: There go all of those artsy questions. Hmm . . . So you’re English . . . I don’t know why it is the English Bloggers seem to fascinate me. Beatles or the Stones?
 
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  There’s your first ‘strike’, Ronovan.  I like to refer to myself as Welsh or better still, British.  I’m very proud to be British.  I have nothing against being called English, after all I currently live in England and speak English, but calling a Welsh or Scottish person English, is like being at one of those self check-out machines at the supermarket and the machine says to you “there is an unexpected item in the baggage area, please remove the item” and you’ve not put anything there!  You get just a little irate.  Only a little, so no need to get out those boxing gloves yet *:) happy.  I guess you thought I was English because of the way my name is spelt, yeah?  Well, OK, I’ll take that strike away bananarama_venus.jpgthen, after all it is the English spelling of Hugh I use and not the Welsh spelling as Huw Edwards uses.  My parents have a lot to answer for on that one.
As for Beatles or the Stones, neither for me.  I’d have to go for Bananarma,
the British all girl group with the Guinness world record for the all female group with the most chart entries in the world.  Their songs bring back so many happy memories for me.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: Sigh . . .’your my Venus your my’ . . . oh, yes, interview. Okay now onto more serious things, well that was serious but anyway, I am a big fan of your photography which is odd because you write a lot and I enjoy that as well, but tell me about your flowers and your gardening. You don’t even have to leave your home for great photos.
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  We have a beautiful garden, but to be perfectly honest with you, I absolutely hate gardening.  I have no interest in it at all.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to sit and relax in the garden, but when it comes to gardening, I’m about as interested as a mannequin would be viewing my holiday pictures.  
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: Then where does the garden come from, Bananarama and their Venus power? (Mind drifting to the one with the short blonde hair  ‘yeah baby she’s got it’. . . sigh.) Hugh, you carry on with the interview without me.
 
IMG_0347HUGH: All the credit for the beautiful plants in our garden, has to go to my partner, John.  He’s the one that grew 9Q100015573_Lthe plants which I took the photographs of.  I’ve only just started to show an interest in photography, so it’s very early days for me, but a few I have posted on my blog seem to have attracted a little bit of attention.  That in turn has spurred me on to taking more and I’m beginning now to really enjoy the challenges of taking photos as much as I do with the WordPress writing challenges I sometimes take part in.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: Tell my Friends about where you live that produces those great flowers in your photos.
 
IMG_0347HUGH: We currently live in Hove, known by some as “Hove Actually” because of the Alfred Hitchcock 1938 movie ‘The Lady Vanishes’ when Miss Froy, one of the characters, refers to herself as coming from Brighton and then goes on to say “well, Hove actually, just down the coast”.  It’s situated in the county of East Sussex and is on the south coast of the UK, just over fifty miles south of London.  Many people know our bigger neighbour, Brighton, far better, but the two now form a conurbation along with some other smaller towns and villages along the coast.  Hove was first established right back in the 12th century, so has been around for a very long time.  We have a wonderful climate, plenty of sunshine and rain, which helps the garden blossom.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: And I’ll go ahead and ask for my Photo Geek Friends, what type of camera do you use? Go ahead and be all techno numbers and all of that for those that speak Cameranese.
 
IMG_0347HUGH: Would you believe it if I said I take all my photos on an iPhone 4?  Well, that’s where they have all come from.  I love all things ‘Apple’ and am probably a marketing dream for them.  iMac, iPad, iPhone, iCloud, Apple TV, I have it all, thanks to all the Apple Vouchers I get for Christmas and Birthdays (I’m so easy to buy for, so please take note*:) happy).  Between us, we once had five, I kid you not, five iPads!  OK, some were from the very early days and I’ve sold a few since then, but I can not walk past the Apple store without having to go inside.  That’s why I had to write my latest short story, ‘The Truth App’, in honour of the staff at our local Apple store.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: (I told you he was one of . . . those people.) And tell us about your love of the Cardigan Welsh Corgi.
 
IMG_0347HUGH: Well, it’s over to my partner, John, here, because he was the one that wanted to get a dog and it haIMG_1815d to be a Cardigan Welsh Corgi.  I suppose with us both being Welsh, we had to have a Welsh dog, but it was when John first saw one at Crufts, that he had to get one.  What we did not know is that these dogs are on the vulnerable breeds lists here in the UK, with less than 100 being born every year.  Originally they were bred for herding cattle and I IMG_1905understand they are still used for that purpose over in the States.  Ours is called Toby and he’s become a bit of a star over on my blog recently, having now posted two posts about some of the walks he goes on.  When I wrote those posts, I wrote them as if I were him, so from his perspective, and I’ve had some really positive comments left on those posts.  When my sister was over on a visit from Australia recently, she referred to him as a “little human”.  I guess that’s because we do spoil him a lot, but many people have also told us what a wonderful character he has.  He knows the words, walk, chicken, cheese, custard, sausage, rice pudding, and mince pies (at Christmas time) and seems to even know what day of the week it is.  He’s one clever chap.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: Once everyone stops looking at Toby tell us where you get your inspiration from for your stories?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  Lots of places really, some strange, some not so strange.  Take for example my short story, Last Train to Aldwych.  Grace Simmons, the main character in that story, introduced herself and told me her story while I was doing a pile of ironing.  As soon as I had finished ironing that last sock (no, I don’t really iron socks, honestly!), I sat down and wrote the story.  Other stories have come from prompts and WordPress writing challenges, while the inspiration for others have come from other bloggers.  I’m currently working on a two-part short story which came as an inspiration from a photo I saw on one of the blogs I follow.  The author doesn’t  know it yet, but I’ll be asking if I can use their photo so I can include it in the post.  My passion is for writing short stories and although they do not get as many views as my photo posts do, I’m very proud of myself for not letting the fact that I have dyslexia get in my way anymore.  I used to see dyslexia as a monster, but happy to say that I managed to tame it, with the help of a few fellow bloggers who really encouraged me to continue with my blog.  I am so thankful to those bloggers, who I now class as friends, for all the support and encouragement they gave me.  And, yes, I’ve even written a post about defeating the monster I called dyslexia.
 
A few other bloggers have since also confided in me they have dyslexia, and I’m now giving them the support and encouragement I received, to carry on doing what we all love to do, write.
 
I also get a lot of inspiration from listening to music while I write, especially when writing short stories.  ‘Dreamland” by Robert Miles is currently my favourite album to write to.  If I ever bumped into Mr Miles, I would certainly have to buy him dinner and a few drinks, as a thank you.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: Do you have a writing spot in your home? That place that you go to where nothing distracts you from the flow of creation?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  I used to have two spots, one being the kitchen, but I don’t tend to write in there much anymore now. IMG_2131 The main spot for me is in our study.  The desk looks out over towards Hove Recreation Ground, which maybe does not sound so nice, but believe me, whilst it’s not as pretty as some of theIMG_2142 other parks we have in Brighton & Hove, it’s lovely to look out at while I am writing.  It’s used by lots of people and also used a lot for sports like rugby and cricket and I have often included bits of conversations in my posts which I have overheard whilst walking Toby in there.  Of course I change what I have heard, so that it more reflects how I would have said it, but it’s a source of some great conversations.  If I also see an interesting person walking in the grounds while writing, I’ll give them a name and use them in one of my stories.  That might put people who live in the area and reading this, off from going in there now, but just think of it this way.  One day, the inspiration you gave me, may become a Hollywood blockbuster movie or best selling novel.  Who am I kidding!!?
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: That is a great view from the window, I was thinking it would be more distracting than that. You mention a book you are working on in your bio, how is that coming along and do I get a free copy?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  Of course you can have a free copy.  I’d even sign it ‘Hugh Grant” if you wanted?
I started writing the book in late 2012.  As a child, I had two main ambitions.  I wanted to write a book and have it published, and I also wanted to have a number one hit single!  The trouble with the last one, is that although I am Welsh (Welsh men can really sing you know, just look at all the Welsh Male Voice Choirs there are) I can’t sing.  I’m absolutely tone deaf and, unlike dyslexia, I’ve not been able to tame it.  I was thrown out of many a school choir for not being able to sing and if my parents protested with the school headmaster, then I’d get back in, but only to be given the part of playing the xylophone or, even worse, the tambourine!
 
I’m afraid the book has had to take a bit of a back seat since I started my blog, because that is where most of my free time now goes.  I’d like to think of it as my first book, but because I’ve really enjoyed writing short stories since starting my blog, I am thinking of perhaps putting all of them into a book and self publishing them first.  I will certainly go back to the book and don’t think I’ve done any harm in leaving it alone for a while.  I read somewhere recently that some authors can leave finishing writing books for years, then go back to them to finishing them off and the book then becomes an international best seller.
 
The book I am writing is about life in London in the 1980’s and 90’s.  I lived in London for 27 years before coming to Hove and the book is based on my life in the city during those times.  Some of it is based on fact, a lot is fiction, but I had such an interesting and wonderful time whilst living in London, that I wanted it to be recorded somewhere, so the ambition I had as a child, may just come true, one day.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: Does Blogging ever interfere with your social responsibilities?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  Oh, John is going to like you for asking me this question, I can guarantee it.  Did he ask you to ask this question?  I bet he did didn’t he?  I have to be very honest here, because after all, I’m a very honest person, so my answer is yes.  Both John and myself are tidy people.  We hate clutter and like everything to be in place, that’s why we get on so well and have been together for nearly 21 years, but, blogging has taken over my life.  Sure, I’ll do the chores, walk Toby, empty the bin, make the beds, and all that, but I’m probably not as thorough as I was before I started my blog.  I’m not saying that the house is now looking like a store does at the end of the first day of the sale, but I do rather tend to rush the social responsibilities these days, so that I can log on to the blog and start reading and writing.  That reminds me, I need to descale the coffee machine before it seizes up for good.  Thanks for the prompt!
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: When did you start your blog?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  12th February 2014, so it has a birthday which we will be celebrating next year, much to John’s amusement I might add.  February is a big month for us, because not only is it the birthday month of my blog, but John also has a birthday that month, our civil partnership anniversary is the same month and, of course, who could forget valentine’s day as well?
 
A family member introduced me to WordPress in early February after I inquired with the family if they knew anybody who blogged?  I don’t think most of them thought I was being serious when I told them I was thinking of starting my own blog and one friend even told me to be careful because of internet trolls and all that, but I saw it as a way to tell my story and write about all the various elements of everyday life I love so much.  Although I have dyslexia, I seem to be able to explain things by writing them down far better than by talking about them.  Starting a blog has given me so much confidence and its the perfect way to get over my views and news. Hence the blog name, Hugh’s Views and News.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: I notice you around the Blog Block so to speak in my reading of other bloggers and your likes and comments; do you notice a difference in style between bloggers from different parts of the world?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  Yes, hugely.  Not only in the way the author writes, but also in that of the comments that are left.  Reading blogs is such a great way of finding out about different cultures and how people live their lives on a daily basis.  You can really get to know somebody so well just from engaging with them by asking questions and leaving comments IMG_2137on posts.
 
Perhaps the saddest thing about it though is that you can read some comments, which can be read as being offensive to some, but to others may be perfectly normal.  I’ve come across that quite recently and was going to react as I thought a particular comment somebody had left on a blog I follow was rather offensive.  But then I thought ‘its not my blog’ and I looked at it from the ‘other side of the coin’ and thought about the position the person who had left the comment was in.  The person who owned the blog obviously hadn’t seen it as an offensive comment as otherwise they would have removed it, so I moved on, without saying anything.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: What type of Blogs do you tend to gravitate toward?
 
IMG_0347HUGH: I follow a lot of blogs which concentrate on one subject but I tend to gravitate more to those which contain lots of variety.  My own blog contains short stories, photos, reviews, my views on life, television and commercials, as well as a few other categories.  I have seen some bloggers create brand new blogs because they think having too much variety on their blog looks messy.  I’m not so sure about that.  Yes, if I am looking for a blog that only contains recipes, then it’s great to find a blog that contains only recipes, but I like a good mixture in a blog (no pun intended there)!  I like to get to know the blogger, and by having lots of variety on their blog, I know I can achieve that because it will tell me more about them other than that they may be a great cook.  So I tend to graduate towards blogs that have lots of variety.  After all, they do say that variety is the spice of life, don’t they?
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: You seem to really enjoy what you do, what advice can you give others to help keep them motivated to blog and enjoy? Do you have something like a limit of time, a number of posts per week, anything like that?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  My first piece of advise would to be to treat your blog as if it were alive.  I’d better explain that a little more, hadn’t I?  To me, I see my blog as being alive.  To stay alive, it needs plenty of nourishment.  I look at a post I have written myself, as a meal for my blog.  
 
Because I have written the post, I look at it as if it were a meal I had prepared myself from fresh wholesome ingredients.  When I press that publish button, I’m feeding my blog a good meal to keep it nourished.  I look at re-blogs as ready made meals because I am not the original author.
 
 None the less, when I re-blog something, then I am still feeding my blog and giving it nourishment, thus keeping it alive.  There’s absolutely no problem in taking a break from your blog to try and get the creative juices flowing, but try not to leave it too long, otherwise it may pass away.  Always consider re-blogging something you have found interesting from another blog if you have nothing to publish yourself.  After all we are all told to visit, read and comment on other blogs so as to connect with other bloggers and create new openings and attract new followers.  
 
So my first piece of advise is to feed your blog, even if it means just re-blogging something occasionally.
 
My second piece of advise is to connect and engage with your followers and anyone, other than trolls, who leave a comment on your posts.  I always thank anyone for taking the time to read and comment on a post I have published because, by doing so, I am then engaging with them.  I always answer any questions they ask me and in turn I may go back and ask them questions or for further comments on the answers I have given.  I know some bloggers are going to get huge amounts of comments and won’t be able to respond to them all. but I think it sad when I come across a blog and see absolutely no response to comments from the author.
 
When I first started blogging, I thought I’d stick to one post a month, but that soon became two posts a month, to three and so on, because I was really enjoying what I was doing.  I try and post something on my own blog at least twice a week.  Of course if you are not enjoying what you doing then stop and move on to something else.  That’s exactly what I did after my two year relationship with the gym fell apart.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: Finally for my Big Three Questions. What is your favorite scent/aroma/fragrance and why?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  Mint.  I love the stuff, not only on my roast lamb, but also as an aroma around the house.  It makes the whole place smell fresh and clean, which of course my house is, after you asking me that earlier question about social responsibilities.
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: What is your favorite beverage?
 
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  Tea.  I suppose that is the Britishness in me.  I love the stuff especially when I have a pack of Oreos or chocolate digestives to dunk into the tea.  Pure bliss!
 
Ron Cover ShotRW: And finally, what is your favorite word and why?
 
IMG_0347HUGH:  Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch – go on, I dare you to check it out.  It’s a real Welsh word.  If I can’t chose that word because it’s not an English word, then I’d say “Twist”  Not in the dance or pain sense, but in the story sense.  I love a story or movie with a great twist or two in it.
 


I want to thank Hugh for the interview and what I have to say was an enjoyable time. Make sure to visit and follow him at Hugh’s Views & News and also on Twitter at . Also click Hugh’s favorite Bananarama song below and watch him dance along. I like to have a little fun with those guests that have that touch of humor about them. All that’s missing are the long socks and sandals he loves to wear.

 
 hugh_dance_video

 

 

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From nothing to a Blog Post. It happens.

I’ll be honest with you, I have no idea what I am going to write. I opened up this page with the thought of just letting words happen. The idea of writing about How I DIDN’T Watch Football on New Year’s Day came to mind. Then I thought, why? I asked myself that as I leaned back against the headboard of my bed, leg stretched out crossed at the ankles and my laptop, well, on my lap top. Not that I’ve ever heard of a lap bottom. Why would I write about no football?

I thought about writing a poem, but it felt forced. So that was a no.

I thought about a writing or blogging tip, no.

I thought about promoting a book I like a lot by a friend of many of us, no. But that being said seriously go and purchase The Blue Diamond: The Razor’s Edge by PS Bartlett. It really is excellent and no, I do not say that as a friend. My honesty comes before friendship, otherwise my recommendations mean nothing. And she has other books in the series she is working on so there are more to come.

I did create a logo for the Lit World Interviews site. I am sharing that because I enjoyed doing it and I do think it looks pretty good.

lit world interviews logo

Okay so there, picmonkey.com. I was a fan of fotoflexer.com for a while. I still like some of their features. But picmonkey has become my current go to. I create all my own images of late, if at all possible. That way I don’t have to worry about credits and the like. My images, my credit, or no credit really.

I originally was against picmonkey because of the way you had to navigate, but as I mentioned in a previous article it was just a matter of getting accustomed to things. And it was very easy to grow accustomed.

There are some limitations in some font choices I would like but the ones they have are very cool and varied and you can load your own fonts. The borders are nice and the effects and textures are excellent. If you are creative you can do a lot with them.

From creating a banner, a simple blog insert or even a book cover picmonkey.com is a great place to get the hang of. And it is really simple once you just start clicking and playing around with it. I use it every day.

Oh, and when you save it, make sure to put dashes between words like this – and ronovan-writes-blogging-tipsnot like this _ because _ is ignored in searches so words run together. While this – is seen as a space.

And that’s how I created a post for today. I wrote until something of interest to me came up and I thought would be of use to you. Normally I get rid of the not possibly interesting parts but decided to leave them in today just to show you how random I am.

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What is a blog?

What in the world is a blog?

Big Lazy Old Guy.

No, no that’s just my own personal definition as I look at my reflection in the screen of my laptop as I write this.

You’ve heard of them, Blogs that is, you might even have one, still Blogs or maybe that other blog definition, but you have no idea what that really means. Well, let’s give it a shot, shall we?

You have two creatures out there called web sites and weB LOGS. Or some might say weblog as the history of the word goes. See what I did there? Yes, I know you did.

Keep It Simple Simpleton

A site is one of those places that you go to and is somewhat static in nature with some background content updates. For the most part it’s a place where you will most likely see the same thing each time you visit. For you writers out there, ever notice when you go to a literary agency web site how things don’t look much different? That’s a site.

A weB LOG is a log of things that come to your mind and you share with everyone. It might be life events, creative sparks, anything. Anyone can have a Blog. Many authors have both a web site and a Blog. With Blogs an author puts out promotional updates and even samples of what they might be working on. Or at times just a quick little poem or short story to give fans a taste.

I personally, believe it or not do own a website, www.ronovan.com, just no hosting for it so here I am in Blog World and will stay here even once I have hosting I can afford or find for free somehow. The Web Site would act as the landing site for visitors and then they could click on a tab on the page to show up here. Which they can do now actually. How about that name for my website? Is that original or what? Can you believe it wasn’t taken by anyone? And yes, Ronovan really is my name.

Why is a Blog so useful?

  • A blog is where you can have fun and keep fans posted on goings on in your author career.
  • You can show your personality in a blog. This how you really connect to fans these days. You combine a blog with things like Twitter, Google+ and other things and you have people that will buy your books. They want to know your life, and this is a way to give that to them. Even if it’s just a picture of a sunset near your home or places you’ve been.
  • And as for being a part of WordPress you can become part of a massive author community that  helps each other out. You can learn a lot about being an author, from writing to marketing right here on WordPress.

You don’t connect like that with a Web Site. You are mostly out there on your own.

In reality you can make a Blog, which is really a web site as well, a traditional web site if you wanted to. Perhaps I will do some articles about building a Blog. I did a few on my LitWorldInterviews site but life got in the way of my completing the series. Who knows? I may have even written a few articles here on Ronovan Writes as well. I tend to write a bit about everything. You may have noticed that.

So before I commit to telling you to expect a series, I’ll have it completed first. But, if you have a question, ask. You can even send a question to RonovanWrites (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll see if I can help you out.

Much Respect

Ronovan

Ron_LWI

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Get a Free Review of your Kindle Book?

You have written your book. You have formatted your book and have it on Amazon. Now it’s time to get to work.

 

What Balloon

 

You thought it was over with? Not by a long shot. Now you have to get the book sold. Part of that I discussed in Advertising Your Book, For Free.

But just advertising doesn’t cut it. Some people want to know if other people like your book. Is your book worth the time? This means reviews. So how do you get reviews?

  •  Get friends to read and review, but you’ll have to give them the book. And more than likely, sure Man reading bookthey’ll give you a good review but you want an honest review. But you’re thinking, “No, I want good reviews.” If you have your list full of great reviews and then some big paper comes along and reviews it there might be fallout. Most likely not but I would rather have an honest review. I want the truth.
  • Get Beta Readers to read your book, of course and then ask them to give a review, but some of them require payment and the book. And as a Beta Reader they might know all the parts you had to rewrite and you really want fresh eyes unless you just know you will get an objective opinion. I have started Beta Reading and I’m objective. I Beta Read for two good friends of mine and I don’t pull punches but I also see the big picture. I can do both sides of the role.

There is another way.

Kindle Reviews from Amazon.Magnifying Glass on Book

They have three versions:

 

#1

Free Review-One Review for FREE! Yes I said FREE.
You submit your book and usually within 7-14 days you have a review. You aren’t guaranteed a review but normally it does get reviewed. A lot of times the reviewer is another author who is looking for people to review their work. That doesn’t mean you need to review that person’s work or anyone else.

I thought about just stopping here originally but I decided to go ahead and let you know about Amazon’s two paid review services.

#2

FastTrack-5 Reviews
You pay for a team of reviewers. Reviews are published within 7-14 days. They mention that if you really want the online browser to be influenced you might want 10 reviews. I believe I read somewhere it was $40 for a review team of 5.

#3

FastTrack Pro
You pay for 5 reviews but the team of reviewers will buy your book and not only have your reviews out in 7-14 days but will also help your Amazon Sales Rank a little.  It’s $90 for this service but of course you get some back through the purchase of your book which boosts your sales rank a little and you rise a little in the browser influence.

Why do this?
You get honest reviews from people you don’t know. As a writer that’s what you want. It gives you more than just help getting your book noticed it also helps you learn how your book is being received.

One Final Way

You can also let me know at ronovanwrites (at) gmail (dot) com and I can connect you to one of the book reviewers at LitWorldInterviews.WordPress.com or even myself. As long as it’s a book we are interested in and you have an ebook format provided to us (protected PDF, protected Word Document, Kindle whatever), we will provide an honest review of it. I repeat an HONEST review of it. At least five us do reviews as time permits. You let me know and I then email your information to one of the LWI reviewers and they contact you so you can get them the e copy. Or really if you check out our Book Reviews at LWI you can actually request a certain Reviewer if you like through me or contact them. Just check out our staff list, myself included (although my heading doesn’t say Book Review Team, I do a bit of everything).

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

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#Blog #Tips Tag So You’re It-How to Tag your Blog Right.

Increasing traffic to your blog means increasing SEO views. Is that what this article is about? Yes and no. This is not going to be about how to intentionally seek out more views. This is going to be how to simply take what you have and let it be noticed properly with a few well chosen words and really just doing what you’re supposed to be doing already.

tag_you're_it.jpgTagging a blog article/post is a mystery to a lot of people. They have the best post ever on the planet. Then they don’t advertise it through their tagging properly. They put in a lot of obscure words or phrases. I’m here to break it down a little.

Things to Remember:

  • Don’t have too many-Stick to no more than about 13 and I mean 13. I’ve tested with a friend that was having problems and as we backed down the number of tags we finally got it to show up in the WordPress Reader.
  • Keep it mostly Basic with a few Specifics-If I have a poem I will use Poem, Poetry for certain. Some call this redundant if I have it in the category as Poetry. Not so. WordPress Reader sees my Tags. Then I describe the poem in a few words such as feelings or actions. Think of words that are used a lot. Love. Sex. Romance. Heartbreak. Humor. Pain. Sad. Happy. Sounds overly simple, right? So you go ahead and tag yours as Remorseful Angst and see how many WordPress Readers and even Search Engines are going to be looking for that.
  • When I do interviews I include the name of the Person, their Books, their Publisher, there Agent, and the genre of book and the type of availability such as Amazon or Kindle.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Don’t over complicate your tagging. You’re not writing another post in Tag form. One thing to not freak out about is-Your WordPress Reader Referral numbers will likely go down as your blog grows. Why am I mentioning this? Because I don’t want you to go and start freaking out and changing up your Tags. My Search Engine (SEO) referrals double my WordPress Reader Referral numbers. That’s really what you want anyway. Tag your things right.

ANOTHER TAG REASON

There might come a time when you want to create some drop down menus on your blog much like I have done here and on Lit World Interviews especially. I actually use Tags as those drop downs and even links on pages so all of my Authors that fit a certain type of genre can easily be pulled together in one place.

 A Bonus Mention:

Do your permalink right. That’s right below where you create the title for your post/article. WordPress will automatically use the words you put in your title as your permalink. For me, that isn’t what I want. My title is sometimes a catchy thing to get your attention. But for SEO I want words they are going to look for, so I change my permalink to be instead of say Remants, which is a recent poem I wrote, I might have  put poetry-haiku-love-remnants, or something like that, I don’t really remember.

 

Remember this isn’t extra work for you to worry about and TRY and get extra people to show up. These things are basics you SHOULD be doing already. I am no longer a blogger looking to really go after views and readers. I did that early on because I got caught up in the madness of it all. If you do that, you will so destroy any joy you have in doing this. Have fun and your blog will grow.

I have another site that very few know of. I do no advertising other than tagging. I don’t use Twitter, Google+, Facebook nor anything else. I have about 30 followers in about a month’s time. Not a lot I know, but I am happy with it, very happy. I simply Tag my posts, permalink my posts and move on to the next day.

Blogging is supposed to be fun. If you aren’t having fun, step back and take a deep breath. And remember this; the only person you are responsible to for on your blog is you. You are the only one that needs to be happy with what you post. The only person that needs to think about when your next post will be is you. If you are getting close to the edge of pulling your hair out or just giving up blogging, check out How to Survive the Blog Life.

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

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RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt Challenge #18 Stress&Hold

The 18th Haiku Prompt Challenge!

Badge provided by Me for this season.

ronovan_writes_haiku_prompt_badge_autumn_2014

For a refresher or how to write Haiku in English click here. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

Something to keep in mind about a Haiku. Usually it is elemental in nature, but I don’t stick to that. There are two things I do like to see and they are; 1) Haiku that can be broken into two sentences with the middle line of the three lines being the commonly used part and 2) Opposite meanings in the first and last sentences.

Before you start!

I have links that will help you out. Remember for Haiku in English the total syllables are 5 for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the last. I don’t really hold people to that for this but if you want to do it in the 5/7/5 manner, the traditional way, then try that. One link I have for you is . . . howmanysyllables.com. Simply type in the word and find out how many syllables it has. Also for synonyms and antonyms go to thesaurus.com, I find it useful for finding a word to fit the meaning when syllables are not working out right.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

Stress & Hold

My Example

Hold your tongue, you naive,

Lest my blade’s honed  edge be used,

Stress your purpose here.

 

 DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the rewind.)

There are now things called “A RONOVAN’S CHOICE!” which simply means a Haiku that either touched me or was a stand out Haiku in structure and meaning. Really each Haiku is a choice of mine so I feel a bit odd even having something called A RONOVAN’S CHOICE, but hey, it’s a thing, right?

Much respect

Ronovan

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RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku Prompt Challenge #17 Focus & Stray

ronovan_writes_haiku_prompt_badge_autumn_2014Badge provided by Me for this time around.

The 17th Haiku Prompt Challenge!

For a refresher or how to write Haiku in English click here. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

Something to keep in mind about a Haiku. Usually it is elemental in nature, but I don’t stick to that. There are two things I do like to see and they are; 1) Haiku that can be broken into two sentences with the middle line of the three lines being the commonly used part and 2) Opposite meanings in the first and last sentences.

Before you start!

I have links that will help you out. Remember for Haiku in English the total syllables are 5 for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the last. I don’t really hold people to that for this but if you want to do it in the 5/7/5 manner, the traditional way, then try that. One link I have for you is . . . howmanysyllables.com. Simply type in the word and find out how many syllables it has. Also for synonyms and antonyms go to thesaurus.com, I find it useful for finding a word to fit the meaning when syllables are not working out right.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

Focus & Stray

My Example

The clouds last wisps stray,

As the wind sends them away,

My focus renews.

.

 

 DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the rewind.)

There are now things called “A RONOVAN’S CHOICE!” which simply means a Haiku that either touched me or was a stand out Haiku in structure and meaning.

Much respect

Ronovan

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Awesome Blog Name of the Day: Poetic Parfait by @christybis

Spotlight rightSpotlight left

 

 

 

 

 

I just had to share this Blog Name

Poetic Parfait

from

Here is just the beginning of her about page.

Welcome.

Sit down and stay awhile. Hungry? Let me grab you something. Poetic Parfait is a delicious treat for the mind.

Read poetry, enter discussions about the poetic word, listen to music, and embrace words that intend to inspire.

I began Poetic Parfait in 2011, and the amount of support it receives on a daily basis humbles me. I began to write poetry at this site as a way to help myself get through a period of depression. As I typed the lines, I found they helped me work through my feelings and darkness that I felt around me.

RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku Prompt Challenge #16 Haunt & Release

ronovan_writes_haiku_prompt_badge_autumn_2014Badge provided by Me for this time around.

The 16th Haiku Prompt Challenge!

For a refresher or how to write Haiku in English click here. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

Something to keep in mind about a Haiku. Usually it is elemental in nature, but I don’t stick to that. There are two things I do like to see and they are; 1) Haiku that can be broken into two sentences with the middle line of the three lines being the commonly used part and 2) Opposite meanings in the first and last sentences.

Before you start!

I have links that will help you out. Remember for Haiku in English the total syllables are 5 for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the last. I don’t really hold people to that for this but if you want to do it in the 5/7/5 manner, the traditional way, then try that. One link I have for you is . . . howmanysyllables.com. Simply type in the word and find out how many syllables it has. Also for synonyms and antonyms go to thesaurus.com, I find it useful for finding a word to fit the meaning when syllables are not working out right.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

Haunt & Release

My Example

Memories haunt me,

In times of least expecting,

My burdens released.

.

 

 DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the rewind.)

There are now things called “A RONOVAN’S CHOICE!” which simply means a Haiku that either touched me or was a stand out Haiku in structure and meaning.

Much respect

Ronovan

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RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku Prompt Challenge #15 Promise & Gift

ronovan_writes_haiku_prompt_badge_autumn_2014

Badge provided by Me for this time of the year or so.

Welcome to Haiku prompt challenge . . .

#15

 

(Remember, the Wordless Haiku Challenge with Pictures come out at Noon New York Time.)

I use Haiku in English myself so if you want a refresher on how to do that just click here. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

 

 Before you start!

I have links that will help you out. Remember for Haiku in English the total syllables are 5 for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the last. I don’t really hold people to that for this but if you want to do it in the 5/7/5 manner, the traditional way, then try that. One link I have for you is . . . howmanysyllables.com. Simply type in the word and find out how many syllables it has. Also for synonyms and antonyms go to thesaurus.com, I find it useful for finding a word to fit the meaning when syllables are not working out right.

The prompts!

Promise & Gift

These are all My words this week. How Dare sian have a life.

My Example

With a guarantee,

Hugh went to the Apple store,

To receive his gift.

 

 DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the rewind.)

You may have noticed I am choosing some category standouts now. I have not run across a Haiku I don’t like yet. There are some that hit me in the moment and stand out.

Much respect

Ronovan

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com.

RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku Prompt Challenge #14 Shine & Potential

ronovan_writes_haiku_prompt_badge_autumn_2014

Badge provided by Me for this time of the year or so.

Welcome to Haiku prompt challenge . . .

#14

I hear the cheer from here.

(Thank you Spunky. That’s my cat. He cheers.)

(Remember, the Wordless Haiku Challenge with Pictures come out at Noon New York Time.)

I use Haiku in English myself so if you want a refresher on how to do that just click here. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

 

 Before you start!

I have links that will help you out. Remember for Haiku in English the total syllables are 5 for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the last. I don’t really hold people to that for this but if you want to do it in the 5/7/5 manner, the traditional way, then try that. One link I have for you is . . . howmanysyllables.com. Simply type in the word and find out how many syllables it has. Also for synonyms and antonyms go to thesaurus.com, I find it useful for finding a word to fit the meaning when syllables are not working out right.

The prompts!

Shine & Potential

These are all Sian’s words this week.

My Example

Her potential spreads,

Like a warm ray of sunshine,

Her smile shines always.

 

 DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the rewind.)

You may have noticed I am choosing some category standouts now. I have not run across a Haiku I don’t like yet. There are some that hit me in the moment and stand out.

Much respect

Ronovan

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com.

RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku Prompt Challenge #13 Spirit & Flight

WHY DID  YOU CLICK IT?!?!?!?!!?!?

I have no idea why I did that this week. I suppose to wake my regular visitors up a bit.

Gots ta have fun, right?  Hey, don’t click out of it yet!

RW Weekly Haiku Challenge

Badge provided by DazzlingWhimsy.

#13

Welcome to this weeks Haiku prompt challenge.

(Not the Wordless with Pictures. That one is out at 12:00 Noon New York Time.)

If you want to refresh yourselves on a bit of Haiku in English, although you do not have to stick to that particular style of Haiku, it’s just my particular style to use, click here.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

 

 Before you start!

I have a link that will help you out. Remember for Haiku in English the total syllables are 5 for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the last. This the Haiku I use. I don’t really hold people to that for this but if you want to do it in the 5/7/5 manner, the traditional way, then try that. The link I have for you is . . . howmanysyllables.com. Simply type in the word and find out how many syllables it has. Also for synonyms and antonyms go to thesaurus.com, I find it useful for finding a word to fit the meaning when syllables are not working out right.

The prompts!

Spirit & Flight

 Sian is busy this week, so you have to suffer words all of my own.

My Example

 

Otis flees with cow,

Full of spirits for the night,

He is put to bed.

 Can you guess what inspired this Haiku? If so, leave a comment.

 

DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the rewind.)

I’ll comment and also choose the ones that knock me down for one reason or the other and link back to them in my Weekly Rewind telling people how great they were and why I picked them. Eventually these will turn into categories.

Much respect

Ronovan

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com.

My 3 Best Blogging Tips for a Successful Blog

My Best Blogging Tip

I can give anyone is to be honest in everything you put out. If you have something you don’t like or are not feeling, then don’t post it. If that means you go a day without a post, then fine, save your readers the suffering of mediocrity. My apologies to my readers.

I feel responsible to put out a lot of content in order for there to be something for each type of person that visits. I know not everyone likes each and every piece I come up with so I try to have a little bit of variety. This does not mean a piece is bad just because a person does not like it. You can’t make everyone happy with your writing.

The foolish thing about the idea of my massive amount of content output is . . . I have so much content on my blog that people already have plenty to see if they want to see it. But there is a problem with backing off my content output and just letting people check out what I have already. And that’s where my,

Third Best Blogging Tip comes into play and that is . . .

Blog Organization & Navigation: Get it right Sooner than Too Late.

No, you didn’t miss the number two blogging tip. Not everyone is like me for content output. I am a serious writing fiend. This has put me in a bad spot. I need to organize but it will be a very long process and that is time intensive and tediousness I can’t handle. It’s just something I literally cannot do at this point in my life medically.

lego_juggler

How did I get so unorganized?

Whenever we start blogs we want them to look great and put out creative things without a look to the future because we often times don’t think about what happens if we really enjoy it or if others enjoy our work. Great. But one thing you need to think of is organizing. We use Categories on that sidebar thing for that and it works perfectly fine. But then again . . . it doesn’t.

How are your visitors going to find your great work? How do they navigate your site?

You might be saying to yourself,

“Ronovan, I write poetry, or I have photos so people are just going to see that by clicking on my Photography category.”

  • I don’t like every subject matter of photography.
  • I don’t like every subject matter of poetry.
  • You know there are even triggers for some people these days. Triggers are words or sounds or images or anything that causes some reaction from another person and often times in a negative manner.

Triggers have been an issue with me of late. There are blogs I don’t visit now because there are things I know might be there. Even a warning is a trigger. Even the idea of the site itself is a trigger and the person attached to the site has become a trigger. So what to do to help this not happen? This isn’t to say you need to try and avoid every trigger ever because that’s impossible.

The Category way, a MUST

Sure, Categories are a start but then you have to think about things like . . . well let’s take poetry. I have a lot of poetry on my site. All of it is under the Category of Poetry which I now have as a drop down box under ‘My Writings’ page. But there are different types of poetry and different topics.

So what I need to do is slowly move my poetry into more Categories. This is great if you want a long list of Categories on your sidebar.For me the Drop Down Menu looks a touch more professional as long as it is done properly. I still need to work on mine. But if you are satisfied with a list of categories in your sidebar then by all means do it.

There is nothing wrong with having poetry categorized as Love Poetry, or Depression Poetry, or Funny Poetry, or even Sensual Poetry.  You would be using those adjective words in the Tags anyway, so why not use them in the Category name instead? That means one less Tag you use.

The thing to know here is to go ahead and make these Categories as you make your posts. It will come in handy later when and if you want to do drop down boxes/menus.

If I had done the above to start with the next option I will mention would be a breeze.

My Nightmare

Waiting until you have almost 700 articles published is a bit late in the game to be taking another stab at organization but it is a must. I’m going to try but it will be slow going. I advise you to do it now. Do it a little at a time if you need to. But get it done so people can visit and check out more of what you have to offer. Just imagine people don’t even know about my poem ‘Snack Attack‘.

Doing Drop Down Menus.

You might be wondering how to set up the Drop Down Menus under or atop your header photos. Go to your Dashboard, for WordPress users, then to Appearance near the bottom, and then Menus.

For some there might be different locations for Menus, as in where on your blog a menu or menus can appear. I’m just going to briefly or not so briefly do a run through of a basic drop down option.

MenuOnce in the Menus page to edit your menus you have sections called  Pages, Links, Categories, and then to the right Menu Structure. If you have your blog open go ahead and just take a look at it and  you will see it’s pretty simple and nothing all freak out worthy. You can’t mess up in here unless you hit save and even then you have to do something else first before anything you do now would save. And I’m not telling you what that is yet.  So check it out.

Before anything, look at the Menu Structure section.

What happens here is you move Pages, Links and Categories into this box and then move them around to how you want them to appear and function on your blog.

  • If a Title is all the way to the left in the box then it will function as a ‘Heading’, at least that’s what I will call it. Or perhaps a Section Title. I have Haiku Challenges on my blog RonovanWrites, well I don’t want a person to click Haiku Challenges and end up seeing every challenge I have because it then becomes confusing. Instead I want them to see the specific type of challenge, be it the Word Prompt Challenge or the Wordless Haiku Challenge.
  • If you want something to show up as a drop down option then you simply drag it slightly to the right, underneath the ‘Heading’ you want it to appear under. So for me the ‘Heading’ would be Haiku Challenges and the drop down options would be ‘Word Prompt Challenge’ and “Wordless Haiku Challenge’. So Haiku Challenges would be all the way to the left then the actual challenges would be lined up underneath each other just to the right and under the ‘Heading’.
  • You can even make subheading under subheadings by moving something to the right of ‘Word Prompt Challenge’.
  • Don’t do the sub of a sub thing, or I don’t recommend it as the deeper you bury things in your blog structure supposedly the deeper a Search Engine will need to search.

Pages:

Pages is the section that contains actual PAGES you have created in the PAGES part of the Dashboard. I will use all caps for real PAGES from now on so you will know the difference between a real PAGE and what looks likeLego_Blocks a page.

  • Click on the ‘Pages’ box and a list of your PAGES will appear. You can check the box next to what you want and then click Add to Menu. Did you catch that? You can actually, by using the Menus feature, keep a PAGE from appearing in the Menu while you work on it or until it is ready to be used.

Links is a bit different:

For links you have two boxes; URL and Link Text.

This is where I create the ‘Headings’ or ‘Fake Pages’ if you will.

  • Type in the ‘Heading’ in the Link Text field. For me it would have been Haiku Challenges.
  • Next you need a URL link to hold the ‘Heading’ in place so to speak. You see if you clicked on Haiku Challenges you might not find anything there because I just created a name, no content, no post or anything. What you do is simply copy the URL from the front page of your blog. This will make it so no one can click on it but when their cursor hovers over it the drop box shows up.
  • Once you have done this, click Add to Menu and place it where  appropriate on your Menu Structure.

Categories is the last on our list:

These are the Categories you created as you created your posts. And this is why you want to be a little specific about naming standards. In other words these are the Categories that show up on the Category list in the sidebar.

  • Click the View All tab so you can see all of the Categories you use for your posts.
  • You can now add any you want to the Menu Structure area.

Why be specific in naming standards? What if you have a Literary site that does interviews and book reviews and you have genre ‘Headings’ and then ‘Categories’ that are all the same names according to age of reader? You know what you end with for yourself? Confusion and delay. So be specific so you know what you are using at a glance and not out of trial and error.

Here is the part you need to know about making drop downs instead of a bunch of ‘pages’.

Once you’ve done all the Menu Structure you then want to make sure Primary Menu is checked at the bottom and then click Save Menu. You can click Save Menu throughout the process and check and see if things are going as planned by having your site open in another tab or window. Just hit refresh on that other tab or window and check out your progress.

That’s a quick rundown of how the Menus work and how to get organized. I hope it will be helpful and I will work on a more complete Menu article in the future with the images that you have become accustomed to, but to be honest, this article wasn’t going to be this, it just happened.

One last thing for the O/N Blogging tips you need to do and actually it’s the first is to sit down and think about your Category names, your ‘Heading’ titles, and even your real PAGES you want to have. You don’t have to have every single one, just what you need so you get a standard method in place.

Now for the number Two Best Blogging Tip I have

Have fun and ignore the number of views and followers you have. If you worry about those two things then you start forgetting about the Number One Tip, being honest. You start forcing things and people can tell you aren’t having fun or at least you are not putting your heart into it. When that happens, people stop visiting you.

So why are these my Best Three Blogging Tips? If you don’t have quality you don’t have readers and if you have a mess on your hands your new readers won’t see your quality content from before they found you. So make your life easier.
back to top

Much Respect

Ronovan

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2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com

RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku Prompt Challenge #12 Study & Creature

RW Weekly Haiku ChallengeBadge provided by DazzlingWhimsy.

#12

Welcome to this weeks Haiku prompt challenge.

(Not the Wordless with Pictures. That one is out at 12:00 Noon New York Time.)

If you want to refresh yourselves on a bit of Haiku in English, although you do not have to stick to that particular style of Haiku, it’s just my particular style to use, click here.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

 

 Before you start!

I have a link that will help you out. Remember for Haiku in English the total syllables are 5 for the first line, 7 for the second, and 5 for the last. This the Haiku I use. I don’t really hold people to that for this but if you want to do it in the 5/7/5 manner, the traditional way, then try that. The link I have for you is . . . howmanysyllables.com. Simply type in the word and find out how many syllables it has. Also for synonyms and antonyms go to thesaurus.com, I find it useful for finding a word to fit the meaning when syllables are not working out right.

The prompts!

Study & Creature

 (Both from Sian this week. Yes, she is in major study mode at the moment.)

My Example

 #1

Creature of beauty,

Cause of countless sleepless nights,

Requires more study.

 

DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the rewind.)

I’ll comment and also choose the ones that knock me down for one reason or the other and link back to them in my Weekly Rewind telling people how great they were and why I picked them. Eventually these will turn into categories.

Much respect

Ronovan

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com.

My Loves: A Man’s Testimony of Heart

What kind of love do men feel? I considered searching for opinions and comparing them to what I come up with, but then I decided that since I am writing this from a man’s perspective, specifically mine, that I would just go with my own thoughts. After all, I’ve been told in the past there isn’t a doubt about my being a man. I’ve always taken that as a compliment.

shattered_heart.jpg

What love does a man feel? I could go into the various loves of sports and foods but I’m not doing that today. Instead I wanted to discuss the real things that pull, pound, and pulverize the heart. The kinds of love that when they don’t go right, leave you feeling like you have the worst flu any man can ever have.

 

This is about loves for a woman. This is about the loves that men don’t talk about. This about the loves men deny that have to their friends. But if you are a man and you say you’ve never had one of these loves, then . . . count yourself blessed or else have an exam done because you are in denial.

 

Men get those loves. Is there a level order of love? Men think much of order in things like this. I’m not sure why and I don’t really care to delve into the why. At this moment my heart is on loves. I often wonder when it isn’t.

 

I see no reason to not just say I as I write this. Why not say man or men? I’m speaking from what I know. I am sure other men feel or have felt what I might talk about, but this is me. As I begin this I have no plan. What you read will be whatever comes out of me as I go. Think of this as an open heart letter unedited.

 

My Loves: A Man’s Testimony of Heart

by: Ronovan

Love from afar. I know her but she’s out of reach. The thought of her for a moment makes the world lighter than air but then the aching heart begins. My mind quickly tells me the truth. I fight it. I don’t want to know the truth, I just want those moments of happiness, even if they are illusions and delusions. They only harm me. Why can I not enjoy them for a moment?

Continue reading

Blog Tips: Collaborating-The Pros, The Cons, and the Cautions.

There are different types of Blog Tips. Some are simply how to tag your posts better, or how to advertise, so to speak. But one Blog Tip takes a bit more effort, time, and really a gamble on your part to make work.

They Can Work

collaborationgood

They Can Stall

collaborationstall

And

They

Can

Epically

FAIL

collabtwerkfail

Collaborating with another writer on their blog or your blog can be beneficial to both of you for many reasons.

  • For some they might do it for a sharing of each others audience.
  • Others might do it to experiment with style.
  • Still others might just do it to work with a friend.

 

It’s not something to jump into without a lot of thought. Are you protective of your work, your words? Do you get hurt when things are changed or another person doesn’t agree with your ideas?

If you answered yes, then do you think you should collaborate with a blogger you consider a friend?

 

I  have collaborated a few times, unbeknowst to all but a very few, I asked my name not be mentioned. Why?

  • There are people out there that want to collaborate simply to use another blogger for increasing their Followers/Views.
  • I didn’t want to open the flood gates to their having to possibly say no to others asking for a collaboration, when a collaboration just happens for myself and another. Intentional collaborations for me don’t seem to flow well. Those that are inspired by a conversation are the best.
  • And to be honest, I just don’t like the attention that much. Which sounds odd because I like to have Followers for my site and Twitter and the ‘likes’ of my work and everything. It is a fantastic feeling, it really is. I won’t lie about that. But for some reason I prefer to stay in the background a bit and just do my little thing. I like to see the success of something I had a hand in. That’s been enough for me.Some might say it’s the Gemini in me and the intellectual and emotional aspects at war.

 

The Pros of Collaborations

  1. You get to work with a good friend and learn from one another about what and how we do things differently
  2. Your work is shared with a different viewing audience and you can see how it works
  3. (I get to take credit for another person’s talent.)

 

The Cons of Collaborations

  1. Hurt feelings might happen over creative differences
  2. One person seems to think their opinion is more important the others and changes work without thinking how it makes one feel
  3. (You end up wanting to kick the other persons butt because you find out they are really the biggest lame jerk that every graced the page tabs of a blog site.) Your friendship suffers because your differences over each others work that you normally love are just too different together.

 

How to Make a Collaboration Work

  1. You should PERSONALLY keep in mind what you like about the other persons work and try to make sure that is included in the piece you are collaborating on
  2. Chose a battle. Not every single point is worth a fight in an article. Unless it is just a matter of your personal beliefs or something, look at it for what is best for the piece over all and the message.
  3. And seriously, be honest and recognize that the site you will be posting on expects THEIR blogger’s work. We know what our readers like to see. Just make sure your ideas get included and some of your writing as well. It really depends on the piece being written. Whose style does the piece fit best?

 

How to Determine Who to Collaborate With

  1. Do you click-This means do you have a rapport and an underlying sense of respect for one another
  2. Do you agree-If you are writing certain pieces and you don’t agree, like politics or religion and its about a sensitive topic, you may wan to stay away. You can like a persons work and respect their views but once you delve into the behind the scenes and deeper into their thoughts you may not really enjoy things as much.
  3. Frankly, do you like the work of the other person-That sound simple but you might have a friend but it’s the person you like and your two styles just won’t click. Stay away. Friends are more important forcing something.

 

The Cautions of Collaborating

  1. Friendships end over unimportant things
  2. You end up having the other persons reputation be associated with yours. This is a caution in case you don’t overly agree with their views or really their style
  3. You might end up getting asked by friends for collaborations and you have to say no and hurt their feelings, or you say yes and neglect your own work

 

There are a lot of benefits from a collaboration from expanding your blog reach.

  1. Two or more people can end up sharing some of each others followers and find new viewers because of it. You get that new audience.
  2. It allows you to learn some tricks you may not have known before about blogging.
  3. You earn a reputation as a person that works with others which to some means being nice and sacrificing.

 

I can collaborate with anyone, but I choose not to jump into that pool much. It does take time from my own work. I did one recently that I enjoyed and was not something I felt took away from my work at all. Why? Because we click, we shared ideas, and we recognized who could do what. I know my strengths and weaknesses and had no problem expressing that. I also felt I could express my opinions without any problems. Why? Because we click and respect each other. Neither of us really benefits in regards to followers from the work. We share a lot of the same people.

The main reason I even allowed my name mentioned was the subject really required both of our names to be included for there to be a balance. Not specifically our names, but our genders.

Finding a collaboration partner that really works well is difficult. I don’t seek them out, they just happen. I don’t ask, they just happen. Do I get asked? Yes, I have.

 

Do I encourage you to collaborate? That is up to you. To me it is not something I go out and look for unless the idea pops to mind, I am already clicking with the person, I know we agree on things and we can mesh well. You need to know that first.

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

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