Believe it or not, every now and then I do something to learn how to be a better blogger/writer.  Not that it always shows, I know.  The latest effort is called something like “10 days to a better blog”  and every day there is a lesson and a challenge for me to complete. I have learned some useful things.  It’s supposed to take 15 minutes a day but it’s turning out to take way more than that.  It’s a good thing I have practically nothing to do out here in Seattle…

Like today.  The challenge was to categorize all your posts into major categories – 3 to 5 of them.  For some people this is a 15 minute task, I understand.  But for me, having written my 500th post recently, and having no real system of arranging them, this is going to take the rest of the week. And that’s if I figure out how to do it quickly.  My head hurts.

There’s also a Facebook page where all 600 of us taking the free course are supposed to share our work and get to know each other.  It’s like going to the mailbox and reading two or three hundred letters every day.  That’s a 15 minute job, right?  It’s a good thing I have nothing to do in Seattle….

For family and friends who have been reading what I write, this means that once in a while you are going to see an old post come up.  Probably with a new title.  There is this very cool site that will analyze my titles for free and tell me how to make people want to read the post.  I’m supposed to use power words, and emotional words, and common and uncommon words, blah, blah, blah….  Did I try about 20 words that I thought were emotionally appealing before I found out that “in the” were considered emotional? Yes. That challenge took more than 15 minutes too, but it’s a good thing I’m here in Seattle where there’s nothing else to do…

So, bear with me.  The ten days is almost up and then I will probably go back to the same old format, same old colors, same old fonts, and same boring titles I’ve always had.  I might need a little encouragement or feedback.  If there is anything you like or don’t like about what I have to say, here’s your chance.  Actually, did you know you could comment on any post?  I can’t stop you, hahaha, so put it out there. I’m just sayin’, figuring out what people want to read, what they need to read and what I want to write is sometimes a little too challenging.  But hey, I’m here in Seattle…