I Went AWOL and I Apologise: An Update

Hi guys,

So this is a kind of open letter, and you can read the one I wrote on my other blog here.

Basically, I want to apologise for being a bit, well, not a very good blogger lately (that was terrible English but I’m tired ok). It’s annoying for me, because I had a couple of good ideas this week (which I will write up sometime) and it might be annoying for you if you happen to look forward to my content (that’d be awesome if you were, actually… wow).

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09/11/15

Hello! Happy Monday and all of that doo-dah.

I’m in a pretty good mood today. I went to a gig of my favourite artist, Frank Turner, last Friday which was absolutely amazing! (Uh, thanks boyfriend for the tickets!) NaNoWriMo is going (I wouldn’t necessarily say well, but at least I’m due to finish in February 2016 as opposed to April 2016 as it was yesterday), my work at college is also going, I wrote a rather sad 500 word short story (which I might post another day on my other blog) of which I have already fallen in love with the character, and I’m playing with my story cubes again. So yeah. Good.

The only thing is… This blog? Not so good.

Guys, whaddya want from me (CUE TAKE THAT)? I’m struggling to come up with Friday posts nowadays, except for making lots and lots of lists! So, if you have any ideas, want to see something, want some help or just want to have a chat, please comment below. I’d love to hear from you, and I’ll keep on trying to blog this week anyway!

Have a lovely week, all!

Betcha Thought You’d Seen The Last Of Me

So. I’m back (for good… *cries into a Take That slumber). *Ahem*

Yes, last weekend I arrived back from America (well, technically America -> Dublin -> England BUT DETAILS). We gave a tearful goodbye and tried to desperately stayed awake (I failed and napped) after getting around 3 hours of sleep in 24 hours (NB: this is not fun).

Whilst I was in America, I got my AS Level results: 4 B’s, which isn’t too bad but I wanted higher and so this year I am working on getting my ass down and head working. (Or should that be the other way around?)

That means there’ll be a few changes in my life…

1. Less recreational writing. *Sob* This basically means a) no NaNoWriMo this year and b) no more whole-writing-days thanks to coffee. Well, okay, maybe one or two of those in the holiday but THAT’S IT. I really want to do well, and if that means writing takes a back seat, so be it.
2. Less reading *sobs again*. Okay so for English (and future university course) and my Extended Project, I’m expected to read a lot – but I can’t be spending three hours a week day curled up with a good novel, a hot chocolate and a drooling cat. It’ll be sad and difficult but I’m aiming for 4-5 books each month. Which still isn’t a terrible sacrifice, but hard when there are so many good books around at the moment.
3. Blogging? This may also take a back seat *cries a bath of tears*. On SWW, I’ll try and keep up with 4 posts a week. On my other blog? However many I get down.
4. More work. Yeha.

So that’s my life at the moment. Should be interesting, eh? Yeah… something like that.

GUEST BLOGGING!

Since I posted about this last Monday, I’ve had a host of people asking when they can start, how much they write, when and where do they submit it, etc. There’s now a brand-spanking new page for it, but I thought I’d blog about it too to keep you all updated.

Unfortunately, I’ve never guest blogged on someone else’s blog (although, if you’re asking, yes I’d love to!) so I’m kind of going to wing this one and do it in my own unconventional style.

Basically what I’m looking for is enthusiastic people who love books/writing/ranting about books and writing to join in and get their blog posts published HERE. And you don’t have to have a blog to enter, don’t worry. (Admittedly this kind of sounds like a job interview, but it’s not. Promise.)

If you would like to guest blog, just write a 400-500 word piece on something which would fit in with this blog. Just have a look back through all of the pieces to find out what goes on here if you haven’t been following for long. If you want to post the piece on your own blog, too, then feel free, I’m just trying to help here. 🙂

(aaaaaand if you just write creatively but don’t fancy blogging about anything non-fiction, you can send me a short story/poem! I guess if this generates a big response I might open it up into a regular feature)

Interested? If so, please email me at sprinkledwithwords[at]hotmail[dot]com. Include the following:

• Name you want published
• Title of piece
• Link to anything you want linked, eg blog, twitter, instagram… (you can have more than one)
• And please attach the article as a DOCUMENT (either Word or OpenOffice, or something I can open).

Please only send one article at a time. Your articles may be subjected to editing by me (don’t worry I won’t change the meaning or anything) and if you want to include some pictures, feel free! (I like pictures.) If you don’t include a title/cover picture, I’ll just make one for you.  And if I get bombarded with requests I might close it for a time, let all of the ones I have queued be posted and then open the guest blogging option once more. 🙂

Guest blogs are going to be posted on THURSDAY, so the first will probably be next week (16/07/15).

I look forward to seeing what you guys will come up with!

How To Promote Yourself On WordPress (Well, in my opinion, anyway)

I’ve been on WordPress for nearly two years now (doesn’t time fly…) and quite a lot of you awesome people follow me. Sure, not a groundbreaking amount, but I must have been doing something right, mustn’t I?

Admittedly, the title may be a bit misleading, aside from the part in parenthesis: you may have come here looking for some quick, confident way to gain likes, followers, commenters etc. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy, and I still struggle to completely gain the attention of my audience. But I’m going to share what I’ve done to try and get there!

1. Use the tags and categories to your advantage. Do you know where these babies are? Have a look at the pictures below and find out which article writing site you have (I don’t really know what to call it) and then fill in the tags as much as you can. They’re used in search engines and on WordPress itself. If you’re not using them, then your blog views are likely to drop. The categories are mainly for your blog itself, but are equally as useful – if someone likes what they read, they’re likely to try and find more, and you want to make their life a bit easier to they stay!
   

   

   

   
   
2. Engage with interesting stuff people want to see. WordPress generally plays host to writing, so if you’re looking to promote your music, unless it’s through writing, you might want to head to Twitter or Tumblr instead. You can write about anything – well, almost anything – though. Your posts can be as long or as short as you like, but unless they’re stories, I wouldn’t make them extensively long!
3. Post regularly. Yeah, I should probably practice what I preach, I’m terrible at getting this Friday post done. But I do try! As long as your readers know that, and you post about once a week at the least, then they should be content.
4. Pictures! They break up large chunks of text, and give you something to post on websites such as Pinterest and even Twitter.
5. Do lists and bullet points and stuff. It breaks up the text which is easy on the eye, and it makes it easier for you to think up content (like me, can you tell?) because once you’ve done, say, 3 or 4, it’s quite easy to get up to 5 in the “Top Five…” etc.

Basically, be yourself. Well, as yourself as you can be online. People will (hopefully) like your voice and they’ll like your posts for the (equally hopefully) friendly tone.

Just have fun on WordPress, or any blog for that matter. Whilst people noticing you is nice, writing for yourself and writing what you love is basically what matters.

Oh and one last tip: read and follow other people! If you’re lucky, they’ll check out your blog too!

Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

Hey folks,

I wouldn’t normally post, but this is a very special occasion, for The Wordy and Nerdy has nominated me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

Yay!

When nominated for this award, there are just a couple things to do:

• Display the award on your blog and add a link back to the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 15 other lovely bloggers for this award (make sure to let them know!)

I’m so so so happy to have been nominated; I’ve always wanted to inspire people and actually be remembered for something, so yay! I hope that my posts have inspired you guys and had a laugh or twenty-eight (ok, maybe that’s a bit too optimistic) but yeah…

So, 15 people (I don’t even know if I know 15 people, let alone blogs, so this should be a ball):

1. aspiringwriter22
2. Yeah. But so what? Everybody’s weird.
3. akajocky (EVEN THOUGH HE NEVER POSTS HINT HINT)
4. The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shh
5. Sophie Bowns
6. Wildcards (go check them out and submit!)
7. Teenage Enthusiasm (I’ve only been following for about 3 minutes, but I already love it!)
8. All The Books I Can Read 

And I’m, um, rather ashamed to say that that’s as far as we’re gonna go… I don’t know 15 blogs that really inspire me. XD Aside from the Daily Post and the Book People, but I don’t know if they count cause they’re, like, proper companies. No offence to anyone who is a company.

I did not think that through.

Anyway, to make up for it, I’m gonna do 7 other things that inspire me. ‘Cause I feel bad:

1. The Palace Ruins in my village
2. My grandparents
3. Nature
4. Celts. Love the Scots.
5. Books…even though then I realise it’s already been done.
6. Friends
7. Mum, Dad and Blog (aka brother) – also dog and cats.

So, there you have it!

– Hannah 😀

Questions, suggestions, thoughts? Shoot! 😀 

The Liebster Blog Award

First of all – apologies for not posting, I had no internet, then a bit of a hard time trying out new contact lenses. Sorry!

Anyway, Paper, Pen and No Plan sort of nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award (sort of = she nominated all of her readers). And because I thought it would be a fun thing to do, I decided to do it! XD

 

So, 11 random facts about myself:

1. According to old school reports, I have been writing for about a decade.
2. I, hopefully, am just about to start wearing contact lenses. 😀
3. I love Teen Wolf, an American TV show. Peter Hale is my favourite character, and I am currently writing a long fic about it.
4. When I’m older, I’d really like to travel the world.
5. I want to write for a living, journalism, screenplay, short stories, hell, even books! I don’t mind, as long as I’m writing.
6. I’d love to be an artist, and I’m trying really hard with my drawing. :3
7. 7 and 13 are my lucky numbers. Especially 713!
8. If there was a competition for procrastination, I would win. I’m doing this instead of writing!
9. My new TV love is Death in Paradise.
10. For me, nothing is better than a walk with my dog.
11. Mum always goes against it, but I really don’t think I’m a very interesting person – as you can probably see from these random facts!

And here are the 11 questions, with answers (obviously): 

1. What book has most inspired your writing?
   Hmm, I don’t know… As a kid, I really loved Mallory Towers, so I guess that got me reading. I remember really wanting to be like JK Rowling…so Harry Potter? A lot of books have inspired me, though, I get different aspects from different books – for example, Rick Riordan makes me want to put more humour into my work.
2. How do you arrange the books on your bookshelf? 
   Brilliant question. My bottom shelf is big books, mainly reference and picture books (I may be 15, but I still love picture books ok?). One up from that has my Harry Potter books, Doctor Who books and two Merlin books. Up from that has fictional horse books, and reference books, like ‘The Boys’ Handbook’. Yes, I’m a girl. And then, the top three are fiction books, in no particular order yet, although I have series books grouped together, like Sherlock Holmes books etc.
3. Do you have a writing playlist?
   Not yet, but I have various songs for different characters. I might get one in the future.
4. Which holidays are your least favourite? 
   Ones where I am expected to do things I don’t want to do. Like revise, which is what I should be doing right now.
5. Do you use outlines while writing?
   I don’t normally, but I am for my latest novel. For short stories, I tend to just write and hope. I normally have a basic idea of where I want the story to go, though.
6. What would your ideal writing desk look like?
   Ooh, paper tucked in the corners, but a space big enough for my laptop. Gloves on the side. Maybe a few ornaments, pictures, a music player…
7. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Why?
   Being able to stay awake would be a good one, because there aren’t enough hours in the day. Or ability to move things with my mind, so I can say ‘Accio X’ and it would actually come to me. Or reading thoughts (telekinesis?), cause that would just be cool.
8. Do you have a theme song?
   Um, I don’t think so… if I did, it would probably be the Benny and Hill theme tune or something.
9. How do you come up with the titles for your work? 
   Badly.
   I don’t know really. Just think up something, it comes randomly.
10. Have you picked out the actors who would play your characters in a movie version of your book?
    Haha, no, not yet, but I am planning on it! I have actors who I would want to be in the film, but whether or not they’d fit remains to be seen.
11. Which is better, the book or the movie?
    I have a feeling that this is a trick question, but for me, it depends on what it is. 😉

Nominations! I don’t know if I follow 11 writing blogs, but here are the ones I could get (I have 10, can that count? I nominate readers, too!). And, can I also point out, most of these people have over 200 followers…sorry, but I tend to break the rules:

• TheHannahWay
• Fanfiction Fridays (after the hiatus is finished!)
• More Than One Page
• The Writer’s Walk
• aspiringwriter22
• akajocky
• One Writer, Many Heads
• Sophie Bowns
• The Librarian Who Doesn’t Say Shh!
• YA Scribbles and Scoops

And here is the list of questions, should you choose to accept them…

1. How long have you been writing?
2. What is your favourite thing to do in your spare time (besides read and write!)?
3. Favourite piece of life advice?
4. What is your biggest fear? Have you ever tried to overcome it?
5. How do you find inspiration?
6. If you could pick any person to be banned from this planet, who would it be?
7. What are your lucky numbers, and how much significance to they hold for you?
8. If you could pick any spacey thing and name it, what would it be and what would you name it (eg: Comet – Hayley’s)?
9. What’s your favourite word?
10. How many nuns could a nunchuck chuck if a nunchuck could chuck nuns? Alternative: How many bears could Bear Grylls grill, if Bear Grylls could grill bears?
11. If you stumbled upon some fanfiction of a piece of your work, would you read it?

Thanks for reading, guys! 🙂

I Had a Topic, I Swear….

Ok guys, honestly, I swear I had a topic for today.

But you know what? Eh, heh, I forgot it.

Whoops.

*Holds hands up in defeat*

Basically, that’s what your writing ideas do. You have them, they’re brilliant, awesome; and then, if you don’t write them down, well, you forget them. And, believe me, they don’t come back.

So what do you do?

Always carry something to write with, and something to write on. Seriously, even next to your bed when you’re sleeping; so you can do it whilst you’re in the bath or shower; and at your school or work place. Just make sure that you can capture your idea in a word or two, at the very least, so you can remember it later!

“But what do I do if I really forget it?” 

Well, why not go back to where you were when you had the idea? Maybe that’ll help you remember it. Or listen to a song that you think may remind you of it; perhaps ask someone, and see if you told them.

Also, if you have an idea, think it aloud. You have no idea how well it’ll help you remember it! Why not tell someone it, too – then, if you do forget it, you can just ask them and hope that they know what on earth you’re on about.

Basically, this post summed up in a sentence: don’t forget your ideas!

NaBloPoMo Index

First Printed Article!

Wow, ok. So, I got home today to find our district’s ‘Parish News’ on the counter. I sent in an article about my Explorer Troop (Phoenix) a while ago – and it got printed!

So yes, this is my first ever printed article in a magazine. 🙂 It had two of my pictures in in the actual article – and then one in colour on the back!

I was very pleased. ^_^

Anyone here been printed?

NaBloPoMo Index

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry – they were taken on my phone.

The article 🙂

 

Rules Of Speech

One thing that really irks me (good word, ‘irk’. IRK.) in book or online story is when the rules of speech aren’t followed, or are done wrong. So, I thought I’d go through them now, because I can’t STAND it when they’re wrong. Sorry, this may be more of a rant. I apologise in advance, as I have already done so, apparently.

If someone is talking, and it finishes on a full stop with a ‘he/she’ after, then it is a comma, and the ‘he/she’ is lower case. For example:

“Wow, really interesting,” she said, sarcastically.

If someone is talking, it finishes on a full stop, and has a name or ‘I’ after it, it is still a comma. Example:

“Wow, really interesting,” Laura said sarcastically.

If this is the other way around (you’ll see what I mean in a minute) then it is still a comma, although the first word in the speech is a capital letter. Example:

Sarcastically, Laura said, “Wow, really interesting.”

Oh, and even if the punctuation is not a comma, it’s still lower case after it if it’s not a name! Eg:

“That’s awesome!” she declared.

Finally, if someone new is speaking, start a new line! Seriously, this is really annoying and hard to follow the story when someone doesn’t do this! So, even if it is only one or two new words in each line: DO IT!

Hope that helped, sorry it was so short!

NaBloPoMo Index