Hope Road

I could’ve read all night…

[Title is meant to be sung to the tune of "I could've danced all night..."]

I’ve made a delightful rediscovery - children’s books! Of course I have always liked my Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, A Little Princess, Betsy-Tacy, and All-of-a-Kind Family, among others. But there are so many more that I’d forgotten about! For instance…

Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney
Journey to America by Sonia Levitin
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Stuart Little by E.B. White
My Friend Flicka by Mary O’Hara

…and many, many more. Some of them are so well-written! I especially enjoy books like Journey to America, which I’m reading right now. It’s about a Jewish family fleeing Germany before World War II, so it deals with serious and sad subject matter. It’s very well-written and beautiful in its own way. But because it’s written for middle school or upper elementary age, it’s not going to have all of that “mature” content that adult fiction has. I get so tired of trying to read well-written mainstream fiction, only to find unnecessarily graphic material. Children’s books are a welcome reprieve.

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Tags: children's books

in which things fall apart

I’ve been reading stories all week -
The days in my planner, well-intentioned, but failures.
Have there only been seven?

The last one is over, and I’m paying the price.
Yesterday night, I slept for ninety minutes.
Welcome back, insomnia - reminder of my mortality.

Maybe spring is still possible.
The van ride today was full of sunny warmth.
Now, it’s dark outside. I hear birdsong and laughter.

They are all waking up.
I am falling asleep.
Next week, a better story?

How to Start a Blog (Part 3)

Interested in starting or restarting your blog? Want to share your thoughts? Welcome to my mini-tutorial. Also see Part 1 and Part 2. Today I’m discussing blog setup.

Two of the most important elements of starting a blog are…

1. Choosing a name.
2. Choosing a host.

Choosing a name.

• Pick a name that is long-lasting. In a way, your blog’s name is a brand name. It identifies who you are and what you’re about. If you change it, it’s confusing for you and your readers - not to mention Google. And changing your name usually means that your blog address becomes mixed up too. Don’t make the choice in a hurry; make sure you’ve settled on one you really like.
• Pick a name that is distinctive. If you want to stand out from the crowd, I recommend not including any of these words or phrases in the name: cool, journey, life, ramblings, random, stuff, things, thoughts. Also, try to stay away from using numbers unless they actually make sense; for instance, 85 Places works, but charliebrown348182 does not. Choosing a name for your blog is like choosing a title for a book or movie. It’s got to be pithy and memorable, which brings me to my next point…
• Pick a name that is easy to remember. Even though you want your blog name to stand out, you don’t want it to be so unusual that everyone forgets it. This means that you will want it to be shorter rather than longer. For instance, before this blog was Hope Road, it was There’s Beauty in Not Blending In. That’s way too long. Hope Road is a lot easier to remember.
• Pick a name that is relevant to your blog’s content. This can be difficult if you’re in a popular genre. What if you write about being a stay-at-home mom? The momosphere is quite full of very similar blog names that evoke mommyhood. Somehow, you have to find a name that gives a hint of what your blog is about without being too commonplace.

Some of my favorite names for blogs: 22 Words, Between Two Worlds, Ragamuffin Soul, The Rebelution.

Choosing a host.

• Free hosting, like Blogger or WordPress, is great if you want to write for people you know. It’s also good if you want a smaller, more interactive community and you don’t really care about having a huge audience. But do know that in spite of the more limited options using free hosting, you can still build a big readership. I personally think it’s harder, but there are some very popular blogs that don’t have their own domains; Between Two Worlds is an example.
• Self-hosting is great if you want to stand apart from the crowd and give yourself some credibility. There is also quite a bit more flexibility with having your own domain. The downsides are that 1) it requires some money, 2) it requires a little bit more knowledge, and 3) there are more things that can go wrong. But if you’re willing to spend some money and put a little time and effort into getting things right, self-hosting can be a wonderful way to establish your blog.

Things to remember.

• It’s best to match your blog title and address. I made this mistake last time - the name was Hope Road but the address was annakristine.wordpress.com. Quite a few readers had to search in Google for “Hope Road” because they couldn’t remember the address. Not good. Consistency helps make your blog memorable and easy to find.
• Decide up front what kind of host you want. I just made the switch from free hosting to self-hosting, and it is not the best thing to do. I had already built up a lot of traffic, readership, and especially Google rankings from my old address, and I wasn’t able to redirect all of those old links. Even though my readers followed me to my new blog, I lost some links and I lost Google rankings. So if you can, invest in your own domain at the very beginning if you think you’re going to want it. 

Do popular blogs break these “rules” all the time? Yes. Why? Because they’re not rules. They’re guidelines meant to ensure the best success possible when starting a blog, and to avoid having to rectify mistakes later on down the road.

Tomorrow Soon, in part 4, I’ll be discussing the nuts and bolts of setting up your blog, and providing some links for the more intricate elements of it. What are your thoughts on blog names and hosts? I’d love to hear your ideas and experiences.

Tags: blogging

How to Start a Blog (Part 2)

Interested in starting a blog? Want to give your current blog a fresh start? Have thoughts to share about your own blogging experience? Welcome to my mini-tutorial. Part 1 was yesterday. Today, I’m discussing the first thing to do in starting a blog:

Decide what you want your blog to be. This is important because once you know your goals, you can be much more purposeful and effective in starting your blog. You may not have a perfect idea of how everything will be, of course. Growth and change happen. But giving it some consideration can help immensely. Here are five questions to help you determine your direction.

1. Who is my intended audience? I see three main options: a) people who know you, b) a specific, more general audience (e.g. “Episcopalians” or “dads who like to cook”), or c) anyone at all who’s interested.
2. What kinds of things do I plan to write about? If you’re writing for people who know you, you may just want to keep them updated on your life. If you’re writing for a specific audience, you’ll want to keep most of your entries targeted to that niche. And in general, but especially if you’re writing for anyone and everyone, you’re going to want your own specific style and subject matter to draw people in and keep them interested.
3. How much time will I devote to blogging? There are two angles to this question. The first one relates to how much time you have for blogging. Some people can’t cram in more than half an hour a day. The second angle considers how much time you should spend blogging. Maybe you could easily spend three or four hours a day on it. But is it going to suck you in and waste time you should be devoting to things in the real world? Setting both goals and limits for this aspect of blogging is important from the get-go.
4. How much money will I devote to blogging? If you want to do everything for free, you definitely can. If you’re looking to go the more professional route, you’re going to have to sacrifice some cash. The caveats with money are similar to the caveats with time - how much money do you have to spend, and how much money should you spend? Again, goals and limits are important.
5. What are some blogs I admire? Now that you know who your intended audience is, and what you want your subject matter to be, you should look for role models. These aren’t people you’re going to just mimic - you need your own stamp of individuality. But you can learn a lot from an enjoyable, successful blog that has an established readership. Some of my blog role models are Beauty from the Heart, FlowerDust.net, Girl Talk, The Purple Cellar, Radical Womanhood, and Unfurling Flower. I learn so much from them besides how to blog, but the way they blog has given me lots of ideas and inspiration, and helped me envision my goals.

If you’re considering starting a blog, or are wondering how to give your blog a boost, it’s great to think about these questions. In part 3 tomorrow, I’ll talk about choosing a name and a host. Feel free to share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas!

Tags: blogging

How to Start a Blog (Part 1)

Contrary to popular opinion, I am by no means a blogging expert. (Just kidding about the popular opinion part.) But I have definitely started my share of them. Here’s how it’s progressed:

• Blogger: I was a freshman in my second semester of college when I first discovered the wonderful world of blogging through a friend. I started one of my own to keep family and friends updated on my life at school.
• Xanga: However, I soon learned that the social networking element of Xanga made it far more popular than Blogspot. Do you all remember when everyone had a Xanga? Yeah, I joined that wave in early 2005. Bye bye, Blogspot!
• WordPress: After two good years with Xanga, I wanted the benefits of a more independent site. I joined WordPress in May 2007. My first attempt was called “There’s beauty in not blending in,” which is a line from a song I like. Soon I changed the name to Hope Road. I’ve also had two other blogs on WordPress, one for my Peru trip and one modesty-in-fashion blog I’ve been unable to keep up with.
• Self-hosted: Just last month I switched to my own domain name! I found a good deal, and I was getting tired of having limited options for themes and plugins. This will now be my permanent blog home, unless unforeseen circumstances intervene. I like the name Hope Road and I love blogging, so this is where I’ll stay.

I know a lot of people like the idea of blogging, but are too intimidated to give it a shot. And I know of so many blogs that are generic and boring almost immediately, for lack of something that a little bit of effort and creativity could provide.

I’ve always had an advantage as a blogger because I love doing it and I don’t have trouble staying consistent. Blogging is my writing outlet, and I’m able to write entries pretty quickly. Also, I’ve been in college the entire time I’ve had a blog, and I use my computer in most of my classes and for homework. This means I have access to the Internet regularly and can easily take care of little blog chores like moderating comments. Not everyone has this luxury.

Still, I think that if you want to start a blog, and you’re willing to give it a little of your time, and you’re persistent, you can do it successfully. That’s why I’m providing this little tutorial. In part 2, I’m going to talk about the first thing to think about in starting a blog - deciding what you want your blog to be. Join me back here soon for that. And I’d love to hear your own thoughts and history with blogging in the comments section.

A Little Poetry

I’m not much of a poet, really, but I like playing around with it, and I thought I would share some pieces I wrote for my Creative Writing class last spring. If you want to read some really good poetry, go over to Holly’s site. She’s very talented.

Nature poem: 

After a spring rain,
Little water beads
Hang tenuously
On the softly budding branches.
Dark puddles glimmer in the parking lot.
A breeze whispers,
But mostly,
Under the sky’s gray canopy,
The world is still,
Its colors freshened by spring and rain.
The grass is green like a golf course.
The horizons fade into blue.
Yellow flowers shaped like stars
Grow in sunny bursts
Beside the white house next door.

Haiku:

Bare feet in the grass
Chasing fireflies at dusk
And the world is ours.

Maybe he loves me
Or maybe he loves me not
Daisies tell the truth?

Traveling poem:

I love the way the lights on Chicago’s skyline
turn into tiny stars when the evening sky
is sapphire blue.
Even though the other cars on the highway
are speeding past, an endless line of hurried traffic,
it’s a quiet night.
It’s my transition time, between home and school,
between family and friends, between old and new,
and each light, each moment, is a gem.
Some people say they feel insignificant and small
and even trapped and stifled by the towering buildings
and faceless crowds.
But I feel freedom and adventure. The air rushing through the windows
is warm, and musky with the hint of a coming summer
and I breathe deeply.
I want to take it all in, everything I see and feel,
and make it a part of me, this moment of possibility,
and this sky of city stars.

Religion poem (originally published with explanation here):

The world cannot stop for you.
You are only a bow on four strings,
A scrap of song on a busy morning,
Drowned out by a thousand voices
And two thousand feet on the pavement.
In glittering concert halls, your genius is legendary,
But here you are interrupting. We cannot stop.

The world cannot stop for You.
You are only a common criminal,
A disturbing spectacle on a sunny day,
Passed by because we do not want to look;
Forgotten because we do not want to remember.
Your name echoes in the ancient courts of heaven,
But here You are interrupting. We cannot stop.

Book Review - The Parting

Click here to read my newest review - my take on Beverly Lewis’s most recent novel, The Parting.

Tags: Amish, Beverly Lewis, fiction, The Parting

123 Book Meme

So I have been seeing this meme float around the blogosphere for awhile now. Unlike most memes, it is right up my alley, and I have been waiting for someone to tag me. C.A. at Got Fruit? did. Here goes!

Rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book of 123 pages or more. No cheating!
2. Find page 123
3. Find the first 5 sentences
4. Post the next 3 sentences
5. Tag 5 people

I hope I’m doing this right, but I’m just going to follow the directions. That usually works wonders.
The book: The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson (of the books that are actually mine). I was kind of disappointed, to be honest, because poetry doesn’t seem like it will work too well for this. Are sentences sentences, or just lines? I’ll count them as actual sentences. I’m being nonsensical.

The sentences:

And when the hills are full,
And newer fashions blow,
Doth not retract a single spice
For pang of jealousy.

Her public is the noon,
Her providence the sun,
Her progress by the bee proclaimed
In sovereign, swerveless tune.

The bravest of the host,
Surrendering the last,
Nor even of defeat aware
When cancelled by the frost.

I’m tagging: Rebecca at All Said and Done, Kaylene at Every Thought Captive, Hannah at Hannah’s Blog, Ashley at A Weis Writer, and Holly at holiday.

That was fun!

Barnes and Noble Sale

For all you book-lovers out there, Barnes and Noble’s amazing after-holiday sale is ending tomorrow, February 4th. I found out about the sale through Aimee, and decided to look into it today. In high school, I had a book budget out of my babysitting money, so I ordered things regularly. Now I rarely buy books, but these were such great deals that I had to. (And no, I get no advertising revenue from Barnes & Noble. )

I figured out that I spent $27.81 for an order that would, at online list prices, normally cost $71.65. I know! That’s the best savings I’ve had on a purchase in a long time. All of the books were hardcover editions, and all but one were from the Barnes and Noble Classics Series, which are really nice editions (if you’ll recall, I just bought Emma from that series last weekend). Did I mention that I also got free expedited shipping? Here is what I ordered: 

The Collected Poems of Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

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In other news, I’ve selected a name for our groundhog from yesterday. Click here to find out what it is!

“Marriage is so disrupting to one’s social circle.”

My roommate Sarah and I just finished watching Emma. Oh, it is such a good movie! It’s one of my favorite Jane Austen movies, second only to Pride and Prejudice. It has some of the best quotes ever - e.g., the title of this post, said by Emma’s father Mr. Woodhouse. So funny. Or:

Emma: “You dismiss her beauty and good nature, yet I would be very much mistaken if your s*x in general does not think those claims the highest a woman could possess.”
Mr. Knightley: “Men of sense, whatever you may say, do not want silly wives!”

Mr. Knightley: “Vanity working on a weak mind produces every kind of mischief.”

Emma: “How fascinating that any discordancy between us must always arise from my being wrong.”
Mr. Knightley: “Not fascinating, but true.”

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The most wonderful thing happened yesterday (sorry, I’m still thinking in an Austen cadence and accent). I went to Barnes and Noble to study, which is usually a bad idea. After I finished, I decided to peruse the used books section - another bad idea. After finding and selecting three different books, along with one new book, only to put them all back, I happened upon a section full of beautiful hardback classics, for only $8 each! I almost bought a collection of Emily Dickinson poems, but I’ll save those for later. Then I saw a copy of Emma, and I just had to get it. I’m so excited that it was so inexpensive!

I suppose it’s just been an Emma day.