Lillie Ammann - A Writer's Words, an Editor's Eye
Family and friends have always come to me for answers and advice. Maybe I'm just a "know-it-all," but I prefer to attribute it to my interests in helping others and in continual learning.
Several years ago, I was an "expert" on a question-and-answer site called AskMe. I don't remember how I got started there, but I loved answering questions. I was in the top 100 experts out of thousands on the site based on the number of questions I answered and the ratings my answers earned. There was no financial reward — though I think I won a couple of T-shirts — but helping people solve problems gave me great satisfaction and joy. I was really disappointed when the site owners shut it down — they had simply been using it as a test site for their software, and when it proved to be effective, they started selling the knowledge-sharing software to business and quit supporting the free service.
When I first started blogging a little over a year ago, I expected to be providing information like I did at AskMe — but the topics would come from my own ideas rather than questions asked by visitors. I quickly learned, however, that my blog is not a platform for teaching or preaching but an arena for learning and sharing. I have learned more from my readers and other bloggers than I have taught, and I have made wonderful blogging friends.
In my post on a blogging metaphor, I described blogging as a large city with hundreds of small neighborhoods. Just as when I moved to the big city from a small town, entering the blogosphere seemed overwhelming and intimidating. However, I started to meet people and make friends in various communities and niches, and soon I was part of several little neighborhoods.
My blog is about my life as a Christian freelance writer and editor who a patriotic supporter of our troops. All of those interests and activities find their way into my writing. Many posts are about writing and publishing — I wrote a 14-part Self-Publishing Primer since much of my editing work is with authors who self-publish. Some writing advice is for professional writers; some is more general for anyone who writes for business or personal reasons.
At first, I blogged two or three times a week, but now I post every weekday. Often I write several posts at one time and date them in the future, especially when I write a series. BlogDesk makes it easy to write and edit offline.
Posts on other blogs, items in the news, events (such as national holidays and Christian holy days), comments and questions from readers, memes and group writing projects ... anything can spark ideas to write about. I jot down ideas as they come up, so when I sit down to write a post, I have several topics to choose from.
I plan to continue to learn and share through blogging for many years to come. Maybe I'll even change my theme, try a little SEO, think about monetizing ... but content will always be most important to me.
Family and friends have always come to me for answers and advice. Maybe I'm just a "know-it-all," but I prefer to attribute it to my interests in helping others and in continual learning.Several years ago, I was an "expert" on a question-and-answer site called AskMe. I don't remember how I got started there, but I loved answering questions. I was in the top 100 experts out of thousands on the site based on the number of questions I answered and the ratings my answers earned. There was no financial reward — though I think I won a couple of T-shirts — but helping people solve problems gave me great satisfaction and joy. I was really disappointed when the site owners shut it down — they had simply been using it as a test site for their software, and when it proved to be effective, they started selling the knowledge-sharing software to business and quit supporting the free service.
When I first started blogging a little over a year ago, I expected to be providing information like I did at AskMe — but the topics would come from my own ideas rather than questions asked by visitors. I quickly learned, however, that my blog is not a platform for teaching or preaching but an arena for learning and sharing. I have learned more from my readers and other bloggers than I have taught, and I have made wonderful blogging friends.
In my post on a blogging metaphor, I described blogging as a large city with hundreds of small neighborhoods. Just as when I moved to the big city from a small town, entering the blogosphere seemed overwhelming and intimidating. However, I started to meet people and make friends in various communities and niches, and soon I was part of several little neighborhoods.
My blog is about my life as a Christian freelance writer and editor who a patriotic supporter of our troops. All of those interests and activities find their way into my writing. Many posts are about writing and publishing — I wrote a 14-part Self-Publishing Primer since much of my editing work is with authors who self-publish. Some writing advice is for professional writers; some is more general for anyone who writes for business or personal reasons.
At first, I blogged two or three times a week, but now I post every weekday. Often I write several posts at one time and date them in the future, especially when I write a series. BlogDesk makes it easy to write and edit offline.
Posts on other blogs, items in the news, events (such as national holidays and Christian holy days), comments and questions from readers, memes and group writing projects ... anything can spark ideas to write about. I jot down ideas as they come up, so when I sit down to write a post, I have several topics to choose from.
I plan to continue to learn and share through blogging for many years to come. Maybe I'll even change my theme, try a little SEO, think about monetizing ... but content will always be most important to me.
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