Author Zoe M. McCarthy
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4 Resources to Help You Become Awesome at Creating Blog Titles

Jun 11, 2015 | | 3 Comments

“Just because you have to be accurate doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to make your title pop.” — Corey Eridon

by geralt

by geralt

We can improve our reach by spending more time on wording our blog titles. Going a step further: We need to improve the headlines on all online content we write.

narciso1

narciso1

Whether we write how-to or journal type blogs, newsletters, interviews, devotionals, emails, or any other online content, we can reach more people with attention-grabbing titles.

 

 

 

 Would you click on any of these? I’ve seen similar ones online.

by geralt

by geralt

How-to blog: My Thoughts on Writing
Journal blog: Opening Day
Newsletter: My Book Update
Interview: Interview with Drew Smith
Devotional: A Look at Ephesians
Email: Visit My Blog Today

None intrigues me enough to click.

Below are links and descriptions of 4 posts that will help you write awesome blog titles.

I believe their principles carry over for titling other online content. Also, note the bloggers’ titles tell us the benefit of reading their posts.

1.  74 Attention-Grabbing Blog Titles That Actually Work by Larry Kim

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/74-attention-grabbing-blog-titles-that-actually-work.html

For those who find templates helpful Kim provides 74 in his post. I used #34 for this blog post title. He gives the statistic that 26% of Buzzfeed’s 60,000 top ariticles are “listicles,” e.g. 10 Tips… or 8 Reasons….

2.  10 Sure-Fire Title Formulas That Attract Readers by James Scherer

http://blog.wishpond.com/post/60276168559/10-sure-fire-blog-title-formulas-that-attract-readers

For Scherer’s 10 blog title formulas, he gives real-life examples plus three more examples in his “How you can do it:” sections. Here are a few of the types of blog titles Scherer discusses:

  1. “Cutting-edge information”
  2. “Using phrases like ‘need to know’”
  3. “Creating the curiosity gap”
by Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

by Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

3.  Tips for Writing Blog Titles that Earn ReTweets by Jasmine Henry

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/tips-writing-blog-titles-earn-retweets

Henry shares a surprising finding that shows a great blog title is important for reasons other than grabbing readers. Many people will retweet links to titles on content they haven’t read.

Henry promotes these blog title characteristics: actionable, brief (70 character limit), clear, emphatic, intriguing, and keyword-oriented. She discusses each and gives examples.

4.  The Dark Science of Naming Your Post: Based on Studying 100 Blogs by Iris Shoor

http://www.startupmoon.com/the-dark-science-of-naming-your-post-based-on-studying-100-blogs/

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I found this one through Jasmine Henry’s post. Shoor found in her study on tech related posts that “The post title has a huge impact on the numbers.” She talks about what words and phrases to use. Like the others, she advocates using numbers and goes into more depth in how to use them. Shoor also lists what doesn’t work. A surprise to her, and to me, was that including “you” or “how to” in the title seems to have no viral affect on posts.

Find out what makes a blog title work. Use this info to title all online content. Click to tweet.

What social media title grabbed you?

Don’t Let Weasel Words Suck the Life From Your Writing

Jun 4, 2015 | | 14 Comments

“Nothing marks a skilled writer as much as his ability to write tight.” — Angela Hunt

weasel-470490_1280

Sometimes the words we use in our writing detract from other words in our stories.

Think of the alleged egg-sucking habits of weasels. An egg a weasel has sucked empty will look intact to the casual observer.

by galsio

by galsio

Weasel words suck energy from the victim words next to them. The victim words are there, but weaker.

Weasel words are sometimes the right words in dialogue if they’re consistent with the way characters would speak. Otherwise, if they rob the punch of adjacent words, delete them.

 

Examples of Weasel Words

 

256px-PSM_V54_D810_Weasel Just 

Just works fine when used for showing time. She could tell by his warm coffee mug that he’d just left. If we remove just, it changes the meaning of the sentence. 

Consider I just hate being late. Just robs half the power of hate. Without just, all the emphasis is appropriately on hate. 

I hate being late.

  256px-PSM_V54_D810_WeaselVery & Rather 

Do degrees of wrong and well help the next two sentences? Disliking her brother was very wrong. He took the news rather well. Are the words wrong and well vague? No. 

Very, sucks out wrong’s decisive nature. Ditto for rather describing well. 

Disliking her brother was wrong. 

He took the news well.

256px-PSM_V54_D810_Weasel Some

She poured some corn into the bowl. Some is unnecessary. We get the image with: She poured corn into the bowl.

  256px-PSM_V54_D810_WeaselImmediately & Suddenly

She slapped his face. He immediately grabbed her arm. If we remove immediately, do we think he did something else before he grabbed her arm? Immediately, powers down the action in grabbed.

She slapped his face. He grabbed her arm. 

Suddenly: After midnight, the doorbell suddenly chimed. Eva froze.

Suddenly tells us nothing new. It doesn’t add fear. The time of night and Eva’s reaction shows us the scariness of the passage. Let chimed retain it’s own powerful sound.

 After midnight, the doorbell chimed. Eva froze.

256px-PSM_V54_D810_Weasel Sure 

Compare: He sure loved her. and He loved her. Sure drains the love out of loved.

256px-PSM_V54_D810_WeaselReally

His sister really deteriorated after Paul left. Deteriorated is already a strong word. Really separates His sister from her problem and takes the emphasis from deterioration.

His sister deteriorated after Paul left.

256px-PSM_V54_D810_Weasel That 

Be careful on this one. That often helps clarity. But many times it adds wordiness. Try rewording to get rid of thats.

She realized that Randy didn’t care that she was ill, and that made it easier to leave him.

Removing unnecessary thats: She realized Randy didn’t care she was ill, and that made it easier to leave him.

Better would be to reword: Randy’s indifference to her illness made leaving him easier.

by clconroy

by clconroy

Weasel words suck the life from other words. Remove them. Click to tweet.

What are other weasel words commonly used?

 

 

 

 

 

 

8 Essentials to Cook Up Your Story

May 28, 2015 | | 4 Comments

“Life is a glorious banquet, a limitless and delicious buffet.” — Maya Angelou

by rkit

by rkit

John and I created a straw bale garden. No dirt. No plowing. The straw bales become ovens to germinate and grow fruits and vegetables. The process mirrors what is needed to cook up a great story.

8 Essentials to Cook Up A Great Story.

Essential 1- Foundation

Garden:

Chicken wire, landscape fabric, posts, and stakes.

Chicken wire, landscape fabric, posts, and stakes.

We laid chicken wire and landscape fabric to keep out the moles, voles, and weeds.

Story:

  • Before we can write a great story, we must live a great story. We must transform our hurts, scars, and successes to create something meaningful to share with others. We must lay “chicken wire” to keep out discouragement.
  • My foundation is my desire to write with God. I don the full armor of God against temptations and discouragements. (Ephesians 6:10-17)

Essential 2 – Fence

5 deer checking out our partially fenced garden

5 deer checking out our partially fenced garden

Garden:

We cemented in sturdy wood posts and pounded in tall metal stakes to support the fencing mesh that protects our garden.

 

 

Story:

  • The sturdy posts are understanding plot and characterization.
  • The metal stakes are learning punctuation, grammar, and spelling.
  • The fencing prevents such things as shallow characters, weasel words, and misuse of “lay” and “lie” from entering our stories.
IMG_0772

The 3 wires will allow tomatoes to climb.

Essential 3 – Climbing Supports

Garden:

We ran wire between T-bars for plants to climb.

Story:

  • Our characters must grow during our stories. They should be able to do or be something they couldn’t do or be in the beginning.
  • If characters droop and rot, readers have little to inspire them.

Essential 4 – Straw Bales

Garden:

We placed straw bales in the sun. We performed a 10-day process to turn the bales into germinating, growing ovens. Fertilizing and watering. Again and again. On day five, we poked our fingers into the straw and felt the heat.

See the fertilizer pellets?

See the fertilizer pellets?

Warm water only.

Warm water only.

Story:

  • We must cook up conflict, obstacles and disasters to give our characters challenges, failures, and successes.
  • Readers will feel the heat and beg for more.

Essential 5 – Soaker Hoses

IMG_0781Garden:

We ran soaker hoses on top of the bales. Timers attached to the hoses water the plants daily.

Story:

  • We need to water ourselves daily.
  • A burnt out writer doesn’t write a great story.
  • For me, soaking is spending time with God. He may invite me to forget about word count and take a walk with Him.

Step 6 – Seeds

IMG_0777Garden:

We planted seeds and seedlings in the straw.

Story:

Our stories should have themes and ah-ha moments seeded within the action, dialog, and reflection.

Essential 7 – Flourishing Plants

Garden:

We watch our plants grow, reaching toward the sun.

Story:

  • Our stories grow almost by themselves. Why?
  • Because we’ve worked through the prior steps.

Essential 8 – Fruits and Vegetables

by JamesDeMers

by JamesDeMers

Garden:

We pick the red, succulent strawberries and tomatoes. And enjoy.

Story:

  • Readers enjoy a satisfying story that grows them in some way.
  • For us writers, the fruit could be to:

-connect with people who’ve read our stories, or simply 

-watch our love of creating come to fruition.

Cook up your stories and get readers returning for more. Click to tweet.

In what ways have you thought about the growth of your stories?

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American Christian Fiction Writers

American Christian Fiction Writers

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