Article Slump Broken

So today I finally managed to break out of my article slump I have been in. I decided to write about something I know and that is the daily life of a soldier. I know the content isn't all that interesting and I'm perfectly okay with that, at least I finally produced something.
I have also finally set myself a goal. I want to reach the level of staff writer with Factoidz by the end of the month. It may be a tall order for me to fill though. They require 20 articles before you can be considered for staff writer and currently I only stand at 8, with todays article pending. I still think this is doable though.
I have also decided that I am just going to recycle the articles I write for Factoidz onto Helium. The reason I am choosing to do this is because Helium requires you to write to a title that is already created on their site, so I don't get to name my own article. They do have an option to suggest a title, but half of the time I have done that they tell me the title is to vague and would be hard for writers to understand. Here is an example title I suggested 3 Common Mental Health Issues. Now to me as a writer I can completely understand what the title is asking for, but who knows. This is actually a title to an article I wrote , you can check it out here it you want.
I also signed up for Associated Content but after reading I don't know how much I will enjoy writing there. For at least the first 3 articles they have to review them, and that process could take up to 2 weeks. To me as a writer I find that to be a little long for a 500 word article to get reviewed. I have submitted an article to them so I'll see how long it takes to get it reviewed and approved,
I think I may have gotten the hang of using keywords a little better too. My most recent article came out with a 6.7% keyword density, and a secondary keyword was at 3.7%. The best part is that I was just writing not even thinking about SEO and keywords.
I think this weekend after I finish my college work I may try to work on some creative writing. It has been forever since I have even thought about creative writing, but I want to get back on the horse. One day I would like to produce a publishable novel.

Well I can't think of anything else I would like to share, so thanks for reading and have a great day..

The Writers block Won't Go.

Today I have started to write 3 different articles, and then just decided to call it quits. For the life of me I can not seem to find something to motivate me. I am still trying to find something popular and that I find interesting to write about. Sometimes I think I would have better luck just closing my eyes and pointing to a word on my monitor. This may seem silly, but I think I might give it a try anyway.  The way I see it, it removes all the guess work from trying to decide on a topic to write about.

I think another part of my problem is internal pressure again. Lately I have been really pressuring myself to write articles, and guess what? I have produced 0 since I started with the pressure. I wish I could find a creative wave like one of my friends has with her art work. Besides her having a creative wave she is making signs for causes. With this, the signs she makes, she donates the money to a charity. Check her blog out and look at her art. http://jenlchristy.wordpress.com/

Sorry got a little off topic there, but anyway back to trying to find article ideas.

Thanks for reading.

Do I have Any readers Yet?

I know I have only been blogging for a couple days now, and am all over the map with what I post. I am just curious if I actually have anyone who reads what I write. If I do actually have readers thanks for reading and please feel free to leave a comment or two. Let me know what I'm doing good, bad, or otherwise. And for anyone who uses stumble-upon and ends up on my blog sorry if you didn't want to find it.

Article Writing Frustration

I am becoming frustrated with trying to write articles for Factoidz. Its not the site itself, but I seem to have problems generating page views. I have been all over the web looking for tips and tricks to help with more traffic and so far everything I have read, I have already done. Basically what I have read is write good content and use social networking sites. I have done these and still I only get a few page views. So far my best article has 554 views, and since it is considered low SEO ranking by Factoidz I am not really making much from it.

Besides that I seem to have run into a rut on finding topics to write about. I guess topics isn't as much of an issue, as finding popular topics that aren't already swamped with information, because no one wants to read the same recycled crap.

So I guess I will just have to keep hammering google looking for ideas, and work on my content quality along with targeting keywords and using SEO. Here is the most recent article I published, if anyone ahs comments please let me know. Thanks, and thanks for reading.

Article Writing

Recently I have found myself enjoying the art of writing articles. In the space of about 3 weeks I have managed to write over 20 articles and feel good about what I have accomplished. The one thing I am not enjoying though is the fact that my articles aren't reaching to many viewers. I don't know if this is because of the websites I write for or if I am just that bad with titles and SEO.  I write for Factoidz and Helium and honestly don't know how popular they are. If anyone has insight or could offer me advice on other sites to checkout that would be great.

Thanks for taking the time to read, and have a great day.

Creative Writing Sites

As writer's we are always trying to improve ourselves, and build valuable connections to help us develop as writers. By connections I mean people who can lend a critical eye to our work, help push us in the right direction, and give a motivational boost when needed. Being a writer can make these hard to come, especially if you are asking family or friends to read your work. From my experience family and friends tend to tell you about the all good stuff and conveniently forgot all the errors they saw. In most cases they try to have your best interests in mind and are trying not to hurt your feelings.
In my pursuit to become a better writer I have stumbled across a couple websites that I personally find valuable. I don't know how popular these sites are so everyone may have heard of them or uses them already, but if I can help at least one person with this post I will be satisfied.

The first site I would like to introduce you to is writers cafe. Writers cafe is a community of writers sharing their work with one another. This site allows people to submit poems, stories, books, chapters, screenplays, and stage plays. This site also has a point system to see how active members are. Points are awarded for different actions on the site such as reviewing someone's work or sharing your own work. If you decide to give writers cafe a try, don't expect to submit your work and have the reviews start flooding in. The site is a community and you will need to provide some reviews to fellow writers as well. If you do that then you will start to see reviews of your work.

The next site I find useful in my creative writing pursuit is writers-network. This site is similar to writers cafe, with a few major differences. The first difference I would like to point out is that writers-network has a live chat option. I find this to be very helpful because as soon as your post a piece of work you can join the chat and ask anyone online to review your work. Writers network also has a pay area. When you become a member this way you will not have to review others work to earn points. If you do not want to pay, then you will have to review other peoples work to earn points. They do this so people are active in the community and everyone is getting reviews. Writers network also allows you to post a wide variety of works. With them you can submit poems, short stories, columns, articles, bulletins, book reviews, chapters, critique, documentary, draft, and pretty much any other type of written work you can think of.

Both of these sites offer a writer a great opportunity to help improve themselves along with other writers. As long as you become an active member of the communities you should find yourself receiving quality reviews and possibly making new friends in the process. Also keep in mind that both sites have a point system so there is sure to be reviews that really say nothing and it is just people looking for points. I hope you find value from one or both of these sites, and thanks for reading.

What Writing Means To Me

Writing is an art just like painting, dancing, or singing, and everyone has there own reasons for doing it. A lot of people I know dread writing, or at least when it comes to writing for school or business. In my opinion it takes a special person to truly enjoy the art of writing and embrace it in all its forms. This is not just limited to writing either, in my opinion if you truly love to write then you also love to read and learn.

So for me there are limitless reasons that I write. The biggest reason I write is to express myself in ways that I can not vocalize. For me words flow so much better in my mind and onto the paper. Writing is a release for me and I always feel better once I complete a project. I also love writing because I enjoy sharing information. Knowing that someone can learn or at least enjoy what I have written is a thrill to me.

There are many other reasons  I write that I can't put into words right now but I will know them when I am writing something new. Thanks for reading.