Beyond the Writing

When I began writing Home Sweet Abbey a year ago, I had a lot to learn about blogging. A half-day workshop I had taken a few months earlier had hit the high points. But there was so much left to learn that I kept studying to try to improve my craft. And I’m still doing that.

One of the first things I learned is that a well-written article is not necessarily enough to attract readers. You can compose the most brilliant post, but if your title isn’t interesting, many potential readers will never find their way to it.

With that in mind, I tried to be creative in titling my posts — without misleading my reader with too much cuteness. As with almost everything in life, I was sometimes more successful than others.

Yesterday I looked back over my posts and made note of my favorite titles. Remember, I’m not saying these are my favorite articles, just titles. In no certain order, here is my list:

• Fifty Shades of Beige — a post about making decorating decisions for my sun room. I can almost hear someone say, wait a minute, that was misleading. I was expecting… well, never mind! And I would say, Please, this is a G-rated blog.

• Sunday in the Sales Office with Carol — a post about exactly what it says. I was trying for a take off on Seurat’s famous painting Sunday in the Park with George. Did you get that?

• Construction as a Spectator Sport — my attempt at a photo essay depicting the most dramatic step in construction, placing trusses with a crane

• Flower Power — Still Alive and Well in Woodstock — a photo post that served as a teaser for my post about our annual Flower Power event in May

• A Full House and Four of Kind — a post about a well-attended community brunch accompanied by a photo of four women named Carol (or a derivative) taken at the brunch. Yes, that poker reference might have been misleading too. Our Cards and Games Club didn’t start until later.

Another blogging lesson I learned almost immediately was the importance of pictures — or graphics of almost any kind. It’s vital to give the reader something to look at in addition to sentences on the page.

I knew it, but I kept hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be true. My photographic skills are way behind my writing skills. I was concerned I would lower the quality of my blog by putting up mediocre pictures. I tried to work around that by taking an overabundance of pictures with the hope that maybe one out of 20 might be acceptable. Also, whenever possible, I used photos someone else had taken.

Here, again in no certain order, are some of my favorite photos that have appeared in this blog: