Xenophobia and Xenophilia, a Writer’s Contradiction

Xenophobia and xenophilia? Or both?Writers suffer from both xenophobia and xenophilia.

All during the AtoZChallenge, I’ve dreaded writing about the letter “X” almost as much as the letters “Q” and “Z”. How could I find an “X” word that relates to writing? Through an exhaustive search (at least 5 minutes), I’ve found TWO “X” words: Xenophobia and Xenophilia.

According to Wikipedia:

Xenophobia is the fear and distrust of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange.”

“Xenophilia means an affection for unknown/foreign objects or people.”

Normally, xenophobia deals with one’s fear of another culture or people, but I’m sticking to the “foreign or strange” aspect of the definitions.

Writers are an odd group of people. Put one in a room with the internet her only contact to the outside world, and she’s content. Let her write, and send a check once her book is published (with no face-to-face contact with the principles involved, thank you very much).

Writers are the most introverted of the introverted. They fear and distrust:

  • Meeting readers
  • Most social media
  • Submitting their work for fear of rejection
  • Submitting their work for fear of acceptance
  • Actually, anything involving believing in themselves, their work, and the outside world

Writers are xenophobic.

On the other hand, when it comes to writing, particularly research, they love the unknown. We will research hobo code, the warning signs of a stalker, and how to kill someone without leaving a trace. We are suckers for the unknown.

Writers are xenophiliacs.

How can writers show symptoms of xenophobia and xenophilia? Because we’re weird. What other profession listens to the voices in their head, and get paid to do so?

Tomorrow’s AtoZChallenge will be about the letter “Y”.

#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge that takes place in the month of April.

#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge

Until then, blessings,

Cheryl

If you’d like to continue reading my entries in the AtoZChallenge* and to receive my blog posts, please use the entry form to the right. Also sign up for my newsletter, and you’ll receive a FREE copy of my short story, Mr. Right, Mr. Wrong, Mr. Alien.

If you know of someone who would enjoy learning more about xenophobia and xenophilia, use the buttons on the left to share this post.

*#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge that takes place in April (except on Sundays). Participants blog every day around a theme of their choosing, in alphabetical order. Throughout the month of April, I’ll share tips, links, and insights I’ve learned in my writing career.

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WordPress Essentials, Today’s “W” in the AtoZChallenge

WordPress essentials can be your website’s best marketing tool

Wordpress.com is THE biggest blog hosting platform in the world. Use WordPress essentials to boost your SEO.I really, really don’t need to tell you why it’s vital to have a website if you’re serious about your business. Whether you write books, shovel snow, or sell eyeglasses, it’s important to have a website and blog to communicate with your customers. What you might not know is how much easier running a blog can be if you add a few WordPress essentials.

WordPress.com is THE biggest blog hosting platform in the world. It has a gazillion themes, plugins, and widgets that will do everything for you but wash the dishes. I used another platform that seemed more intuitive to use, but it had a fraction of the gizmos WordPress makes available.

Okay, you’ve decided to create a website. Go here for tips on how to set one up. This link offers more expert advice than I can ever give you. There are To-Do’s in this article even I need to implement.

WordPress Essentials for your site:

Permalinks

What’s a permalink? It’s the URL search engines use to find your site. It’s what you type in your internet browser’s search bar to go to a specific page.

Which will Google rank better?

  • www.cherylsterlingbooks.com/1104
  • www.cherylsterlingbooks.com/jao8jBB77650/product.aspx?ID=11526&IT=5f7d3d/show.html
  • www.cherylsterlingbooks.com/wordpress-essentials

I’m hoping you picked the last one. Let’s make life easy for Google. They want to find your blog and display it in their pages.

Go to WordPress->Settings->Permalinks, and change and save “Post name.” This will give Google the SEO juice necessary to find your blog.

WordPress plugins

Headers and Footers

Headers and Footers is a nifty little plugin if you (like me) don’t know code. When I’m instructed to “add xyz code to your header”, I might as well learn another language. With Headers and Footers, there’s two boxes, one for each to paste whatever code is needed.

Akismet

Akismet aggressively kills spam. 55,993 spam attempts to get into my website have been killed by this WordPress essential plugin.

SocialWarfare

This plugin adds a bunch of social media buttons to your blog so readers can share your outstanding wisdom.

Huge IT Slider

See my books rotating on the right—> They’re a result of the Huge IT Slider. I can add my book cover and a link to Amazon. There are also boxes to add a title and description, but these overlay on the cover, obscuring the cover and title, so I leave the boxes blank.

Yoast

This is #1 out of all the WordPress essentials I’ve implemented. Yoast has so many benefits, I’m writing a separate blog about it (Plus, I needed a “Y” subject for my AtoZChallenge). Look for a more indepth blog on the 29th.

WordPress Widgets

I honestly don’t know the difference between a plugin and a widget. They act the same to me, but here’s a few widgets you should consider using:

Goodreads  (Jetpack)

This WordPress essential displays my Goodreads TBR pile and automatically updates as I change my Goodreads information. I’ve displayed it in the footer section because I do not like sidebar clutter.

Blog Subscription (Jetpack)

Another widget in the Jetpack package. Why would you not try to capture the email address of visitors and have them subscribe to your blog?

Recent comments

Aren’t you curious about what other visitors say about the blog you’re visiting? By adding this WordPress widget, you’ll be able to read the last few comments.

Other widgets you can add to your sidebar and footer:

  • Calendar
  • Search bar
  • Latest posts
  • Archives
  • Visitor hit counter
  • Tag cloud
  • Upcoming events

There are others, but, like I said, I don’t like sidebar clutter.

WordPress themes

WordPress offers hundreds of themes for your website. If you want a nautical theme, they’ve got it. If you want something food-related, they have it as well. My theme is ProMax. I imagine I paid for it as it has the word “Pro” in the title, but there are many, many free themes to choose from. The best part is you can easily change them if you don’t like the look, or if you like variety.

WordPress themes sets the tone of your website or blog. If you write comedy, you’ll want something light and whimsical (as shown in my logo). If you write urban fantasy, you’ll want a darker theme. Don’t mix signals and confuse your viewer.

I hope I’ve helped a little in explaining the WordPress essentials you should install on your blog. I’m not an expert, and I don’t intend to be one. Muddling my way through the labyrinth of the internet is as frustrating for me as it is for you, but I hope I made a tiny difference. If you get stuck, do as I do—search for it on Pinterest!

Tomorrow’s AtoZChallenge will be about the letter “X”.

#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge that takes place in the month of April.

#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge

Until then, blessings,

Cheryl

If you’d like to continue reading my entries in the AtoZChallenge* and to receive my blog posts, please use the entry form to the right. Also sign up for my newsletter, and you’ll receive a FREE copy of my short story, Mr. Right, Mr. Wrong, Mr. Alien.

If you know of someone who would enjoy learning more about WordPress essentials, including theme, plugins, and widgets, use the buttons on the left to share this post.

*#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge that takes place in April (except on Sundays). Participants blog every day around a theme of their choosing, in alphabetical order. Throughout the month of April, I’ll share tips, links, and insights I’ve learned in my writing career.

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Vomit Draft, the Letter “V” in Today’s AtoZChallenge

In today’s AtoZChallenge, the letter “V” stands for Vomit Draft

The object of the vomit draft is to turn off the internal editor, write fast, and throw up all over the page (or screen). Clean up the mess later.My old critique group—and others, as I’ve heard this term since—called the first draft the vomit draft. The object is to turn off the internal editor, write fast, and throw up all over the page (or screen). Clean up the mess later.

I’m a firm supporter of the vomit draft. I wrote my last two books using this method. Of course, I wrote them as NaNo books (one officially, one on my own). There’s no choice but to write fast and hard, creating a vomit draft.

Here are some bad examples:

XXX1, man from xxplace, Had rolled through the village the day before and taken a room at the inn.

“He’s not here to visit me but XX1, staying at the inn.” She did some bread/sourdough starter thing xxx.
Colin laughed. “Ye never could lie.”
Rosewynn did some other bread dough thing xxx.

Colin noticed his glance/attention/other.

(What about her basket?)

At the top*, he caught hold of the top* board

My unofficial rules of the vomit draft:

  • If you don’t know what word to use (because who has time for thesaurus. com?) use the all-purpose XXX
  • If you have multiple people to name, call them XXX1, XXX2 and so on
  • Alternately, (and to build a wee bit of word count), use a string of words/descriptions/other
  • The liberal use of parenthesis are encouraged. (insert love scene here) (he should be more angry. His mother didn’t believe in him. Show more anger here).
  • Parenthesis can also be used for a quick editorial content. (What about her basket? Did she climb the stairs with it? Pitch it overboard? Throw it to the floor?
  • If you have chosen an adequate word, but know there’s another, better one knocking around in your brain*, use a asterisk to indicate you should have been smarter at the time.
  • Asterisks are good for word* echoes, when you repeatedly use the same word* while searching for a better word*
  • I also use smaller font if I’m not sure I want to keep a phrase (again, word count is important. Never delete or backspace. Never surrender). On a Mac, highlight the phrase and use Command and the minus key to minimize it.

Mostly, I use XXX to show the section needs work.

The vomit draft is the most effective way for me to write. I’m always afraid I’ll lose inspiration, or a brighter, shinier idea will emerge.

How do you write your first draft?

Tomorrow’s AtoZChallenge will be about the letter “W”.

#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge that takes place in the month of April.

#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge

Until then, blessings,

Cheryl

If you’d like to continue reading my entries in the AtoZChallenge* and to receive my blog posts, please use the entry form to the right. Also sign up for my newsletter, and you’ll receive a FREE copy of my short story, Mr. Right, Mr. Wrong, Mr. Alien.

If you know of someone who would enjoy learning more about vomit drafts, use the buttons on the left to share this post. Thank you.

*#AtoZChallenge is a blogging challenge that takes place in April (except on Sundays). Participants blog every day around a theme of their choosing, in alphabetical order. Throughout the month of April, I’ll share tips, links, and insights I’ve learned in my writing career

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