Sorry, paper chasers but, your gurl is taking a break from Blogging. I definitely will continue this blog, but, right now I just can't. I've lost a little bit of my fire and I don't how to regain it. So, for a little while (time TBA) I will not be posting on this blog.

I know that this is coming during the middle of my Aaliyah series, which I will definitely continue and finish, but, I need to take time to think and meditate in order to come back stronger than ever. Also, I am in the works of meeting with a blog designer to revamp the design and layout of the blog.

Once this happens, I plan to combine the LPE and WTP into one full blown blog. Okay, so that's enough of that. Be on the lookout for a brand new blog and a brand new pen.

Today, I'm going to switch things up a bit and do a narrative non-fiction piece about my life as a writer: Where I've been and Where I'm Going.

Today's date is a special day for me because it marks the one year anniversary of my college graduation. Scary, right? As I woke up this morning, I began to reflect on the past year of my life and I realized that...it's been a crazy one. My last year of college was my hardest, because, English majors at Hampton University (the REAL HU) are required to take a year long Senior Seminar course where you must write a twenty to twenty-five page thesis paper, and at the end of the Spring semester you present your paper and defend it in front of a panel of professors. Scary, right?

But, I managed to pass this class with flying colors and go onto march in that Mother's Day commencement. After graduation, I was beyond flustered and confused about what the heck I was going to do next. I returned to my parents house in Cincinnati, where I proceeded to be absolutely miserable. I was on a job search grind, but, with a bad economy the job search was bleak. So, somehow I end up getting an interview with a huge company in NY and when I came up here for it, I basically never left. I crashed on my friend's couch for a few days, then I started renting a room and once I got my first job, I got my own place. Scary, right?

So there I was, in NYC a place I had only been to once before moving to, all alone in an unfurnished apartment. Things were very strange in those days. I kept to myself and didn't say much to anyone. I watched the same movies over and over again and basically ignored everyone except, extremely close friends and family. And the fact that I was/am working two jobs didn't help matters. I was on constant overload and the worst part was that I still didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.

Then one day, something in me snapped. It was just like, ok, no more feeling sorry for yourself, get up and stop stressing everything and just be happy. And since that day, that's what I've been doing. I try let things roll off my back and not get stressed about little things. Plus, I know what I want to do now. I want to be a famous Blogger with a blog that's equally as famous, I want to create an event/organization that will serve as a community for Bloggers of color, then I want to start my own production company, and lastly, I want to become a millionaire. Scary, right? I mean, it's like I want to take over the world. Oh wells, it's the ambitious Virgo in me.

But, for real, I just wanted to share with you, Where I've Been and Where I'm Going. Hope you had fun reading my tale. Writing a personal story helps you to reflect and think about things you would or wouldn't do differently. That's why I wanted to share my story with you.

Remember, when the page comes to life...so do you.

Last week, I talked about developing an editorial calendar for your blog in the post, How to Choose a Blog Niche. Today, I would like to delve further into that topic. Developing an editorial calendar is great for Bloggers and Writers. Why? Because it gives you direction and focus. Also, it forces you to plan your time wisely.

As I stated in the How to Choose a Blog Niche post, to develop an editorial calendar for my blog, The Loudest Pen Ever, I simply wrote down each day of the week and wrote what post will correspond with what day. For writers, I recommend structuring your editorial calendar based on what you're writing. Meaning, if you are writing a novel, then plan to have chapters 1-5 done in the first six months or if you've written a poem, then plan to edit that poem on a day that you'll have free time.

The key to developing an editorial calendar is to be realistic about your time constraints and ability to complete tasks on the days they were scheduled to be completed. For example, Wednesday is Buzz-Kill of the Week on my other blog, the LPE because, this post is short and easy to write, and since I always work a double on Wednesdays, it would be almost impossible to try and write longer posts.

You can develop an editorial calendar through many different mediums, such as, Google Calendar, MS Word or Excel, on your BlackBerry or cell phone, or you can use old fashioned pen and paper. All you need is a calendar and the ability to plan your time. An editorial calendar is simply the planning of your writing time. You need to know when you are going to write/blog, edit, and then submit/publish your work. Being organized will make the process of writing a lot easier and less painful.

Remember when the page comes to life...so do you.

Today, I would like to talk about Writing Style and Why You Sould Experiment with different genres. Writing in many different genres can improve your writing and make you more diverse as an author.

How do you experiment with different genres? Simple, just do it. Write poems, short stories, screenplays, blog posts (on your blog or guest post on someone else's), or even a novel, if you're bold enough. When you first begin experimenting, your work may not be well read, and it may not even be that good. Don't worry about that, just write.

Writing is all about discovering yourself and your writing style, and exposing that path of self discovery to the world. Therefore, allowing yourself to write outside the box will give you freedom and will force you decide what type of writing you like to do best.

A writer that can write for many different genres attracts a broader audience. People will like and appreciate the fact that you are a multi-dimesional author. Why? Because, it means that you are a true writer. All you need is a pen, paper, and an idea and before long, the great American novel or screenplay has been written. Plus, being known for different genres means that you have the ability to please various audiences. Publishers will take note of this and your work is more likely to be published because they can publish your fiction or your non-fiction.

The last reason you should experiement with different genres is because it's fun. There's nothing like a change up. It gives you a chance to write about various things in a variety of ways. Too much of anything can kill you. Therefore, write whatever your heart desires, when your heart desires it, and maybe, just maybe, someone else's heart will desire it to.

Remember, when the page comes to life..so do you.

Today, I would like to talk about Blog Writing: Short Posts vs. Long Posts. There are many diffent ways to write Blog posts. Some posts are short and to the point, because, they rely on the pictures to do most of the talking. My fave examples of this are http://fashionbombdaily.com and http://theybf.com. These sites a fashion site and gossip site, respectively, and they let the picture be worth a thousand words, and they simply add descriptive sentences of the pictures. Other blogs are purely built on their written content and are usually harder to attaract an audience to. Pictures are easy to see and internalize, while written content requires that the reader, read your work, and then possibly interact with it by posting a comment.

So, how does one write a succesful short blog post? Once again, I am going to recommend the aforementioned sites: http://theybf.com/ and http://fashionbombdaily.com. Theybf.com or The Young, Black, and Fabulous is a website about black celebrity gossip. On theybf.com, Natasha (the site owner) uses catchy phrases, her own version of the English language, and fresh outspoken take on the life of rich, black celebs. The site is fun and entertaining. The fashionbomb.daily.com is all about fashionistas of color so, the posts are always vibrant pics of celebs in the latest trends. The written content is short and usually asks for feedback or interaction from readers. If you want your blog to get major interaction, then you should consider these types of posts. They are simple, easy to digest, and fun.

However, if you are a die-hard writer and want to use your blog as an outlet, then focus on your written content. Write great entertaining or informative posts that make people want to come back for more. If you want to be entertaining say outlandish things (if you're comfortable with that) that you know will make people laugh and therefore remember you. Or try to teach people something in the simplest way possible. Also, make sure the writing is conversational. The key to Blog writing is to make it readable and speakable simultaneously. Readers should feel like they know you. Even if your blog focuses on more serious topics there should still be a hint of your personality in your blog. After all, that's the great thing about blogging; blogging is not shackled to the notion of objectivity the way journalism is.

In conclusion, identify what type of Blogging you'd like to do short posts or longer posts, and then blog according to that style. Whichever, you choose doesn't matter just make sure you pick a style that works for you.

Remember, when the page comes to life...so do you.

So, this time last week, it was all about Writer Encouragement and why you should keep writing. Today's lesson will expand off of that. The lesson of the day is Writer Encouragement: How To Get Your First Reader.

For the many different genres and writing styles, there are various ways to obtain your first reader or loyal fan. For poetry, obtaining your first loyal fan is a combination between content and performance. Most poetry is of course written and published in various books or magazines, BUT, if a poem does not read like spoken word, then, you are not going to obtain a readership. Also, to be a great poet, it is almost a necessity that you be able to perform your work in front of any audience. You have to perform your poems with conviction and confidence in order for the audience to be intrigued by you. Once you have the audience's attention, you have customers to buy your chapbook.

For Fiction/Narrative Non-Fiction, the storyline and characters are key. Because these works are strictly in written form, they must be readable. The storyline must be believable and relatable in order to engage readers. Also, a good synopsis or summary of the book is key because most readers read the back cover or inside flap before actually purchasing a book. Therefore, you need to make sure that these items intrigue a potential reader so that they will buy your book.

For Bloggers, obtaining a loyal reader is painful at times, but, it pays off when it happens. To obtain loyal fans or followers, I suggest writing great content and commenting on other blogs. Also, join social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. Writing great content will give your blog a personality, something that people can look for or expect to find when they come to your blog. Commenting on other blogs will build up your profile as a Blogger and make people want to visit your blog because you always write such great comments. Lastly, joining social networking sites will give you a place to promote your blog.

Go ahead and test out some of my suggestions and let me know how it works out for you.

Remember when the page comes to life...so do you.

First of all, I would like to apologize for not posting on this blog yesterday. Now, that we have that out of the way, let's move onto today's lesson, which is How to Get Motivated to Write.

How do you get motivated to write? Simple, just start doing it. I didn't feel like writing this post, but, obviously I did so...

Trust me, when it comes to writing, don't overthink and overcompensate. Simply write. You can worry about editing or who's gonna read it later. These are simple excuses not to write. Just write for the sake of the act and this will keep you constantly motivated.

Remember, when the page comes to life...so do you.

Today, I would like to define the word Blogger. Why? Because, it has some to my attention that bloggers especially those of us of the colored persuasion, have a different take on the world and how we view it. Therefore, I wanted to post the definition of a blogger (of the colored persuasion).

A Blogger is a person who seeks to share their views with the world and because their family and friends got sick of listening they decided to start their own blogs. This means that bloggers are obviously talkative people and essentially good coversationalists. So, their blogs then become an extension of that conversation meaning that their blogs read as if someone is speaking to you directly.

A Blogger also has a diverse field of interests meaning it can be hard concentrate on one thing. Therefore bloggers start many different blogs, write a variety of posts on their own blog, or are constantly commenting on other blogs.

A Blogger loves to state their opinion and is very outspoken with it. On every blog that I've ever been on, no matter what the topic, there is this vibe that I get from the author that says, here is my opinion, take it or leave it. The outspokeness of a Blogger is what attracts people to them because visitors can't believe you would say some ish like that!

A Blogger likes no loves to crack jokes and tell stories. Some blogs are dedicated to making people laugh, but, in every blog there is always a humor element. In order to keep people interested and stand out in blogosphere, you have to entertain people and humor is the easiest way. Telling stories in posts simply illustrates the point you are trying to drive home to readers.

So, if you fit the above definition, then you can now classify yourself as a Blogger. Anyways, I'm done yapping now (wink to Carey for calling me longpen).

Remember, when the page comes to life...so do you.