Category: Wisdom

Books, Chingonas, Travel, Wisdom, Writing

10 Tips to a Gripping Lede

Mona Alvarado Frazier
AROHO Writer's Retreat, NM
Morning view at Ghost Ranch, NM

This morning I woke to the prison gray sky of my coastal town making me nostalgic for the turquoise New Mexican sky above the biting burros of Ghost Ranch. The memories I am left with are photos, mosquito bites, fragrance of hay and red clay, the sound of laughter, heart breaking words, and wisdom from inspiring women writers.

AROHO’s Retreat for Women Writer’s filled me with more than memories and new friendships but also with valuable information about the craft of writing. Amazing poets, writers and artists shared information to help others, to give new perspectives to old topics, to enlighten, energize and invigorate words and writing. These women are bien chignonas of the third kind: generous, strong, and creative.

For the next few weeks I’ll intermittently share some of their information, their words of wisdom, and hope that it will help you in your writing.

The first writer is Jennifer Steil, the author of  The Woman Who Fell from the Sky.  She is a journalist, novelist, creative non-fiction writer, and generous soul.

Jennifer_Steil
Author Jennifer Steil

She shared 10 tips to a gripping lede. A  little history lesson first.  The spelling of lede was to distinguish the word from lead, a strip of metal separating lines of type in the very earlier days of newspaper reporting. A lede is the first line, lines or the first paragraph of a magazine or newspaper article which also includes most of the five W’s and the H.

With Jennifer’s permission, here are the 10 tips I jotted down:

  1. Establish curiosity in the readers mind. Whet the appetite. Be creative with a purpose (the lede must be part of the story).

    “Millionaire Harold F. McCormick today bought a poor man’s youth.” – about an organ transplant

  2. Jolt your reader:Include a detail that differentiates it from others. A telling detail.
  3. Use an arresting image (related to the story).

    “Bad things happen to the husbands of widow Elkhorn.”

  4. Use active verbs: someone did something
  5. Don’t start with an attribution. (said, or meandering clauses).
  6. Use an analogy to lead. This explains the unknown.
  7. Word play leads. Use playful ways of beginning:

    Snow, followed by small boys on sleds. – Allen Smith NY Telegram, in a weather forecast

  8. The writer has 3.7 seconds to get someone to read their story. What makes the story interesting?
  9. Give a character lead. Give a portrait of the subject with two or three sentences.
  10. The lede has to have something specific to tell the reader. Keep the lede short, 25-35 words.

To be honest, Jennifer gave us a couple of more tips but these are the ones I had time to jot down. Check out her website and FB for other information. Her new book, The Ambassador’s Wife, will debut in 2014.

 

Blogging, Blogspot, Encouragement, Uncategorized, Wisdom

Five Things I Learned When I Moved from Blogger to WordPress

Mona Alvarado Frazier
Moving made easier with friends.

I’ve moved from my two-year residence at Blogspot. The place was a good starter home, and it used to be very nice, but the neighborhood got a little run down.

The ‘help’ section on Blogspot was no help. After losing my photos, my comment box disappearing/reappearing, and the insidious push to connect to Google+ , which I succumbed to and began having more post problems, I terminated Google+ and started looking for a new home.

Ever had to move to a different state? Moving from Blogger to WordPress was about the same experience-for me, a non-tech novice. A chingona knows when she needs to rely on herself and when to ask for assistance.  I knew I needed help with the relocation.

Utilizing Google search and my writing community on Facebook (WordSmith Studio) I armed myself with information about the relocation two weeks ahead of the actual move. It was time consuming but necessary for me-I’m not the impulsive type. The encouragement from my writing community helped make this a much easier move. I didn’t feel like I was walking alone in the dark.

First, which neighborhood did I want to move too? WordPress.com or dot org? This graph made it easier to decide. For a more detailed description and a video go to Michael Hyatt’s site. I decided on the dot-com, the affordable neighborhood. Be aware that if you own your domain name  through a domain service like GoDaddy, you will have to pay $13 per year for domain mapping (this is to tell your name where to point).  I didn’t like this fee, but I disliked Blogger more.

Secondly, there were new ‘shopping experiences,’ at WP, as in 205 themes, free and paid. Almost all of the themes are customizable-not that I know how to do that yet. This took more time than collecting info on how to move to WP, but it was more fun. So many colors, layouts, widgets, options are like being in the tile, carpet, and furniture store. To make it easier, use the filter on WP’s “Find A Theme.”

The third thing I learned is that there is always a downside to a move. I’m sure there must be a way around this, but I lost valuables along the way. You can pay to have someone migrate your blog, comments, followers, etc. On WordPress the service is called “Guided Transfer,” and costs $129.   Unfortunately, I discovered that service after I made the transfer myself. I lost my readers, and the blogs I followed on Blogspot, and I hope they’ll find me at my new place and come to visit.

The upside, and fourth thing I learned with my move,  is that WP has “Publicize.”  This allows you to connect your blog to social media sites and share your posts. Once you do this your Follow widget lists the amount of people on your social media sites, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This can run into several hundred or thousands depending on how many social media sites you list and how many followers you have on these sites. Your posts are automatically sent to these sites.  I have to confess, after inserting this tool, the resulting number made me feel much better about losing readers, but I still would like them back.

Lastly, my comment section has Akismet, a spam detection tool which works differently from Blogspot’s. It filters out the spam in your comments and trackbacks. It’s automatic and you don’t have to spend time moderating comments.

Now I need to walk around some, hang out at my Dashboard, and the WP home, and get to know the lay of the land.  Thanks Wordsmith’ers.