Looking Back before Moving Forward to 2022

Before turning a new page, I look back on 2021 and I am pleased to say I did make progress with my writing life in a positive way.

What did I achieve in 2021 to be thankful for?

A. I published a little book of encouragement Search for the Pearl Inside Yourself for young people struggling through this pandemic. I wrote the bones of it and gathered quotations and photos before I took voluntary redundancy from teaching at Barnfield Further Education College in Luton, Bedfordshire over seven years ago. I dusted it off, updated and improved it, had it edited and proof read and finally organised a print run in June 2021.

Hoping to make a difference:

I am still giving away copies to those who need it. If you know a young person struggling at this time then please get in touch: contact Diana Jackson

The e book is available on Kindle too.

B. My continued support for authors on their journey into writing and publishing seemed to flourish too. It was lovely to focus on others rather than myself.

C. I met a lovely group of new authors on Twitter (I’m @Riduna) who were happy for me to dip in and out of their boundless enthusiastic responses, when I felt able to do so. Thanks to Cheryl Burman and all her friends who worked so hard to set up a Christmas on line bookshop. I have always enjoyed the mutual support of other authors I’ve ‘met’ on Twitter, but this took it to a new level.

D. I also met a group of local Fife authors from East Neuk for some uplifting Zoom events and an early Christmas meal, where we met in person down in Anstruther; just before the warnings of get togethers was highlighted on the news. To be part of this select, welcoming group of authors is heart warming. I had forgotten the joys of being in a writing group and had been longing for this to happen since leaving Bedfordshire, where I was a founder member of Ampthill Writers (then known as the Albion Writers after the pub where we used to meet) I have even joined them on line on a couple of occasions too.

E. I have a couple more personal writing projects I have been working on; those I could pick up and stir that creativity from within in a very gentle way, but more about those in my next blog.

In all honesty

… it was a tough year, as it was for many, but I can be thankful and look forward with hope to 2022!

An Armchair Visit to Fife on Social Media

Podcasts and Website

Here are two website which are packed with information and photos:

https://fifecoastandcountrysidetrust.co.uk/walks/fife-pilgrim-way/ has much about the newly opened Fife Pilgrim Way from Cuross to St Andrews. There are helpful maps, hints and guides. It is a path I have yet to enjoy.

http://www.walkfife.com/walk-fife-podcast/ This is the most exciting site I’ve found of late. Podcasts brimming with suggestions, guides and advice to enjoy The Kingdom of Fife. Brilliant!

Love Fife on Twitter

I love searching for places I know on the internet. If you are visiting Fife there’s no better way (apart from reading the books on my last post ‘Excellent Books about The Fife Coastal Path’) to get to know a place from the comfort of your own armchair than connecting with bite sized posts on Twitter.

Here’s a flavour of tweeters I’m following. I’m sure there are many more. Please let me know if I’ve missed you.

A must to follow!

@welcometofife ~ Promoting everything there is to love about the Kingdom of Fife (some wonderful photos and ideas for places to visit)

@FFP The Fife Free Press Scottish Weekly Newspaper of the Year 2015 & 2016. Newsdesk :01592 645700 email ffpnews@fifetoday.co.uk or tweet us! (there’s lots on football if that’s your thing)

More news from a different perspective

@FifeFreePressEd Allan Crow, editor Fife Free Press, Scottish Weekly Newspaper of Year 2019/16/15. Web: http://fifetoday.co.uk

@ONFifePress News from Fife Cultural Trust

For enthusiastic walkers

@Walk_Fife Walk  Fife explores the Kingdom on foot. Sharing free walking routes from around Fife. We have a #podcast as well! Supporting the outdoors community in #Fife

@Hotpotwynd (The Fife Coastal Path official twitter site ~ the name Hot Pot Wynd is a road leading down to Dysart Harbour. Great isn’t it!)

@FifeWalking (explores many of the less known beautiful spots in Fife)

For Writers

@WritesFife Fife Writes is a group of writers set up to be a peer support group for writers of all genres.

@WritersInkFife Writers Ink Fife is a teenage lead writing group in Glenrothes, that focuses on creativity through literacy

Not to Miss Photos!

@SteelySeabirder SNH David Steel is the Nature Reserve Manager for the Isle of May home to 46,200 pairs of Puffins and 200,000 seabirds! (wonderful photos ~ Painted Ladies too!)

@CountrysideBen Ben Dolphin Ranger, blogger, nature nut, general evangelist for the great outdoors. President of @ramblersscot . Prone to blethering. (Wonderful photos too, although he is often in the Cairngorms in the summer months.)

@Johnpow1 also posts some fantastic photos and videos of Fife and other parts of Scotland.

For the record I’m @Riduna on Twitter. The name’s nothing to do with Fife by the way, but my fantasy/ memoir The Healing Paths of Fife is still for sale in aid of Kirkcaldy Foodbank until the end of February 2020.

If you love Fife and are not on my radar as yet and think you ought to be, it would be lovely to hear from you. Do get in touch on twitter @Riduna or email diana@dianamaryjackson.co.uk

Why Authors Blog

On Twitter today @womewritersnet wrote:

‘This week we’ve been tweeting about how to enable our writing to reach a wider audience and #blogging has been recommended. Does anyone have experience of hosting guest blog posts or writing them? Can shared posts help to reach new audiences? Tell us your experiences.’

…and so here’s my response as to why I blog:

I enjoy honing my skills in writing small articles

Even if I’m not in a writing fiction mode, due to time and other commitments, writing a blog is a great way of writing to an audience. It has to be of a professional nature and so it’s a discipline too. Always re read and revise before pressing publish though ~ I’ve had a couple of ‘ouch’ moments on looking back, so it’s best to save it for later if you run out of time.

A Blog Reaches unexpected audiences ~ it is two way traffic

My blog is a channel through which the most unexpected people find me. I’ve had emails from folks who have done a casual search and read about the background to my writing. Each is enthusiastic to tell me such wonderful things~ like the man who was the last Lighthouse Keeper on Les Casquets. So many of these people over the years often go on to being my readers too.

It increases your rating on search engines

I really don’t understand the technicalities of it all but I do know that the more you blog, the more you have guests on your post, or reblog interesting posts, and the more you are a guest on another blog the higher your profile. I’m sure you have tried search for your name on Google. I reached the top in searches for ‘Diana Jackson’ for a quite a while when I was totally committed to social media. I have lapsed rather due to time constraints, but it is worth the effort in the few months around launching something new.

If you write a guest post on an established blog you are bound to reach a wider audience

Though my blog is established I have lapsed of late in writing regularly. There are really good blogs out there which accept guest posts. It is best to write new material, but don’t despair ~ you can reblog it on your own platform a few months later for greater reach. It should also have the knock on affect that readers of your guest post will click on a link to your book and own blog too.

The WordPress family is great

It’s worth taking time to read other people’s blogs and like them, if you do. We need to support each other here.

Writer’s Karma

I’m a great believer in Karma. You write a review of someone else’s book or take the trouble to get to know them and you feel less isolated. The writing community is a supportive one, if you find the right channels.

You don’t always have huge ratings

Your stats can be disappointing at times. The highest number of people to read my blog in one day was just under 200 and sometimes it is only a handful, but I try not to be too disheartened. Often my posts are read months or years later through search engines ~ that’s why your categories and tags are vital. If a post says ‘uncategorized’, the writer has missed a wonderful opportunity to be found with the best key words. My best rating was for a post, ‘You can’t snuggle in bed with a Kindle’ years ago. Now I do just that from time to time, although I still prefer a real book if given the choice.

Finally

As a writer returning to the fold, as it were, it is not easy getting back into the habit of blogging and, yes, it can take up valuable time, but for writers with an Indie press, who have not got the huge arm of a major publisher behind them, it is a valuable tool for getting out there and noticed.

Who knows what surprises you might have!

Do tell me about them and share if you can…