Blog 100 posts April 25
My journey to 100 posts
By Emma Palova
EW Emma’s Writings
Lowell-
On Earth Day April 22nd I reached 100th post on the WordPress publishing platform. I didn’t even know about it until the notification that congratulated me. I kind of felt like “When we put the man on the moon.”
How did I get there?
Based on advice from book agents, I set out to have a definite online presence prior to the publishing of my memoir “Greenwich Meridian where east meets West.”
At first I was determined to have a website done. A computer dude told me that he doesn’t do websites, but recommended a service that does.
But, in the meantime while doing research for the memoir, I came across a WordPress like box for the Hawkins Chamber of Commerce in Texas.
In order to like and comment, I had to have a blog of my own. At first I was frustrated, but today I am thankful.
I went into blogging with an open mind, with one class of programming, some design experience from InDesign and Quark Express and 20 years of journalistic print experience.
My first blog post published on January 15th of last year was “Emma Palova biography.”
Just like with anything new there was a steep learning curve in the beginning accompanied by comments:
“Why are you doing this? Let somebody else do it,” said my husband Ludek as he watched me struggle with a post on a Friday afternoon. I wanted to make sure that the posts came out fresh for the weekend for the people to read when they have time.
I am a Taurus, a zodiac sign known for its persistence, determination and sometimes stubbornness.
“I don’t give up easily,” I replied. “Otherwise we wouldn’t be here.”
I was referring to our immigration to the USA in 1989 from former Czechoslovakia. I anchored the blog main posts on a mix of stories from the Czech immigration saga and big local stories like Lowell Expo 2014.
Two events further encouraged blogging. First, Writer’s Digest suggested blogging for others to make some revenue. Second, my freelance article on Frozen Creek Floral & Farms was rejected by several publications, while the editors suggested writing for their blogs. Well, I already had my own blog EW Emma’s Writings, why would I want to waste my time on courting mainly print publications?
Branching out
So, with Frozen Creek Floral entrepreneurial couple, I branched into the other favorite part of the blog: About local entrepreneurs & artists. This page profiles artists, business people, community members and interesting residents. I received probably the most followers from this section on Entrepreneur Extraordinaire in one day, followed by Of style & substance.
If you want to get profiled go to http://emmapalova.com
The content has never been a problem for me. I have a million ideas a day. So, if I can get at least two a day formulated and formatted on the web, I win.
But, I share the problem of most writers and artists; I cannot immediately sit down and write down what the heck I was thinking about a minute ago. I loiter around, make more coffee, tea, or even worse I eat. In the best case scenario I head out into the terrain to get some photos. I love photography because it feeds into writing and gives me ideas.
Like Hemmingway, I am a morning writer. Whatever I don’t get down on the screen in the morning or early afternoon, it just doesn’t make it anywhere. At least not that day.
As the day gets old, so do my ideas and they change into something else into different energy.
To prevent this procrastination, I started a daily writing journal on Norcom composition books. They’re wide ruled and look like a book. In the movie and scriptwriting industry, these are called dailies or in French Le Quotidien.
On each new page, I make a plan for the day. A typical entry tracks on the left side what I need to write that day, ideas and design tasks. I also put the temperature and a sun or a cloud weather symbol on the left side, and my blood pressure readings ha ha ha.
On the right side: I first make a note if I did yoga, meditated and sometimes what I had for breakfast. I make a list of who I need to contact that day with their numbers and what I need to do other than write: meetings, webinars, lunches and such.
Next day, I go back to that page and see what I got done. The composition books have become a great reference for me, and they sit well on the bookshelf. I’ve accumulated several editions of these dailies. If I run out of ideas, I just turn back to these for reinvention.
To be continued
Copyright © 2014 story and photos by Emma Palova
Edition Emma Publishing 