Preparing for NaNonFiWriMo
73 days left until NaNonFiWriMo 2013 is here! This annual event is entering its seventh year. In November, nonfiction writers will be working on writing an entire work of nonfiction. In fact, this nonfiction program is similar to its more popular fiction program.
Nina Amir is working on building a community for NaNonFiWriMo 2013 participants so that members can start to hold each other accountable for their work, share progress reports, and pat each other on the back for a job well done. Nina realizes that community is the key to NaNoWriMo’s success and she hopes to bring some of that magic to the wonderful world of nonfiction!
As of November 1, 2013, the NaNonFiWriMo 2013 program will be permanently hosted on Write Nonfiction Now and this website will no longer exist. In the meantime, you can do your part by creating a buzz for us.
Want to help us by creating a Buzz for NaNonFiWriMo? Receive a virtual token of appreciation by helping us spread the word about NaNonFiWriMo 2013. Let us know what kind of buzz you’ve generated. Thanks!
Tokens of Appreciation Awarded to these Bloggers
Leaving comments on the WNFIN.com writing prompts:
- Val Hudgins – 1
- Melanie Martilla – 1
Featured bloggers respond to my questions:
- Melanie Marttila – 1
- Marc Nash – 1
- Kirra Antrobus – 6! Here, here, here, here, here, and here.
- Maribel Steel – 1 (forthcoming link)
- Anne Kimball – 1 (forthcoming link)
Social Media shares:
- Marlene Cullen – 1
- Kiril Kundurazieff – 1
- Denise Wakeman – 1
- Brian Klems – 1
- Anne Kimball – 1
You and your blog or social media handle can be featured here, too. Want to help us generate some buzz for NaNonFiWriMo 2013? Thanks for helping us help nonfiction writers!
Today’s Sub-Theme – Standout Bloggers
Our eighth sub-theme in August’s “All About You” theme is standout bloggers. We are dedicating the entire week to featuring three standouts who blog, and blog really well. The similarities among this week’s three standout bloggers is that they all have a lot of things going on, blog at many different places, and are very giving of their time.
Today, your job is to write an essay, or an expanded profile, on standout blogger Kiril Kundurazieff.
Recap: List of Featured Bloggers
In this space, we will keep a running list of all the bloggers we are featuring in August.
August 2 – Women, God, and Faith: Kirra Antrobus, Maia Duerr, Rachel, Rachel Barenblatt, and Katie Orr.
August 5 – Food Bloggers: Michael Lee West, Tara Kuczykowski, and Robyn Stone.
August 7 – Braniacs: Melanie Martilla, Marc Nash, Val Hudgins, Claudette Young, and Meena Rose.
August 9 – Photojournalists: Darlisa Black, Veronica Roth, Alik Sumin, and Arnoldo Romero.
August 12 – Inspirational folks: Maribel Steel, Beryl Ayn Young, Rachel Macy Stafford, and JoAnn J.A. Jordan.
August 14 – Dad bloggers – Michael Stelzner, Aaron Brinker, Brian Klems, and Oren Miller.
August 16 – Mom bloggers – Sam Kemp-Jackson, Jamie Meteer, Anne Kimball, and J.D. Bailey.
August 19 – Standout blogger – Kiril Kundurazieff
Creative Idea Gal’s Thoughts
This week’s three standout bloggers are all interesting people. I have been friends with two of these people for over a year. I have known of one person for more than ten years and have been a fan ever since!
To make this week’s set of prompts valid for nonfiction writers, it makes sense for me to withhold information and personal opinions about these bloggers. Instead, I will leave you with an expanded set of questions that offer clues to the type of work these folks do. What do they do? How do they do it? Where do they do it? Why do they do it? These are all questions you need to ask, research, and answer on your own. That is the true test of whether you know how to write a profile of a person.
Creative Idea Gal’s Softball Questions for Today’s Blogger
My questions for today’s featured blogger is like a writing prompt within a prompt. The featured blogger is strongly encouraged (but not required to) answer my questions. It is best for the featured blogger to answer the questions on his own blog and post that permalink here on WNFIN.com.
Thank you so much to Melanie Marttila, Marc Nash, Kirra Antrobus, Maribel Steel, and Anne Kimball for already answering my questions!
(1) Why do you think it’s a good idea to stir up controversy? How do you benefit by bringing negative press upon yourself?
(2) You seem to use the word “ain’t” a lot. Is there a specific reason why you rely on this word to get your point across? Do you think your readers enjoy this word?
(3) How do you manage to get such amazing photos of you near interesting surroundings all the time? If a person helps you take these photos, do you tell the person how to take the photo and what to include? Every photo seems to be at a fascinating angle; each photo has its own stories. Would you consider publishing just your photos along with captions as a series of photojournalistic storytelling?
(4) You have a knack for finding interesting public art installations. Your points of view are interesting to read. What inspires you to visit these installations and write about them? When did you first begin to admire public art? Did you take art lessons in school? Art appreciation classes in college?
(5) Your blog, Mad Macedonian, offers plenty of witty observations and pop culture references that make your writing fun and enjoyable to read. Would you consider compiling some of your blog entries into a nonfiction book that is devoted exclusively to your references in pop culture? Do you think your readers would get a kick out of reading your stories if they are assembled by similar categories in a book?
(6) You write about your problems with a keen sense of humor. No matter what you are going through (unemployment, seizure, malignant tumor, relocation to a new state, etc.), your sense of humor is intact. You obviously see the rainbow on the other side of your difficulties. Where did this sense of humor come from? Were you born with it? Have you had it all your life? Did it come about after a particularly serious problem? How do others react to your sense of humor in the midst of problems?
(7) Some of the things you write about do seem quite odd, such as your alien story, almost as if they’re intended for an exclusive audience. What is your goal in posting odd thoughts such as that? What type of comments would you like to receive?
(8) You currently have 20 categories on your blog. Do you think your categories clearly identify what your blog posts are about? Do you think refining the categories might make it easier for your readers to follow along? Would you be willing to add a sentence or two describing what exactly you mean by each category?
(9) Defining you as a person or writer is impossible, because you do so many interesting and creative things. Some may refer to you as a funnyman with a nutty personality while others may cite you as a source of inspiration for writing about deeply personal problems with grace and humility. How do you see yourself? What role does your blog play in defining you?
(1) What is meant by “the 500th edition of Carnival of the Cats”? You have hosted this event 500 times? How often do you host this event? Would you consider compiling all the information you learned in all 500 editions into a separate resource guide written for an audience of cat enthusiasts?
(2) Your pages and categories are entertaining but also confusing. You seem to write these titles using specialized insider language that only a select few in the cat community would understand. For example, what is: “A healthy pussycat is a happy pussycat” and “Elvira factor – enter the no bull zone”? Do you think you might gain a larger audience if you modified the titles of your pages and categories a bit?
(3) What do you hope to gain with your blog, Opinionated Pussycat? Is this blog purely for entertainment purposes to share your creative vision of your cats? Or do you eventually plan to compile your observations into a book?
(4) Have you made any serious progress with the possibility of turning your already-written blog posts into a book? If not, what do you think is holding you back? Are you able to devote even just one hour per day to make this publishing dream a reality?
(5) You use a lot of clever language on your blog. Things like “felinity assembled” and “Nikita Institute” are among my favorites. Would you ever consider formalizing some of your witty language into a formal brand?
(6) You made one video of your cats, but that information was buried in a blog post. It does not appear to be highlighted. Do you think you would get more viewers if you highlighted your videos somewhere? Any plans to make more videos?
(7) Your “Street Seens” blog posts are a fascinating series of photos and details from a cat’s point of view. People seem to really like photos of cats. Perhaps you can find a ready-made audience by extracting the “Street Seens” photos and details into a picture book written from a cat’s point of view. With a ready-made market and already-written material, would you consider turning these into a book?
(8) Even after reading through many blog posts, it is not always clear that the purpose of this blog is to amuse audiences with witty pictures and words coming from a cat’s mouth. Technically, that is not even possible, but you make it happen through clever writing and bubble captions. Do you think it might be helpful to write a clear “about this blog” page to describe the purpose of the blog to new readers?
(9) Your “World Mews Repurrts” are a clever and original way of highlighting cat-related news. Certainly your fanbase may appreciate a tidy collection of these Internet news clippings from you. Would you consider turning these into a downloadable e-book? Do you think this e-book could net you some profits?
(1) It is no easy feat finding your blog, Cycling Dude, unless people know the URL before searching for it. How come you don’t promote this blog? It has ended, but is still available.
(2) You make fascinating observations about bicycles and bicycle-related news from all over the world. What is different between this blog and your other blogs is a lack of photos. Not nearly as many photos on this blog as your other blogs. How come?
(3) What inspired you to blog about your bicycle adventures in the first place? Why did you stop?
(4) Your trademark sense of humor is splashed in every single blog post. Despite the blog posts not being current, they are still funny. Would you consider retooling these blog posts into some sort of memoir or opinion book on bikes?
(5) It seems like your “Riding in … County” series would make excellent short books. Would you consider adding more details and photos and maybe turning these series into tourist-type books?
(6) You seem to have garnered a lot of attention from this blog, but you still ended it. Even though you have not been active on this blog in several years, the blog is still available to all. Would you ever consider resurrecting it with a new slant based on your current location?
(7) Have you ever met fans of your blog?
(8) You seem to have a lot of bicycling friends who share the same values as you. Do you still keep in touch with those bicycling friends? Do you continue keeping track of your biking adventures on your other blogs?
(9) The “3 Feet Law” seems like a great proposition to promote the safety of cyclists. Do you still participate in this campaign? If not, do you have plans to spread awareness of it in your new location?
(1) Here is another treasure that was difficult to find. Another blog that has been discontinued but is still available to read. Why did you create this blog? Why did you end it?
(2) This blog, Sneakeasy, has a lot of political references on it. Did you ever get in trouble or have dangerous situations happened to you because of your comments?
(3) Sneakeasy appears to be a hodgepodge of blog posts grouped together in interesting categories. Which category was your favorite and why?
(4) Your sense of humor is definitely intact. Many of your blog posts, such as “The Directory Assistance Operator Song” are ingenuous and clever. Once again, would you consider extracting a category or two and republishing these as a book? Do you think photos or clever graphics would enhance the writing?
(5) You make a lot of military references in your blog posts. What types of reactions did you get from these posts?
(6) Your genealogy stories are beautiful, rich, and historical. What have you done with your original photos of your family? Have you added them to a scrapbook? Preserved them? How did you choose which photos to share?
(7) Why do you consider yourself to be a creationist? Did you invent that word or did you borrow it from someone or somewhere else?
(8) This blog also contains several videos, but they are hard to find. Would you consider adding them to one of your newer blogs? Would you ever categorize all of your videos in one place?
(9) What does “sneakeasy” mean for you? Why did you use this name for your blog?
(1) Social media is a great topic to explore. Have you enjoyed this forum?
(2) Have you been able to teach people social media tips?
(3) It appears as if you have discontinued this blog. Do you have plans to resurrect it?
(4) You note many interesting observations about social media tools. Do you really use all the tools you wrote about? Which is your favorite social media tool?
(5) Have peoples’ comments inspired you to write blog posts about social media?
(6) What has been your favorite social media experience or learning to date?
(7) Are there things about social media that you are having trouble with? What do you want to learn about?
(8) Who are your favorites or heroes in the social media world? Whose advice do you follow in your own social media strategies?
(9) You discussed having attended the Blog Paws conference. How was it for you? Did you learn a lot of new things? Have you put your learning into practice?
Writing Prompt 097
Prompt: Write a basic profile on standout blogger Kiril Kundurazieff.
Writing Tips:
• Conduct basic Internet research.
• Answer these questions in your writing: who, what, when, where, why (bonus: how?).
• Write your profile as descriptively as you wish. More details make your writing juicier!
• Bonus: interview the bloggers by asking them questions by e-mail and posting their replies on your own blog. Makes for good reading!
If you complete today’s writing prompt in the form of a blog post, please upload it here! Nina Amir and I want to hear from you!
About the Author
Amanda M. Socci – a.k.a. Creative Idea Gal
Amanda M. Socci is the creator of this unique 10-month training program providing writing prompts to nonfiction writers. Amanda is a diehard creative and an aspiring book author, currently blogging a book on faith, A Slice of Faith, on a community website. Visit Amanda’s blog. Follow Amanda on her journey to book publication. Like A Slice of Faith on Facebook.
Thank you Amanda for this profile and the challenge to respond to its questions.
For now, as you already know, I HAVE written an initial response, with plans to next tackle the questions.
Readers can visit the link below…
I love your initial reaction to being featured here on WNFIN.com, Kiril. A lovely and beautiful response. I hope this feature gets you some much-deserved new readership. You totally deserve it!