In a recent ProBlogger post, Darren Rowse issued the “7 Links Challenge,” he urges bloggers to post “7 posts that fit into 7 themes.” Since I’m entertaining guests this weekend, I thought I’d take a break from my usual Sunday post and have fun with Darren’s challenge. Enjoy!
Link #1: My first post.
The oldest post still available on Wordplay is actually a holdover from an earlier blog called K.M. Weiland’s Bookshelf, which featured book reviews. At the end of Bookshelf’s brief life, I started transitioning from straight book reviews to analyses of books from a writer’s perspective (much as I now do in my vlog posts). The first of these transition posts, “What Dickens Can Teach Us About Complex Characters” was inspired by Charles Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend
Link #2: The post I enjoyed writing the most.
It’s hard to nail down just one, but because it was very tied up with my life at the time I wrote it, “Catharsis and the Written Word” remains a powerful post for me. Plus, I love the Snoopy illustration!
Link #3: A post which had a great discussion.
“Why Genre Writing Could Kill Your Career” generated some interesting, passionate, and mostly polite comments.
Link #4: A post on someone else’s blog that I wish I’d written.
In April, mystery author Elizabeth Craig’s blog Mystery Writing Is Murder featured the great post “Dropping Clues About Our Characters,” comparing our real-life observations with a reader’s observations of character description.
Link #5: My most helpful post.
Many readers seemed to appreciate my essay “Are You Called to Be a Writer?” It’s funny, but it’s seems inevitable that whenever I’m not sure a post will be well received, you all seem to enjoy those posts most. This was one of those.
Link #6: A post with a title I’m proud of.
I always get a chuckle out of the title for the humorous guest post I wrote for The Master’s Artist: “15 Reasons Not to Become a Writer (Or ‘Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Ernest Hemingway’)”.
Link #7: A post I wish more people had read.
“Skip the Prologue!” was one of the earliest posts I wrote, but because prologues are often misunderstood and, as a result, often misused, it’s a subject that’s dear to my heart. (Be sure to also read the sequel post “When Not to Skip the Prologue.”)
Hopefully, you’ll find this rather random collection helpful. If you decide to take Darren Rowse’s challenge and write a “7 Links” post of your own, be sure to send me a link!
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About K.M. Weiland | @KMWeiland
I found this helpful. I just found your site in the last few months so it’s good to know what content I’ve missed without having to dig through everything. Thanks!
Thanks for this post! It was a nice trip down memory lane.
As for #6, the title is indeed funny, but so is the content. It remains one of my favorites. 🙂
Have a great weekend and have fun with your company.
ooo! I look forward to reading all of these, but especially #s 1, 2, 6 & 7! But I know they’ll all be good.
Hope you’re well–enjoy your weekend! :o)
@Bluestocking: You can click on the Labels beneath each post to find more related subjects.
@Lorna: Thanks! It was a fun trip for me too.
@LTM: Hope you find them worth your time!
Wow, what a great idea! I might do this on my blog.
Clarissa Draper from Listen To The Voices
I think I will do one tomorrow.
Clarissa Draper from Listen To The Voices
Thanks for this! It was fun – and a bit of a challenge – to come up with a few them. But here’s my link (posting Monday): http://kathanink.wordpress.com/2010/08/02/7-post-challenge/
Great idea and I’m going exploring in your seven! Might do my own depending on time available! argghh…darn posting and reading time eating internet!
@Clarissa and Kathan: Fun! I’ll try to remember to stop by and take a peek tomorrow.
@Jan: The Internet can be a time-eater, no question about it! But there’s so much great information to be found out there.
Well, this was basically seven posts in one. You should do more like this–it’s so much fun to read them all.
Nice posts…and thanks so much for mentioning mine. 🙂
@Galadriel: A bunch of old links in one post is called a “splash post.” Since you like it, I’ll try to do some more in the future!
@Elizabeth: You’re very welcome. Thanks for the great post!
All great posts! Prologues are a tricky character, I don’t use them, but lots of books I read, do. Your blog is always informative and relevant. Thank you!
Oh, this is fun! I can’t wait to take a minute and go back a read these (or re-read.) And maybe I’ll need to try it. Since I’ve got my new home now, maybe tomorrow would be a good time to do this review. 🙂
@Erica: Prologues are a useful tool – but they have to be used *correctly* in order to work.
@Sandra: Yes, do! It was a lot of fun to put together.
I did this last week and it was lots of fun… http://claudiafinn.blogspot.com/2010/07/7-link-challenge.html
Love it! Thanks for sharing.
This is a testament of how long we’ve been friends–I remember most of the posts you’ve linked to!
I think you were my first “follower.”
I did it. Here it is.
http://sandraheskaking.com/2010/08/seven-sweet-ones/
Hooray! I’ll go look at it right now.
Amazingly, the only one I’ve read of these is the one you wish more people had read! I must go check out the others.
Oh, and I did my own 7 links post: http://asinglebell.lorsini.com/2010/08/04/the-7-link-challenge/
Oh, good, then it’s all fresh material for you. Jumping over to look at yours!