The Write Way.

Kevin is gay and a big hit in Riverdale

Don’t tell me you never read Archie Comic books, cuz I won’t buy it. I still read them, and am really pleased to see the always contemporary series is introducing a gay character to their engaging cast in Riverdale. The September issue of Veronica will feature girlish pursuit-turned-bromance when Veronica sets her sights on Kevin Keller, handsome, personable, highly engaging, and comfortably out of the closet.

I had a chance to interview Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater last week to get the scoop. Jon said the creative team at Archie always aims to be hip and current, to embrace issues that resonate with their audience, and to bring delightful entertainment to their books. Kevin Keller, the new character is likely to do just that, from the look of him.

Any writer or artist can tell you keeping your themes fresh and your content timely is critical to success. Audiences get bored. The people who do Archie Comics, a series born in the 1940s, have always known the formula of success. You can’t keep an idea moving through three generations of readers, or sell a billion and a half comics by rehashing the same old same old, Jon told me.

Some time ago in a weekly production meeting, Dan Parent, writer/artist for ArchieComics, had a terrific idea. He postulated, says Goldwater, that Veronica always gets what she wants. She’s known for that, and we readers expect it. But. What if she didn’t? Suppose someone thwarted her and the results were surprising, yet believable?

Ok, said the rest of the crew to Mr. Parent, how you going to do such a thing? This is where burgeoning writers can take note. Spin is everything and will make the difference between selling your writing and just piling up a file called, “Stuff not sold.” Boy meets femme fatal girl. She conquers boy. Everyone else is jealous. So what?

Veronica comic #202 introduces Kevin Keller

So this time, Dan Parent decided a new character could foil Veronica’s seduction, without being a jerk, without damaging one of Veronica’s most endearing traits, and without seeming contrived. In walks Kevin Keller – blond, blue-eyed, gorgeous, a personality everyone just likes. Veronica has no idea Kevin is also gay, and quite at home in his own skin. He’s out. He’s got high self-esteem. He’s got a sense of humor.

And that is how talented, experienced writers spin a classic theme and put it smack on top of the most contemporary of issues, without being preachy. The story is full of laughs and full of the stuff that has always made readers turn the pages for more, Jon says. Kevin will hit newsstand the first week of September in Veronica # 202, but that won’t be the end of him. He joins the cast at Riverdale High as a recurring character. His family has moved to Riverdale for the long term.

Dan Parent drew and wrote the story and he feels Kevin will mesh well with the beloved group of diverse people hanging out in Riverdale. If you want to see how recasting a formula idea can make a story seem totally new, have a look at Veronica #202. Then drop a comment here about how you think Archie’s creative team handled the situation. Did they make it easy and natural? Did they miss the mark? Let’s hear from you.

The right spin will sell your writing

Four can’t fail blogging tips

Grammar resources from Grammar Police

How a ghost can be your best friend

I posted my first blog in the dark ages –  about 2002, I think. That was (and is) the blog WomenDaybyDay.com. Then I added the Ontext blog for writers and two years ago, DigitalGrandparent, the blog for baby boomer techies.

I use WordPress, having tried other content management systems and sites. WordPress has a learning curve (I use the self-hosted side at WordPress.org). Having your own url is essential if you want the blog to grow, propagate, and be sustainable in the long run. I think Blogger and WordPress.com also allows you to use your own domain (url).  There are many plug and play blogging sites like blogger.com or blogspot.com – have a look and see what looks good to you. They’re all pretty easy.

While there were once all kinds of SEO tricks to get a blog or site noticed fast, Google and other engines are moving away from that model because all that happened was entities with big budgets floated to the top of the rankings and quality wasn’t an issue. Now, quality content, relevant to your topic will make your blog stand out.

As far as promoting it, social networks really work. Spend 15 minutes a day commenting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SheWrites, Redroom, and forums that match your topic. I also have great success with Yahoo Answers and whatever Amazon’s equivalent community is. It’s more effective to make conversational comments, be a gentle expert voice, rather than out rightly promote your blog.

Put your blog’s url on your business cards, letterhead, and anywhere else you put your name – if you post to any groups or forums, include your url in your signature. That creates links back to your blog – a good thing. Tell everyone you know how to find your blog. Encourage comments on every post and put links at the bottom of every post to other posts within your blog. Always.

My strongest advice is to add some writing every day, multiple times a day if you can, until you have 100 articles up. They can be short. But they need to be excellent, fascinating, and readable. On your front page, include a place for readers to subscribe easily – both RSS and email. Visit Feedburner.com to read about how easy it is to add those elements.

When you write a particularly valuable post, put a review up on Stumbleupon (I get a ton of traffic from that group) or any of the other social bookmarking sites. Once you get your first hundred entries up, drop to a level that works for you, or, as has been said, you won’t continue the blog if it feels too much like work.

Make sure your theme or design is appealing but not overwhelming. Use a readable font, not  anything out of the ordinary. Add images and fill out the identification data on the images, including the alt or alternate text since those play in search engines. Make sure your images are copyright safe or you credit the image maker. Use unusual and clever pictures to draw attention.

Blogging is fun, especially when you’re writing about your passions, but there is a work side to it if you want your blog to endure, and especially if you want to use it as a platform.

Read more:

Make real money with your freelance writing

Bloggers need a platform to sell writing

Impress an editor or agent

Writers need a platform if they hope to hook up with a publisher, and sometimes, even just to sell an article to a magazine. A writer needs a platform to sell her writing. Becoming an expert in something is the way to build a platform, and blogging is a great foundation. I’ve been blogging since the word was invented – since about 2002, I think. My first is http://www.womendaybyday.com then I added http://www.ontext.com and http://www.digitalgrandparent.com

I use WordPress, having tried several other content management systems and sites. WordPress has a learning curve (I use the self-hosted side at WordPress.org). Having your own url is essential if you want the blog to grow, propagate and be sustainable in the long run. I think Blogger and WordPress.com also allow you to use your own url.

While there were once all kinds of SEO tricks to get a blog or site noticed fast, Google and other engines are moving away from that model because all that happened was entities with big budgets floated to the top of the rankings and quality wasn’t an issue. Now, quality content, relevant to your topic will make your blog stand out.

As far as promoting it, social networks really work. Spend 15 minutes a day commenting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, SheWrites, Redroom, and forums that match your topic. I also have great success with Yahoo Answers and whatever Amazon’s equivalent community is. It’s more effective to make conversational comments, be a gentle expert voice, rather than out rightly promote your blog.

Put your blog’s url on your business cards, letterhead, and anywhere else you put your name – if you post to any groups or forums, include your url in your signature. That creates links back to your blog – a good thing. Tell everyone you know how to find your blog. Encourage comments on every post and put links at the bottom of every post to other posts within your blog. Always.

My strongest advice is to post every day, multiple times a day if you can, until you have 100 articles up. They can be short. But they need to be excellent, fascinating, and readable. On your front page, include a place for readers to subscribe easily – both RSS and email. Visit Feedburner.com to read about how easy it is to add those elements.

Then, I’d say make sure your theme or design is appealing but not overwhelming. Use a readable font, not  anything out of the ordinary. Add images and fill out the identification data on the images, including the alt or alternate text since those play in search engines. Make sure your images are copyright safe or you credit the image maker. Use unusual and clever pictures to draw attention.

When you write a particularly valuable post, put a review up on Stumbleupon (I get a ton of traffic from that group) or any of the other social bookmarking sites. Once you get your first hundred entries up, drop to a level that works for you, or, as has been said, you won’t continue the blog if it feels too much like work.

Blogging is fun, especially when you’re writing about your passions, but there is a work side to it if you want your blog to endure, and especially if you want to use it as a platform.

Read more:

Steps to becoming an expert

Sell your writing

Ontest Grammar Police say: Adjective comparative forms liken two or more things (nouns). There is a right way and there are many wrong ways to form these comparatives. They aren’t up for grabs; the rules are standard.

When writers, reporters, and editors in the media describe a political pundit as as more tall, more friendly, or more smart than another, my hackles rise. There are real rules, not options or guidelines, for forming comparatives, I browsed the The Chicago Manual of Style.

Listen up, journalists, bloggers, and anchors! Grammar Police say these are not options:

• If the adjective has one syllable, ends in e , like blue or cute, just tack on an r. (bluer, cuter)
• If the adjective has one syllable, one vowel, and ends in one consonant, like hot or fat, double the end consonant and add er. (hotter, fatter)
• Adjective has multiple vowels within the word or multiple consonants at the end, but one syllable, add er. (brighter, cleaner, brisker)
• Adjective with two syllables ends in y like crappy, jazzy, or dumpy, change the y to i and smack on an er. (crappier, jazzier)
• Adjective with two or more syllables does not end in y - here it is! NOW you precede the adjective with more but you never add an ending to the word. (more meaningful, more compelling, but never more beautifuller.)

Superlatives, like jazziest or bluest are formed by the same rules, says the University of Victoria in Canada.

Someone theorized that the trend of pairing every comparative with more came from journalists being paid by the word…hmmmm. Paycheck notwithstanding, I’d rather hear more ers and fewer mores on the nightly news.

And Dr. Phil? You could use these rules, too.

What do you think when you hear these inane comparatives with more stuck on the front of a word?  Talk to me.

More Grammar Police resources:

Future Conditional

Passive Voice

Matching Verbs and Nouns

If you missed National Square Root Day yesterday, geek yourself silly with National Grammar Day. The tips I have to offer from OnText Grammar Police consist of a list of sites that are celebrating in far grander style than we’d have the energy for.

Grammar Day Web Resources:

National Grammar Day

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips

Purdue OWL online writing lab

WebGrammar.com

OnText Grammar Police Grammar Day  resources

Future Conditional

Passive Voice

Matching Verbs and Nouns

Happy grammar day.