What I Learned From 2007 - Lillie Ammann
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Inquiring minds want to know: What were the most amazing, profound, surprising, or even whacky things you’ve learned over the last year?
Here’s one more late-breaking entry from Lillie Ammann – A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye
2007 has been a year of learning at A Writer’s Words, an Editor’s Eye. Selecting only one post from each month proved to be a challenge, but Robert always challenges us with WILF.
January: I responded to a newsletter article in which the writer was trying to decide whether or not to write about a tragedy. I shared my experiences in Writing about Tragedy and was surprised at the lack of comments. The conversation I expected didn’t happen, perhaps because readers hadn’t encountered the situation in their own lives.
February: Self-Publishing Primer: Part I - Introduction was the first of a 14-part series that I have turned into an e-book available for free download on my blog and on Authors on the Net. I have also been interviewed about self-publishing on the Authors on the Net podcast. I learned that I really like writing series posts and that providing extensive information on a topic can lead to opportunities to share even more.
March: In Reservist still teaches college classes online while serving in Afghanistan I had an opportunity to spotlight one of our outstanding troops. I learned that a reservist can use technology to stay connected to his non-military life while he’s deployed and carrying out his military duties.
April: Slavery and Abortion: Moral Relatives generated a discussion with a reader with views totally opposite to mine. I learned that we can carry on a thoughtful and respectful discussion even when we disagree.
May: My series on stroke garnered interest, but Top Five Keys to Successful Persuasive Writing generated 53 comments, the most ever on a post until that time. I learned that group writing projects and top 5 or 10 lists get attention.
June: I’m not a sports fan, but I learned Lessons for Writers from the Spurs’ NBA Championship. Perhaps the most valuable lesson is this: if I, a non-sports-fan, can learn these lessons from the world of sports, we can all learn from the world around us. We just have to pay attention.
July: Writing Ethics 1: Fake Testimonials began a four-part series on writing ethics that showed the writers who read and comment on my blog take ethics seriously.
August: Blogs by and for Writers demonstrated that readers like resource lists and that writers are interested in blogs by writers and blogs about writing.
September: Tips and Tricks: How to Write, Send, Reply, and Forward E-Mail generated a lot of comments because it was part of a group writing project. I thought readers would find the post simplistic, but commenters said they wish people who e-mail them would follow this advice.
October: The lack of comments on Blog Action Day: Publishing and the Environment disappointed me. Publishing is an environmentally UNfriendly industry, but apparently people are more interested in other environmental issues.
November: The response to Seven Editing Tips for Professional and Nonprofessional Writers demonstrated that people are interested in learning how to edit their own work and led me to plan a series on editing this month.
December: A question from a reader led me to write Reading the Bible: Part 1 - Bible Reading Plans. The conversation that resulted from this post taught me that if one reader has a question or is interested in a topic, others will be also.
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So what’s it all about?
Friends, if you’ve written about it at your blog in 2007, then you’re invited to join us for this special edition of What I Learned From… Care to share with us your favorite/ best/ most controversial/ strangest, etc. posts? (You get to pick one from each month you’ve been blogging in 2007.)
Well, don’t just sit there like a bump on a pickle; click the link, check out the simple instructions, and jump right in! Get your entries in by Sunday night, January 13, and I’ll publish them all right here at Middle Zone Musings.
You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!
3 responses so far





Lillie, thanks for sharing these posts, a lot that I hadn’t come across before.
Your piece on persuasive writing is great - I might just quote it soon - I also found that writing project a great way to attract new readers.
I’m sorry I didn’t comment at the time on your Blog Action Day piece - I tried to get round as many bloggers as I could on that day but was also writing several posts myself and I guess it slipped through the net.
Joanna
Wow, Lillie…Writing About Tragedy was quite a stirring post! Little wonder no one really knew what to say. Some topics are so deep that people can feel that there’s just so much to say that they don’t know where to begin…and so they don’t.
I hadn’t even begun blogging when you penned that post and had never seen it before today. I think one of the most important things about your post, which you alluded to in the post itself, is that there was a redeeming purpose in it; it didn’t merely tell the story of a horrifying tragedy, highlighting the tragedy itself, but it emphasized the incredible strength, courage, and resilience of the human spirit and how these characteristics can help people overcome incredible obstacles, allowing them to actually triumph over the tragedy.
I may be a year late in offering my compliments; but I will do so anyway: In response to this moving post, I have just one word to offer: Bravo!
Though this may seem anticlimactic after what I’ve written above, I enjoyed your contribution to Robert’s writing project, as well!
Jeanne
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