June 2011 Goals

A little late to the game, but I wanted to make sure that I wrote these down to hold myself accountable...

1. Write 18 15 Weird Worm articles. I'm not cutting myself slack just because I had trouble reaching my goal last month! I've written three so far, so I've got a bit of catching up to do.
2. Write 8 Trail's Edge Blog posts. I'm liking this gig a lot. Stay tuned for more info! If you're interested in checking out my most recent article, it's here: Best Outdoors Activities for Father’s Day.
3. Four posts per week on You Amuse Me. I've got a formula set up, so this one should be pretty straightforward. Blogging takes less time than writing articles!
4. Keep up with social media/promotions. A little more work with the new Facebook page and Twitter account, but still doable.
5. Launch my new mystery blog. This will also require more scheduling of posts, but I'm really excited about the new niche. We'll see how the timing goes with everything else that's going on.
6. Exercise. I'm going to start going to Ultimate one day a week, and running twice a week. I ran a mile last Sunday and my legs are still sore - that simply won't do!
7. Reduce the number of exclamation points I use! At least, in my articles. It's been pointed out to me that I sometimes use them to excess. I can't help that I sometimes want to convey my excitement about things!
8. Read The Happiness Project. My mom enjoyed it, so I figure it's worth a go.

Yay! I'm pumped up for June!

May 2011 Goals Recap

Wow, May was intense... more productive than I'd hoped in some ways, and less productive in others.

1. Write at least 17 Weird Worm articles. Phew, only managed to do eight. Then again, moving totally threw me off. I'm going to have to recommit for next month!
2. Continue to exercise. Well, I've been spending more time outside, but not exactly "exercising" very much.
3. Work on writing four hours per day. Again, the move made me lose focus.
4. Fully explore niche online markets. The Best Kinect Games niche isn't doing quite as well as I'd hoped. I might do a little more work here in the coming months.
5. Explore new article markets. This actually worked out surprisingly well for me! Sticking with the writing has paid off, as I've been approached by a new market called Trail's Edge Blog. My first article for them is called 5 Tips For Buying Your First Running Shoes, and you should check it out because it's funny and informative and sweet (if I do say so myself).
6. Move. At least this went pretty smoothly. I got to drive one of those enormous U-Haul trucks for three hundred miles, which was quite an adventure. And now I'm prepared for the next stage in my life journey! If "being prepared" is the same as having all of you stuff in boxes and not being able to find any of it, that is...

Stay tuned for June's goals (I know, time to get cracking!)

You Amuse Me: New Humor Writing Site

It's amazing how fast things can happen online when you've had a little bit of practice!

Yesterday, I had the brilliant idea to set up a niche for my funny and weird writing. I've written a bunch of articles for Weird Worm, and I'm getting back into pitching for Cracked now that I have more experience understanding the kinds of things they're looking for.

Why did I decide to set up a new site specifically for my humorous writing? Well, when it comes to doing well on the Internet (driving traffic, getting followers and views, etc.), the more "niche" you are, the better. I love the focus that having a new site and blog brings. I know exactly the kinds of things I am going to write and promote there, and other people know what they can expect by visiting.

And so, I present You Amuse Me, a site meant to enlighten and entertain. I was so thrilled to get the "youamuseme" domain name, and I think that's what really spurred me to set up the website, associated You Amuse Me Facebook page, and a You Amuse Me Twitter account. And, late last night, to draw a fun little doodle to use as a logo, then bring it into Photoshop and clean it up a little.

In short, if you want to learn more about my funny articles, check out You Amuse Me!

Bored? Funny, Interesting Articles on Weird Worm

I figured it's been a while since I've posted my Weird Worm articles, so here are some of my most recent ones.

6 Movies About Love and Babysitting

7 Types of Super Bowl Commercials

Good, Bad and Morally Ambigous: The Low-Down on 9 Movie Dragons

6 Reasons We’re Loving Community

Hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for plenty more Weird Worm to come!

Writing Humor Update: EarthDate April 27, 2010

Yay! My topic got featured on Cracked.com!

(The usual note: Cracked.com is an irreverent humor site, and not suitable for all audiences.)

Kirpatrick Swayzerussell: The Perfect Man

Basically, it's a breakdown of how Kurt Russell and Patrick Swayze are the same person, with a little extra info thrown in about Kurt Russell. (For those of you who know how Topics work on Cracked, the topic is about Kurt Russeel specifically.)

Interested in learning about writing topics for Cracked.com? Check out the Cracked Topic Editor Hangout Page on the Cracked Forum, or send me a note if you have specific questions about how it works.

And here, for your viewing pleasure, is a rundown of some of my (wonderful, obviously) recent humor articles:

Cracked: 5 Movie Romances That Won't Last (According to Science)

Regretful Morning: 5 Reasons Your Gaming System is Better than your Girlfriend

Gunaxin: Seven Types of Animal Lawn Ornaments Explained

Read about my Writing Humor for Gunaxin and my Writing Humor for Cracked.com (and Regretful Morning) for more information.

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Writing Humor for Gunaxin

Okay, so I got a little spacey, and forgot to check out Gunaxin for a couple of days... during which time my article was published!

Seven Types of Animal Lawn Ornaments Explained

I had the idea for this article while making the long trek from Virginia to Maryland, during which time I got to thinking about different types of things you see while driving. My mind eventually wandered over to pondering lawn ornaments, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Gunaxin was one of the sites I found from reading the forums over at Cracked.com. After writing my Cracked article, I applied to Gunaxin and was accepted. The Gunaxin setup is different from the setups of some of the other humor sites that I've written for. For one, you not only write the article, you also enter it into the Wordpress form on the site yourself, and find images to go along with your work. You might find this a bit tricky if you haven't done any blogging or working with .html in the past, but the people at Gunaxin are very helpful if you have any questions. It is nice having someone else do part of the work when you write an article, but frankly I liked the control of being able to set up the layout the way I wanted it.

Oh, and Gunaxin is a paying market, which is nice :)

Interested in trying Gunaxin for yourself? Check out the Gunaxin Contributors Page.

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