GCU Community Newsletter #6 – June 2, 2011

The sole surviving blackberry bush from last year decided to make up for its brethren’s loss by putting out an extraordinary blizzard of flowers, and now we see tiny embryonic berries. I hope the birds give us first dibs when they’re ripe! Now if only the raspberry canes do as well, we’ll be rolling in fruit this winter! Don’t you love Nature’s gifts?

Hidden Gems: Fathers Day - June 19 - artist Corrie Kuipers

Last week, our Lightning Round: MONKEYS did very well, scoring 10 participants. Doreen Erhardt of Salon of Art won the prize of 20 free card credits! On Monday, I’ll be announcing the beginning of a new Blog Carnival and a new contest. Here’s a hint: get ready for SHE SELLS SEASHELLS BY THE SEASHORE. Which would you rather see offered as a prize – card credits or an Amazon gift certificate? Place your vote in the comments!

Our Nuts & Bolts column offered good advice on Categories, while Promotion in Motion showed us how to get started on Squidoo. A brand new feature, the Rainbow Connection, gave swatches and HEX numbers for some of the hottest, most trendy colors of this year. Doreen’s regular column, A Dash of Inspiration – a Cup of Creativity, reminded us that it’s time to work on Halloween cards, and gave some spooktacular inspiration, free fonts, shapes and a Photoshop tutorial. An Artist Interview with Michelle Dokos of Momo Cards told us a little something about this GCU newbie. At the end of the month we posted a round-up of May’s Design of the Day winning cards.

Keep up the good work, and don’t forget the pass the love around!

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The Cure for Blank Page Syndrome

All writers (including blog writers, even me) sometime suffer from Blank Page Syndrome. What’s that? When you sit behind the computer staring at a blank page with your brain going, “huh?” – and you can’t think of a thing to write. You start to sweat. The blank page stares back at you like a big white eye, burning a hole in your skull. You suddenly remember you need to walk the dog, do the laundry, go bowling, get a root canal…anything but write. Have no fear, there are ways to defeat this terrible syndrome. Below you’ll find my personal tips to help you get writing again when you’re stuck and staring at the dreaded blank page.

Hidden Gems: Fathers Day - June 19 - artist Kathy Henis

• Quit Procrastinating: When you’re ready to write a blog post, don’t get distracted by other things. Do you really need to mow the lawn right now? O check your email? Or tweet about your haircut? Or any of the hundred little chores that demand your attention? Nope, that’s just your procrastination talking. Decide to give yourself so many minutes (like half an hour) to write your blog post and set a timer. Don’t do anything else but write during this time.

• Put It Down: Whenever inspiration strikes, write it down. Carry a notebook with you in case an idea strikes you when you’re away from the computer. If you’re the organized type, set aside a time on a regular basis to brainstorm about future blog posts. Once you have a list, it will be easier for you to write a post when you need it.

• A Place for Everything: Some writers make an outline for every post they think about writing. If that’s the way you roll, then jot down the key points of your idea beforehand. These are like the bones of your post. They provide the foundation you can build on when you flesh out (pun intended) your work.

• Photo Finish: If you’re using photographs in your post, look at them one by one, and quickly write down a description (your first impression) of each image. These brief impressions will help you form the basis of your post when you begin writing.

• Play Pretend: Know what you want to write about but the words won’t come? Just pretend you’re writing an email about the topic to your friend. Don’t worry about grammar or sentence construction or any of that stuff, just be your usual chatty self. Once you’re finished, you can always clean up and/or formalize your writing, or perhaps you prefer to leave it “as is” – blogs don’t have to be letter perfect, since they’re an expression of yourself.

• Promptly, Please: Participating in prompted exercises like blog carnivals (also called blog hops) can give you an easy way to write a blog post without worrying about generating ideas. Grab that prompt and run with it!

One or more of these tips will probably help you conquer writer’s block and get back to blogging on a regular basis.

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If you make a custom card for a shopper, you can put it in their shopping cart rather than make them rummage around for it in your Private Gallery. And you can use this procedure to add a logo or other image to the inside of the shopper’s card (which you can’t usually do as an artist). How does the Share Card Link work? Check Mindy’s forum post for all the details.

Hidden Gems: Fathers Day - June 19 - artist LillyARTS

DID YOU KNOW you can “like” this newsletter or any post on the GCU Community blog, or include them in your social bookmarks? Just click the title of the post, which takes you to the permanent link page. At the bottom of the page you’ll see buttons for social sites like Facebook, Reddit, StumbleUpon, etc.

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The next Newsletter will be published on June 9, 2011