As part of the Welcome to My World challenge, I’m answering the question of the week below:
Q What do you see as you look out your window today?
A I see a stunning sunny day with a blue blue sky and no clouds. My study window looks down a narrow back lane in our retirement village, but the sun and the clear sky brighten the picture.
Background to Welcome to My World (WMW)
Thanks to COVID we have all been isolated to one degree or another. We have little opportunity to visit or be visited. I have family living on three continents and have no idea when I’ll see them again, and I’m not alone. Many times, we are not even able to visit family and friends in the same town. Never have I been so grateful for my online community. At times, I crave company, and it is wonderful for me that I never need to feel alone. There is always someone, somewhere, sometime, awake and available to chat to. It may just be a sentence or two, but it banishes that “I’m alone in this world” feeling.
After the extremely severe initial lockdown in our country when we were beginning to see no clear end in sight, I started to discipline myself to write a regular blog post every Friday. But as most as most bloggers have found, although the stats show that people are reading the posts, comments are rare – and it becomes disheartening. So I’ve decided to try something along the lines of a challenge I participated in some years ago. I have called it Welcome to My World. And from now on I’m going to abbreviate it on this post to W2MW! If you are a writer or blogger, I do hope you will decide to sign up for it and participate.
Here is how I see it working
- Each Friday, I will post a badge similar to this on the group page. The only difference will be each week the dates will change.
- Each badge will give the start and end date for that thread. When the next week commences, comments will be closed on the previous one.
- Immediately under the badge, I will post a question. It will be a generic sort of prompt. I would ask you to copy and paste that question at the top of your blog post, together with a small badge (various sizes available here) with a link back to my FB author page. (Alternatively, you could do as I have done and put the badge on the menu bar.) Then answer it in as brief or detailed a way you wish. In other words, this could spark your entire blog, or it may just be a lead-in to your planned topic.
- Post a link to the blog post you wish to promote under the badge as a comment. It will be closed to comments when the next Friday rolls up.
What topic will suit the W2MW idea?
- You may want to share how your current WIP is going, and what it’s about.
- Or perhaps you have a new book that’s just been launched. Great chance to promote! Don’t forget to include a link to the sales page.
- Perhaps you want to share a book you’ve just read written by another author. In that case, you may like to show them some love by posting a link to their sales page, or to the author’s website.
- You can run a series of your own such as a Bible Study or story chapter. Just remember to start with the question and your answer.
- You are welcome to promote your books, share any exciting news you have – like a new baby or grandbaby, or even a prayer request.
Points to remember
- Posts shared on W2MW should be upbeat and encouraging, with no erotic or controversial topics. Any author linking to such a blog post will be banned from further participation.
- No deliberately political or doctrinal issues.
- Avoid adding more than three links to your post. (This does not include your social media icons.)
- There is no length restriction within reason. Obviously, if you write a post that goes on forever, your readers are likely to skim through to the end, and wherever possible, avoid you in the future. So make it interesting and not too long.
- Feel free to invite people to join. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/w2myworld
Their membership will be approved by a moderator, and then please welcome them.
I’ve written my post, and I’ve added my link under the W2MW image on FB. What comes next?
As soon as you have posted your link under the image on FB, you are required to
- click on the three links immediately above yours,
- visit those blogs and
- leave a comment.
- If you want your blog to grow, please respond to any comments. That’s only good manners after all.
Possible questions relating to W2MW:
Q: Must I title the blog post Welcome to My World?
A: You may call it anything you like. Or you may want to do a series with that as the title. It’s up to you.
Q: Why is it called Welcome to My World when the topic may be about all sorts of topics?
A: Because the post and the answer to your question will be sharing a little about your world. This way we get to know one another and our interests just that little more than we already do.
Q: What if I’m the first (or 2nd) link?
A: Follow any that are there, and then (honor system) visit the next ones when they appear until you’ve been to at least three.
Q: What if I don’t normally blog once a week?
A: This might be a great opportunity to start. The question will always be simple and generic so they can lead into just about any topic, while at the same time opening up a possible topic if you don’t have anything else to write about.
Q: What if I forget, or have a busy week and don’t get to it?
A: You’re not signing a contract here! If you miss a week or more, that’s fine. But we’ll miss you.
Q: What if I don’t fancy the post immediately above mine, may I swap with another?
A: No. The three above yours are obligatory. It could be that, to your surprise, you enjoy the post. I once followed an obligatory link to a post by a Hindu doctor. As a Christian pastor’s wife, this is definitely not a choice I would have made. However, I found the post to be well-researched and enjoyed it so much so that I started to read everything she wrote. Interestingly, she read mine too, and we became friends on Facebook.
Q: What are the benefits of doing this?
A: Here are some . . .
- You should get at least three comments plus your responses, so that’s six — which will make Google happy. Hopefully, the number will increase if folk enjoy your posts.
- You will get to know new authors and make new cyber friends. You may learn about new countries and ways of life.
- It will help you get into a good blogging routine.
- You will become better known in the blogging and writing world.
- Your blog will be read far more than it is at present.
Q: Finally, what happens if no one comments on my blog?
A: At the end of each week, everyone who hasn’t received comments from the three links following theirs can write on the thread that they’re still waiting for comments from A and B. (Name but no shame. 🙄 It could just be they’ve forgotten, or life has turned crazy for them. It happens.) If your name appears regularly as not having commented, you will be prevented from further sharing.
Any other questions?
Please leave them in the comment section and I will add them to this post.
This challenge can be tremendously rewarding, so I do hope many of you join in and help to make it a success.
I’m in and posted to your FB link. I may have missed or skipped a step as it was a hard road getting to this point.
Great, thanks. I’ll look out for you.
Shirl
This is a great idea! I’ve been looking for a blogging challenge for a while now. Can’t wait to read everybody’s contributions.
Great stuff. Thanks so much for participating, Madeleine. It’s off to a slow start, but hopefully it will gain traction over the weeks if we all continue to take part. I LOVED your post! Have a great weekend.
Posted the link to my today’s blog in your FB Group, MY next blog is due next Friday, is that OK to post the link back with the badge on my blog?
Thanks for participating, Deryn. Yes, absolutely. I decided rather than posting the badge on each post, to put it on the sidebar of my website as a widget – so it’s automatically visible on each post. It’s up to you. The idea is just that as folk read your post, they may decide to join in. So they need to know where to go.
This sounds a wonderful idea to support each other
Thank you Deryn. Let’s see if we can get some enthusiasm going.