«

Surviving Disasters and Starting Blogs

October 22, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

I’m excited to be consulting on a new blog called The Survival Doctor. It’s do-it-yourself survival medicine for disasters and the like. Cool idea, huh? The writer, who happens to be my wonderful father, is a family doctor.

3 Quick Tips for Starting a Blog:

If you’re looking for a customizable WordPress theme, consider Atahualpa, which he’s using. It has many options that are relatively easy to work with.
Need ideas for your first few posts? Think of them as the base of a pyramid. Write about general topics that will be helpful to link back to later. My dad has written a few of these—for example, “Arteries Vs. Veins: How to Tell the Difference and Stop the Bleeding.” He links to it in other posts about wounds.
Learn the art of the nut graf. It’s one little paragraph that can make the difference between readers zoning out and reading on with interest.

—

Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance writer and an expert in writing website articles. Her specialties include health, long-term care and aging issues. Contact her at la [at] lawordsmith [dot] com.

The Peanut Butter Post

October 11, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

I got to play in the kitchen for this week’s MyFamilyDoctorMag.com blog post. If you know me, you’ve already predicted that that turned out interesting. If you don’t know me, you can get a clue from the title: “What NOT to Do When Making Your Own Peanut Butter.”

My posts have gotten more and more personal on that site—different from what I usually do for clients. It’s fun to incorporate life experiences every once in a while.

I had a client ask me this week about how personal blog posts should be. I may blog about that at some point. It was a good question. How personal are your posts?

—

Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance website-article writer and blogger. Her specialties include health, long-term care and aging issues. She’s a journalist at heart, a former magazine editor and, in her own mind, a famous actress with 10 miniature dogs all dressed in tutus.

My New Blog

October 4, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

They say the cobbler’s children have no shoes. Well, neither does this cobbler. I’m too busy writing and blogging for clients that I have no time for my own blog! A good problem to have, I admit.

But I would like to keep folks up-to-date on my latest writing projects, so I’m starting this little blog. I plan to post no more than once a week—maybe even once a month—because it’s more of a newsletter/blog meld.

So, if you’d like to hear from me periodically, please subscribe. (See the box to the right.) I’ll not bug you too much, and you might find some downright interesting articles to read in the meantime.

How to Write a Nut Graf—and Capture Your Readers

May 25, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

You must read this post.

OK, whatever, you can read it if you want. I had to get the lede over with so I could get to …

the nut graf! In my opinion, you see, this little paragraph (this one right here) is one of the most important parts of an article. It’s what keeps your readers reading. It’s what most blog posts are missing. And it’s one simple addition that will improve your composition—be it a newspaper piece; magazine feature; editorial or, yes, blog post—by leaps and bounds.

(more…)

Marilyn Monroe’s Real Clothes Size—in Today’s World

May 25, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

: Marilyn Monroe, USO Camp Show, 1954

Q: Was Marilyn Monroe really a size 14?

A: With her hourglass figure, Marilyn Monroe has become today’s poster gal for curvy women. “You think a size 12 is fat?” goes the argument. “Well, Marilyn Monroe was a size 14!” … or 12 … or 10.

… Until some dern naysayer pipes up. “Actually,” (says a whiny voice, nose in the air—at least in my head) “she’d be a size 6 by today’s standards.” … or 4 … or 2.

OK, I must admit, I never thought Marilyn Monroe looked like a size 14. She was 5’5 1/2″, for goodness sake. If we’re going to make an argument, it’d be good if it were fact-based, so I did some digging. And I found the truth. And the truth, my friends, is not black-and-white.

(more…)

Bollywood Shrinks to 0

May 25, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

Bollywood

Used to be, Bollywood actresses were curvy. (Like it used to be here, come to think of it.) But alas, the U.K.’s Telegraph reports that Bollywood is shrinking:

(more…)

How Ultra-Skinny Ideals Make Us Eat More

May 25, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

Blogger Molly McCaffrey

I’ve long believed that ultra-skinny ideals—thinking we have to be stick thin to be beautiful—set us up for failure. Why even try to lose weight with such a daunting goal?

Yesterday, fiction writer Molly McCaffrey explained the issue brilliantly at her blog I Will Not Diet:

(more…)

6 Tips for Fiction Writers That Will Make You Think—and Laugh!

May 25, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

When the U.K. newspaper the Guardian asked authors for tips, the results ranged from practical to insightful to just plain silly.

A few tips were repeated throughout: Cut everything you can, read your work out loud, you will never be satisfied with what you’ve written. (Seriously. Lots said that.) Many gave the age-old advice, read, read, read. But novelist Will Self said, “Stop reading fiction—it’s all lies anyway, and it doesn’t have anything to tell you that you don’t know already.” Another theme: Sometimes, you can break the rules.

Here are my top-five favorite tips from the article.

(more…)

The Arts Collide: 10 Quotes From Doctor-Writers

May 25, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

“The advice of the elders to young men is very apt to be as unreal as a list of the hundred best books,” said American author and doctor Oliver Wendell Holmes. Nonetheless, sometimes it’s helpful to hear from those who have gone before—if only to know you’re not alone.

And doctor writers are indeed not alone. From Anton Chekhov to Michael Crichton, they have a long history of success. Writer Andrea Crawford explored the doctor-writer connection in the magazine Poets & Writers last year. “Medical training, like writing,” she found, “requires a long view of life; and learning to always be aware of—and separate from—one’s emotions helps to sharpen observational skills.”

Here are some quotes from doctor-writers. Do any ring true for you?

(more…)

“Dreams on Spec”: A No-Holds-Barred Look at the Lives of Screenwriters

May 25, 2011

by Leigh Ann Otte

Wonder what it’s like to be a screenwriter? Check out Dreams on Spec. And get convinced to write a book.

This documentary, which came out in 2007, follows three screenwriters as they bloody their fists on wall after wall trying to get their scripts made into movies.

I have a background in acting, so I came to the film with a knowledge of the movie biz. I gotta say, I believe this portrayal. Hollywood likes to pitch itself as the land where dreams come true. Well, chasing dreams has its price.

Check out the preview:

(more…)