Picture"Map for Riverdale Artwalk at Jimmie Simpson Park" image by Mike DeHaan
DeHaan Services continues to cover free and interesting summer events in Toronto with "Walk among Art in Riverdale in Toronto in Early June".

As I ask in that article, where else can you see jury-selected artwork by about 125 Toronto artists for free, while enjoying a walk in Toronto's great outdoors?

One Writing Tip for your Walk in Writing

This writing tip continues along one of my favourite paths.

If you have a theme for a series of articles, be sure to develop that topic.

If you have a blog, keep its focus on your main concept.

Yes, you need variety or your readers will get bored. But that variety comes inside your main topic area.

Let's use a food analogy. You can run a successful ice cream parlour, but serve a variety of flavours as well as cones versus sundae dishes. You could instead operate a general restaurant with ice cream desserts; but once you add salads and main courses to the menu, you have to reduce the variety of ice cream flavours.

My DeHaan Services site might not always stick to free (or cheap) Toronto events, but that's a niche that I cover as a mainstay for the content.

If you maintain your focus and cover your niche well, you can build a reputation for quality and authority. If you scatter your writing across all your interests, no-one will know whether to trust what you say.

So walk along your path until it's clear to others that you know where you're going. Personally
 
Picture"Muhtadi International Drumming Festival 2007" image by Vinod Sankar (vinod.sankar)
The annual Toronto Muhtadi International Drumming Festival returns to Woodbine Park in June 2013.

I've written about it for the second year, this time in "2013 Muhtadi Drumming Festival at Woodbine Park in Toronto". That's how much fun this celebration of the drum is.

Drumming Up Arts and Crafts in Toronto's Beach Neighbourhood

On the same weekend, the "The 2013 Spring Beaches Arts and Crafts Show in Toronto" heads for the Beach neighbourhood in Toronto.

Dogs or Drums? Consider Woofstock

Last year I wrote "The Whereabouts of Woofstock 2012 in Toronto", but updated it with this year's date and times.

Yes: the June 2013 Woofstock dog festival is on the same weekend.

Eight More Summer Toronto Events on the Same Weekend

I was  overwhelmed by the possibilities, and just touched on another "8 Fun or Charity Fitness Events in Toronto on June 9, 2013".

The most unusual thing is knitting in an art museum; and no, it's not the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum).

Do you enjoy food? A street festival? If you prefer to exercise for charity, would you care to walk, bike, run or play volleyball?

Drumming Up One Writing Tip

In the past some of my writing tips have noted that you can boost your creative output by developing a theme.

This drumming festival in Toronto is an example of an annual event that deserves some publicity every year or two.

Simply reporting on recurring events guarantees that you will have topics.

Whether the same people will read your new articles depends on what changes. For example, when the Toronto Muhtadi Drumming Festival changed venues, it was vital to let people know. On the other hand, it had settled into Toronto's Woodbine Park before I learned about it; so I did not gain a bump in readership.

On the other hand, your web site needs to develop a reputation for expertise. That certainly does not come with one article on a topic.

Simply writing about the same topic, with the same information, a dozen times won't help much, either.

Add something new each time; change the emphasis; or even give a perspective on the history of your topic.

This summer, I do believe that I'm reaping some rewards for selecting a topic like "annual events". That's my writing tip, based today on writing about the Muhtadi International Drumming Festival in Toronto for the second year in a row.
 
Picture"2012 Waterfront Blues in Toronto" image by mishlove1 (Michael Ishlove)
The annual Toronto Waterfront BluesFest returns for three days of free music at Woodbine Park.

My "The 2013 Waterfront Blues Festival in Toronto" introduces the dates, venue and lineup.

One Well Travelled Writing Tip

Actually I learned this writing tip from the response to a previous DeHaan Services article.

I noticed that several people found "Watch Fireworks in Toronto for Victoria Day 2013" by searching for a Victoria Day fireworks display in the neighbouring city of Mississauga.

I searched for that information, but apparently Mississauga only celebrates Canada Day with fireworks. Nonetheless, I added that information to my article, along with some other out-of-town suggestions.

That may have been my most successful article, in terms of page views in the week leading up to the Victoria Day weekend.

When writing about the 2013 Waterfront BluesFest in Toronto, I decided to mention a few other Canadian cities that will host blues festivals this summer.

The writing tip is to provide some help to those who find your site when searching for something related.

Remember to balance keeping the main focus on one topic with today's writing tip to include "something for everyone".

I could have written a definitive guide to all blues fests in Canada for 2013. That would have a focus, but the article would be huge.

I could have ignored the other cities completely. If anyone had found mine while looking for Windsor, that would have been more disappointing for that reader.

My rule of thumb is to give enough information that people can do a better search the second time; or to link directly to an official site.

By the way, that article's success elevated my "bounce rate" because people would read that page and then leave. Hopefully they were satisfied with what I'd written.

At least, there are several other Canadian cities hosting bluesfests this summer. If people found them by taking a detour through the Waterfront Blues Festival in Toronto, then my article was a
 
Picture"Statue of Queen Victoria" image by soosalu (Sirje S)
Canadians celebrate Victoria Day with fireworks on the May 24 long weekend.

My "Watch Fireworks in Toronto for Victoria Day 2013" now includes the few GTA (Greater Toronto Area) municipalities that also shoot off some bursts to honour the long-deceased Queen Victoria.

The next big display will be the Canada Day fireworks.

One Explosive Writing Tip

This explosive writing tip runs counter to my usual advice to focus intently in your article. Instead, broaden your scope, if that meets the needs of a larger audience without completely diluting your message.

Note that the second paragraph says "...now includes...".

Originally I planned to write only about the solitary Victoria Day fireworks display inside the city of Toronto itself. I did add the Canada's Wonderland venue just outside the municipal boundary.

Later I saw that a search engine sent me a reader based on searching for Victoria Day fireworks in Mississauga.

That's when I decided to add the note that Mississauga does not advertise any fireworks for 2013 Victoria Day.

Soon afterwards, I read an article listing a couple more venues outside Toronto for fireworks displays.

Regarding the writing tip: I diluted the effectiveness of my article, as far as Toronto residents are concerned. However, some of us might still want to visit Canada's Wonderland to watch the pyrotechnics; or we might live near enough to the other venues to make it worthwhile.

As well, it's a bit of a public service if people happen to look for fireworks in their own GTA community, and my article happens to pop out of the search engine.

While my scope broadened, it did not completely explode. I could have tried to list each and every Victoria Day fireworks display in Canada. Now, that would have been an explosive article...much more so than watch
 
Picture"Pythagorean Dates in 2013" : image by Mike DeHaan
This previews "How to Find Pythagorean Dates for Any Year", my recent article for Decoded Science.

Picture"Pythagorean Dates in 2005" : image by Mike DeHaan
I completed this post after the Decoded Science article was published.

Picture"5-12-13 Right Angle Triangle via Microsoft Mathematics Triangle Solver" : image by Mike DeHaan
The reason for publishing the images here before Decoded Science is to establish my copyright for them.

As always, I've also publicized this article in my DeHaan Services blog, where "Publicity for Pythagorean Dates" adds a note about a Canadian view of the importance of the Pythagorean Theorem.

One Triangular Writing Tip

Let's use the literary conceit of a triangular writing tip to go along with Pythagoras and triangles.

Three ideas came together for my Decoded Science article.

First, I noticed an article celebrating May 12, '13 as a Pythagorean date. That formed the base for the article: to say something interesting about the mathematics of Pythagorean triples as applied to dates.

Second, I needed to add something of value for my readers. My first insight was that Dec. 5 would also be a Pythagorean date. The second idea of value was the answer to "How could I easily find Pythagorean dates for any year"?

Even after developing that process, the article still seemed a bit short. I suggested an alternative approach to finding Pythagorean dates to fill out my article.

Today's triangular writing tip is to use a similar approach for many, but not all, your articles.

  1. Start from one concept. It might be one example. Or you might state one specific problem that you will solve in step 2.
  2. Expand that first concept, or solve the one basic problem. Show your reader how to use the idea in more general ways, or to apply it to similar but different problems.
  3. Conclude with a challenge to find a completely new approach, if your readers like to engage with that kind of suggestion. Otherwise conclude with a summary of the problem and solution.
Of course, the only practical use for Pythagorean dates is to one-up the people who wear "Pi Day" T-shirts. When they greet you with "Happy Pi Day", just say "Let's do pizza on the next Pythagorean date...that should be Dec. 5, 2013".


 
Picture"Map of Guildwood Park, Toronto" image by Mike DeHaan from Google Maps
For the second year in a row, I've adopted a thematic approach to covering the Toronto Doors Open event in DeHaan Services.

This year, "2013 Doors Open Toronto Opens New Doors and Spaces" covers "new" rather than "returning from previous years". I even had to cull that crop severely, since well over one hundred venues welcome visitors behind the scenes on that weekend each year.


One Writing Tip for a Theme

Today's one writing tip is very simple.

Choose a theme and stick to it.

That's especially important when your material threatens to overwhelm you.

In an article such as mine, where I'm drawing attention to a large event with many possibilities, there is no reason to list everything. Besides, that's what the official site does.

Instead, be a curator who selects and presents a bite-sized tidbit of information. Make that useful, informative and interesting.

Be sure to support your reader in digging deeper into the background material, but don't repeat everything they provide.

Check my article about Toronto Doors Open 2013. Even my selections needed sub-headings to organize the material.

Yes, if you're writing the definitive and comprehensive guide to the universe, you'll have to write a bit more. For most everyday articles, find an
 
Picture
"Harbourfront Centre on Canada Day 2006" image by athena kay
The only reason I wrote "2013 Vocal Music Festival at Harbourfront in Toronto" was because I first noticed that the opening ceremony includes a free performance.

Later shows were a bit more costly than the "frugal or free" events that DeHaan Services usually mentions. They're actually quite reasonable, as musical events go; it's just that I'm carving out a niche for low budget Toronto events.


One Vocal Writing Tip

This vocal writing tip says, "Know whether to speak or keep silent".

The DeHaan Services niche for Toronto events aims at low-cost and under-advertised annual festivals. (It also promotes my writing at other sites, such as Decoded Science).

Harbourfront Centre in Toronto hosts quite a few free or inexpensive activities. I'm happy to publicize those.

Once any venue's ticket prices are over $10/person or so, I'd be more inclined to leave promotional duties to that organization.

The SING! Vocal Arts Festival is a nice idea, but the ticket prices are above what I'd promote in DeHaan Services. As noted above, it's the free opening ceremony that allows me to include this festival in my blog.

You need to know yourself, your blog with its purpose, and your audience in order to follow this writing tip.

Once you've determined those factors, you just have to remember to apply your own rules to the topics you find. I had a few tricky minutes to decide whether to remain silent or to speak on the subject of this Vocal Arts Festival at Harbour
 
Picture
"Months for Pregnancy Calculator via Spreadsheet" : image by Mike DeHaan
My recent Decoded Pregnancy article, "Chances of Getting Pregnant: Math Estimates the Answers", reports on what several different researchers have estimated to be the probability that a woman might conceive a child in one month.

The above spreadsheet shows how such a probability might accumulate over a year and a half, until it becomes extremely likely that a healthy woman would get pregnant.

A typical doctor would probably suggest that the couple try to conceive their baby "naturally", rather than recommending a medical intervention after only a couple months.

Picture
"Standard Deviation of a Geometric Probability Distribution" : image by Mike DeHaan



Also read my "Math Estimates How Long to Get Pregnant" for more advice on using the math, and on what to consider before searching for a fertility clinic to help you to conceive your baby. Although I would normally "preview" the images that I make for an article, this time it's a "postview" since Decoded Pregnancy has already gone to press...I mean, published online.

One Untimely Writing Tip

Today's writing tip simply says: take the correct actions at the right time.

Although I'm sure there will be no repercussions, it was a mistake to forget to pre-publish these images here.

I was busy enough with other tasks that this slipped, even though I'd planned the title as a "preview".

While "no harm, no foul" makes for a more relaxed sporting event, it's not an excuse in the business of writing.

On the other hand...read the articles to get a much better sense of the importance of timing when you want to get pregnant!

    Author:
    Mike DeHaan

    Mike DeHaan began writing professionally in 2010 as the sole proprietor of DeHaan Services.To see this information with the best background image, please refer to "About.Me",  befriend me at Facebook, or circle me at Google+.

    Socialize...

    Circle me at Google+ with: .
    Google_+1 this post or page with:

    StumbleUpon this post or page with:

    Zoom me when it's Canadian content: .

    Friend me at Facebook.

    Tweet this article via

    Thanks!

    Categories

    All
    Article
    Articles
    Business Tips
    Nature
    Weebly
    Writing
    Writing Tip
    Writing Tips
    Writing Wordpress

    Archives

    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Flexible Sidebar

    Weebly's "Blog Author" widget from the Blog Sidebar's Elements menu provides a lot of flexibility. You can change both the title and the text.

    It has all the capabilities for text editing that you find in most Weebly text widgets.

    At this point, I don't see a way to code any HTML in this widget.

    The "Picture" does what you expect: it displays an image of your choice. I just added my home-made picture of "Copyright DeHaan Services 2013" as the top element in this sidebar on Jan. 22, 2013.

    The "Search Box" is a "Pro" feature; if you're paying for Weebly hosting, it may be worthwhile.

    The other widgets are pre-programmed to do what they say.


Check PageRank