Fork In The Road Music » blogging

Stuck in the Blog?- Write a Weeks Worth of Headlines

Russell Martin — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:53:28 +0000

For a while I have struggled to write consistently. I would have great ideas in my head but could not translate, and transform them into articles when I had time. And when I think about it, the time was there, just not the drive to make use of it.

Then I was reading Michael Hyatt’s post called “Do You Make These 10 Mistakes When You Blog? and I got to #7. -You Don’t Create Catchy Headlines. In it he refers to Brian Clark’s Copy Blogger article, How To Write Magnetic Headlines where he says, “on average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.” Michael surmises that “This means your headlines are the most important thing you write.”

So that’s what I did. All of those headlines, and topics I have had floating around I wrote out and created drafts for each. Then I created a simple post. “10 Posts I Want to Write in the Next 10 Days”. Since then, each day I sit down and choose one to write on. I can choose any one I want, but I have to choose one. Creating the headlines first has helped me to draw more focus and direction to what I am writing. Choosing one a day, and letting you, the reader, know whats coming has helped me to focus more on writing consistently. Which helps to correct Mistake #1- You Don’t Post Enough.

Now to keep from making Mistake #3, I will stop for now.

So what do you do when you get stuck writing?

How do you help break the mental writer’s block?

I Missed My 100th Post

Russell Martin — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 06:45:08 +0000

Apparently I missed one of my first milestones in the life of Fork In The Road Blog. Two posts ago was my 100th blog post. I guess that would make this 102. In this brief time of I have learned much about blogging and have apparently written some things that others have learned from and enjoyed. Here are my top 10 viewed posts so far.

Youth Worship: Worshipping without a band
Cardboard Testimonies
Free Stuff: Angel Background
Free Backgrounds
Resources
Music Ministry
Removing Distractions
How to- Make Your Own Worship Background
Free Song: Awaken Our Hearts
What To Do With a Youth Worship Team

Do you have a post on Fork In The Road that was extremely helpful or inspiring for you?

Getting Serious

Russell Martin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:41:00 +0000

Over the past few months I have toyed with this blog idea. I have shared some insights, thoughts and resources about worship and have had a fair response for the effort I have put in. Now that I have seen what is possible I have decided to get more serious about this blog.
My goal will be to provide a place of resources, connection, and encouragement for worship leaders, band members, youth directors, pastors, media people and all those who work with worship services in various settings. I want this to be a place that you can ask questions, share ideas, and get some help through the advice and responses of others.

The site will be launched soon and once it is all the blogs from this location will be moved to the new location. I am using a self hosted wordpress blog which will enable me to do more with hosting resources, using forms, layouts etc.

I apologize for missing links that have occured over the past few days. These should all be resolved soon as we move to the new host. I will make a few posts that contain all the links I have offered over the past few months and put them in one location.

Thanks again

Looking for Contributors

Russell Martin — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:33:00 +0000

This Fork In the Road blog was started as a way to encourage and share ideas, thoughts, advice and tips about worship leading in various settings from camps and retreats, to church services, to youth praise teams. I can write and share many things but I know that there are many more of you who have your own experiences, thoughts, and tips to share. So I am looking for some contributors. I am looking for people who work with worship teams in churches and youth groups, I am looking for pastors, and youth leaders, I am looking for musicians, and worship leaders who travel, leading worship in various situations. I would like to hear from songwriters, bands and individuals. It would even be nice if there were those who work with recording, graphic design, media, video etc…

So you might ask what do you get out of it. Each submission will include a link back to your website. Regular contributors interested in joining the Blog will get a blog profile page including a picture, contact information and a link on the front page.

The second goal of this website is to create a place for those who are looking for worship leaders, musicians etc.. a place to connect.

If you are interested in either writing an occasional entry, or joining Fork In the Road as a regular contributor please let me know. You can email me at russellmartinmusic@gmail.com

Here is a list of possible topics I am looking for:

Working with youth bands?
What to do when a youth band member graduates?
Songs We Use for Christmas?
Devotionals for Worship Leaders?
How to build a website for your ministry?
Top Ten lessons learned?
Worship leading without an instrument?
Recording a Worship CD?
How to Write worship songs?

It would also be cool to have people submit original songs with a link to chords and audio file for something like a weekly free song.

so I haven’t written for a while…

Russell Martin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:19:00 +0000

A wise person once told me never to start your blog, after you have not written for a while, with the words… “so I haven’t written for a while” or something similar. The truth is that many things have kept me busy and I haven’t had time. Well that’s not exactly true. If I really sit and think back on my day was I really all that busy? Wake up in the morning and get ready. Make lunch for my wife (how sweet am I) and get her off to work. Make sure the dogs have water and are safely confined in the kitchen. Go to work. Work all day long. Come home. Eat dinner Go to bed!
I could be fooled in to thinking that all of that takes up all of my time but if I really sit and think about it there are pockets of 15 minutes here and 30 minutes there scattered all through the day. Like when I finish working on something and it’s 10 minutes before lunch so I really can’t get into another project. Or when I come home and my wife is still at school for another 30 minutes. Maybe it is not that my time is not all occupied, but that it is occupied with the wrong things. Television? Purposeless internet surfing? Wasting Time?
I guess there is time to write, to share my thoughts, to rejoice in the highs and lows of the day. And really it’s not just about blogging. It’s also about prayer.
It is so easy to do the same thing in my prayer life. I can get into thinking that I don’t have time, that there are soooo many other important things that have to go on that I don’t have time. Maybe I could find some time that exists already.. maybe I should cut out some things that aren’t all that important. Maybe my next conversation with God shouldn’t start off with the words “So I haven’t talked to you in a while…?”

What about you. Do you find it hard to set aside time to pray during your busy schedule? Or if not.. How is it that you find time to spend with God during the day? Please comment and share your ideas.