Revisiting My WordPress Blog

It's been such a long time since I last logged on to my WordPress.com account that I'd practically forgotten that I actually had a blog there.

When I logged on, I saw that my last post was way back in 2015. So, I wrote and published a new post to explain my long absence.

I don't know if I'll be able to post there regularly again, but I do want to. I also want to fix up a lot of things there like the Portfolio page I'd been working on.

I hadn't been able to finish it back then and, now, since so much time has passed, a lot of things have already changed.

For instance, that page still has info regarding my articles on Bubblews, but that site has long since been gone. There's also info about some of my posts on Writedge and Daily Two Cents, but I've long since removed my articles from those 2 writing sites.

As another example, consider the pics on said portfolio page, particularly the ones that talk about my Tumblr blogs. Those pics show what my blogs used to look like back when I was using a different theme and layout.

In short, I really want to fix up said page though I don't know when I'll have the time to do so since I've been really busy lately.

If it's possible, I wanted to keep the old and obsolete Portfolio page and just start a new one. After all, I did spend all that time working on it. I don't want to just delete it. That, and looking at it brings back memories, you know?

So much has changed since then and it would be nice to compare and contrast the old and new portfolio pages. Of course, that's assuming I ever get around to finishing the new one I wanted to do. Haven't even been able to start yet. Soon, I'll be able to., I hope. Wish me luck. 😊

*Notes:
- Image is by 27707 (Public Domain) from Pixabay
- This was previously published elsewhere on Saturday, January 7, 2017 at 11:43 AM

Superheroes Series Story Meta

Also known as "Origins of the Superheroes Series Story".

The Superheroes Series is an ongoing series of short stories featuring the adventures of 4 superheroes currently only known by the names East, West, North, and South.

Moving the Superheroes Series

It's been years since I first started writing this series. If I remember correctly, I first started posting this on the now-defunct site Bubblews. When Bubblews shut down, I transferred the posts to Persona Paper and Daily Two Cents.

Finding a New Home for the Superheroes Series

Persona Paper is still online, but it has discontinued its paying model, and there's talk of it shutting down, so I removed all my posts from that site.

Daily Two Cents has changed its payment model from a pay-per-view to Google AdSense. That, and the fact that both earnings and traffic have begun to fall from said site had me moving my posts elsewhere.

Writing Archives Google Blogger Blog

I decided to create a writing blog where I could post all my writings, short stories, philosophical musings, and anything else that was related to writing.

This included the Superheroes Series. Now all the posts related to said series can be found on this blog instead of being scattered across different sites.

Reason for Short Length

The Superheroes Series of posts are all pretty short. At most, they're only a few hundred characters long. The reason for this is because of where I first published this series.

Instead of a minimum word count, Bubblews enforced a minimum character count. If I remember correctly, the site had a minimum character count of 400.

Usually, I did end up writing more than that, like with my Harry Potter Plotholes articles, which I've now moved to my Harry Potter Archives blog on Tumblr.

Experimenting With Different Writing Styles

The Superheroes Series began as an experiment. I wanted to try out different forms and styles of writing. So I ended up with articles that have or that contain:

• dialog-only
• no dialog
• second person (you)

The very first Superheroes Series post was dialog-only. Over time, I ended up writing it in third person using a mixture of dialog and description.

A Oneshot That Evolved

The first few parts of the Superheroes Series was about the Lover's Quarrel between East and West as told through dialog by North and South. It was supposed to be a one-shot, something that was meant to be short and even a bit humorous.

But then the scene with the Evil Enemy featuring East and West as well as said Evil Enemy happened. After that, it was really supposed to be the end. Really, seriously.

But then, somewhere along the way, I was inspired to write more about these characters. The latest Lover's Quarrel between East and West developed a bigger plot, one that involved more than just the main characters.

Incorporating Some Tropes

While writing parts of the Superheroes Series, I also ended up reading some TV Tropes. As a result, there are quite a number of references to said tropes in parts of the series. The more genre-savvy readers might be able to tell what these tropes are.

No Gender Specified

Some might also notice that no gender has been specified for the main characters of the Superheroes Series. The main characters are referred to either by their names, which are also gender-neutral, or by using "their" and variations thereof.

This was done completely deliberately. In the beginning, this was mostly because I had yet to decide the genders of these characters.

Also, since this began as a dialog-only post, I couldn't really explicitly specify the genders of the main characters on said posts.

Then, when the series was expanded and got more of a plot, I decided that readers could decide the gender of these characters for themselves. Maybe this will change later on, but, for now, this is how it is.

Superheroes Series on Hiatus

Currently, the Superheroes Series is on hiatus. There are a variety of reasons for this, such as working on:

• creating more Tumblr Themes
• writing other stories
• writing and publishing different articles for various blogs and sites

But, basically, it all really just boils down to one thing - lack of time. It's unfortunate, but, with so many things to do, there just isn't enough time to do it all. Sigh.

I do have some drafts and stuff plotted out for this series. I've got some stuff written down on what's supposed to happen next, but nothing is set in stone. I'm still not sure if some scenes will change or if other things should happen.

Anyway, hopefully, I'll be able to get back to this series soon. Wish me luck. And feel free and welcome to let me know what you think about all this by leaving a comment below 😃.

*Notes:
- All images are from Amazon.com; links shown below. Pics are meant to represent any of the 4 superheroes
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki using Canva
- First pic is RWBY wall poster
- Second pic is Ruby Rose printed on canvas, framed poster
- Third pic is Weiss Schnee printed on canvas, framed poster

Who Is Planning to Join NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It runs from November 1-30 every year.

Basically, the whole point of NaNoWriMo is for writers to commit to writing one novel with a minimum of 50,000 words (you can write more if you want) in one month.

You can check out the project's official site at nanowrimo.org to learn more.

You can also choose to create an account there. You can then use it to track your progress (like your novel's word count), meet new people who are also writers like you, get encouragement, motivation and support from these people, and more.

It's free to join, but you can donate to the site if you want to.

NaNoWriMo is all about writing. Just let the words flow. Worry about the editing and the proofreading after you've finished your novel

If you manage to finish writing your novel by the end of the month, then you win NaNoWriMo, and you can get some prizes (http://nanowrimo.org/sponsor-offers). It's mostly discounts for a lot of products, so check it out if you're interested.

The real prize is really the fact that you've managed to finish writing your novel, or, if it's more than 50k words, then you've managed to get halfway through it.

The focus of NaNoWriMo is simply to just write and write. You can worry about editing and proofreading when you've got a finished manuscript in your hands.

So, who's planning to join NaNoWriMo this year?

P.S. I made a poll, but, unfortunately, it looks like it can't be embedded here on Niume's post editor, so I just linked to it instead.

Edited to add: this post is no longer on Niume, so feel free to check out and answer the poll below. You can also leave a comment below to share your thoughts and opinions about NaNoWriMo.


*Notes:
- This was originally published on Niume
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki using Canva based on the image by kirimatsu (CC:BY) from deviantArt

Here are some of the comments from this article, back when it used to be posted elsewhere:

Arthur Chappell said on 3/1/17
I write compulsively and prolifically all year round so the NanoWriMo would actually slow me down - great that it encourages new writing though.

Zack Plourd said on 31/10/16
thank you for doing a post about this! Ive been wanting to do something like this for quite sometime
:)

Freya Yuki replied to Zack Plourd on 9/11/16
You're welcome and thanks :-).

Lorinne Lewis said on 31/10/16
Forgive me, but I published my book with Pronoun.com. It was the BEST choice ever. I mean, O.K it was hard work for me because I am slightly disabled due to dyslexia so it takes a little more to deal with things and do things. But needless to say the whole website was easy to navigate and free. One great thing is I was able to get help when needed. Their tech support is awesome.

Freya Yuki replied to Lorinne Lewis on 31/10/16
Haven't heard of Pronoun. Will have to check it out some time. NaNoWriMo isn't for publishing novels though. It's just for encouraging you to write and finish a novel. You can then choose to submit it to publishers.

Lorinne Lewis replied to Freya Yuki on 31/10/16
OH ok.. Wow guess I need to read better.. LOL :)

Freya Yuki replied to Lorinne Lewis on 9/11/16
:-) But thanks for mentioning Pronoun. Haven't heard of it, but will be sure to check it out after finishing my story.

Do You Like the Infinite Scroll Feature?

Infinite or endless scrolling is a feature that some sites have. When you scroll down to the end of a webpage, if infinite scroll has been enabled, then more and more posts or content will automatically load.

This was made using Persona Paper's poll feature

This will keep happening until all the posts have been loaded. If this feature has been disabled, you will see the navigation buttons like 'next' or 'previous' instead. Clicking on those buttons will take you to the next or previous page of your site where new posts will load.

Do you like infinite scroll? I actually don't like this feature for a number of reasons, so I like having the option of disabling it. Some sites let you do that, but some don't.

So, how 'bout you? What are your thoughts on this feature? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below.

Note: you might notice that a lot of the options in the poll are about reasons to hate or dislike endless scrolling. If you know any more pros or positive things about this feature, then feel free to mention them.

Here are some of the comments from this article, back when it used to be posted elsewhere:

cheri wrote on March 11, 2015, 8:50 AM
Just do not like it. Thats all.

FreyaYuki replied to cheri on March 12, 2015, 12:51 PM
I'm glad I'm not the only one. I really don't like this feature too :-(.

crowntower wrote on March 11, 2015, 9:15 AM
If we are viewing photos or quotes in a photo I would love to have an infinite scroll... hehehehe, because I am so lazy to click the next button... hahahahah! But in some cases I would love to disable it. Thanks and God bless.

FreyaYuki replied to crowntower on March 12, 2015, 1:07 PM
Ah, I see. You're welcome. I was mostly talking about articles and posts though like those that appear on the homepage of a site or blog.

MakeMoneyOnline wrote on March 11, 2015, 10:53 AM
I wouldn't mind to see it on Persona to tell you the truth. I like the feature.

FreyaYuki replied to MakeMoneyOnline on March 12, 2015, 1:09 PM
Ah, let's agree to disagree then 😃. LOL. But may I ask why you like the feature? Just trying to see what others think of the infinite scroll feature. I see there are others who don't like it either, but then there are also those who do.

MakeMoneyOnline replied to FreyaYuki on March 12, 2015, 2:25 PM
I've only seen this feature on Pinterest and Fiverr (maybe one or two other sites I can't remember). I like the feature because I don't have to click "next" to get to other posts. I'd love to see it on Persona because I like to see what's happening on the first page and when I hit the end of the page I either can't find the "next page" button or I'm too lazy to even look for it. But if the next posts would appear, I'd scroll much further and find more interesting posts to comment on.

FreyaYuki replied to MakeMoneyOnline on March 13, 2015, 12:45 PM
Ah, I see 😃.

For Persona Paper - I'd also like it if we could see more posts, but I'd prefer seeing next-prev buttons rather than infinite scroll. It would be good if we can see more posts so we can read even the older ones. Right now, it's hard to find those old posts so I agree that we should be able to see and easily find more posts here.

About Pinterest - what I don't like about the infinite scroll on this site is how, for example, you search for something and you end up seeing lots of pins. You can keep scrolling down and more pins load and show up. But if there's way too many of them, you can't see them all in 1 day. If you have to leave the site for now, when you come back, how can you find the place where you left off?

You can't because all the pins loaded in one page so you have to start at the top again and then start scrolling down again. On the other hand, if there were next-previous buttons, you can take note of the URL link of the page you're on so you can just go back to this page to continue looking through the older pins when you have the time to do so.

MakeMoneyOnline replied to FreyaYuki on March 13, 2015, 2:08 PM
Makes sense. Probably there should be a hybrid option, where you could scroll but also quickly find the place where you left off.

arthurchappell wrote on March 11, 2015, 11:45 AM
I prefer it on big sites as waiting for fresh pages to load can get very irritating

FreyaYuki replied to arthurchappell on March 12, 2015, 1:18 PM
Ah, I see. For me, pages don't really take much time to load so I don't mind. I'm actually not fond of the infinite scroll feature on, for example- Pinterest because, being new there, there are so many pins that I have yet to see.

There's no way I can seem them all in one sitting. For instance, I can use their search feature to search for pics, but I won't be able to finish looking at all of those pins in 1 day. But if I want to go back to the spot where I left off, I can't do that thanks to the infinite scroll feature. I will have to start searching again and then load all the pins again.

nbaquero wrote on March 11, 2015, 5:37 PM
FreyaYuki I don't really mind the feature, but I wouldn't implemented on my sites/blogs.

FreyaYuki replied to nbaquero on March 12, 2015, 1:25 PM
I turned off this feature on my Tumblr blogs and I'm not implementing it on the Google Blogger blog that I'm working on. The only exception is WordPress, but that's because you don't really get a choice. You either end up with the real automatic infinite scroll or the fake manual infinite scroll.

*Notes:
- This was previously published on Persona Paper on March 11, 2015, 7:54 AM

Reasons Not to Use URL or Link Shorteners

Also known as, "What is the problem with shortening links?"

Reason to Use Link Shorteners

People use link shorteners to shorten their URLs especially when they want to share sites on Twitter thanks to the limitation on the number of characters per tweet.

Reason to Dislike Link Shorteners

What are your thoughts on this? Would you willingly click on a shortened link? Or would you actually be averse to doing so?

For me, it’s actually the latter. Shortened URLs look like a mix of letters that don’t make sense at all. That’s precisely what makes me reluctant to click on those links.

It’s because you don’t know where those links will take you. How would you know what website you’ll be brought to based only on the shortened URL?

You can see something like bit.covzxwm (example only), and that doesn’t look appealing or safe especially not when you compare it to something from sites like Daily Two Cents such as dailytwocents.com/article-title-here.

The latter URL tells you which site you’re going to be brought to, so you won’t end up being surprised when you click the link. When you click on the link, you know you’re going to this particular site to read this particular article.

Is It Safe to Click on a Link Shortener?

But with a shortened link, if you’re just looking at the URL, it will tell you nothing, so how will you know it’s safe to click on that link? What if you’re brought to a dangerous site with viruses and malware or something?

Or what if you end up getting redirected to some other site? What if you get taken or redirected to an ad?

Of course, that’s not to say that all short URLs would do something like that, but, with the way they look, they just give that sort of impression or vibe, don’t they?

What do you think? So, are you reluctant to click on short URLs that you see on websites like Twitter, or do you not mind them at all?

*Notes:
- This was previously published elsewhere
- The last updated date is listed as Aug 12th, 2015 1:01:25am
- First image is by GraphBerry (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by Cpro (CC:BY-SA) from Wikimedia Commons
- Image is meant to symbolize someone using a link shortener
- YouTube video shows you how to shorten links

Harry Potter Plotholes Archives Tumblr Blog About Page

The post below shows the text for the Harry Potter Plotholes Archives Tumblr blog about page. I recently changed the theme on that blog. Before, it was using the Rustelia Theme. Now it's using the Clarent Theme.

When I changed the theme, I also decided to update the about page text. You can check out the new about page here. I didn't want to just delete the old about page though, so I decided to keep it here instead. This was last update on July 04, 2017 Tuesday.

Potter Plotholes Tumblr Blog About Page Text

Hi there. What’s up? I’m Freya Yuki, and this is my Harry Potter blog. Everything you’ll find here can be related to or is all about the 7-book magical and fantasy series by J.K. Rowling.

Yes, that’s right, even though the blog URL link only mentions plotholes, this site will be more than just about the numerous plot holes in the HP series (I just got stuck with the address since a lot of the HP-related ones are already taken).

By the way, are there any more fans of this series? It’s kind of sad that I ended up getting into this fandom when it’s no longer at the height of its popularity. I know others are likely interested in other stuff now, but I can’t help it if I still like Harry Potter.

I’m just getting into it now, so I’m looking forward to writing about it and just fangirling it (yeah, I know, I’m so late to the party that it’s practically over by now). If there are still any fans out there, I’d love to talk about this pretty awesome series with you, so feel free to contact or message me anytime you want.

Here’s a list of my other blogs on Tumblr:

Tumblr Blogs

• Freya YukiPrimary
• Hetalia ArchivesCurrently on hiatus
• Quote ArchivesDeleted
• Soyuz Mir

Tumblr Themes

I also make themes for Tumblr. They’re highly-customizable, responsive, and mobile-friendly with lots of options and features. You can take a look at the demo blogs to see them in action.

You can also take a look at my Themes page and my Themes blog for a more detailed description of these themes as well as more information about their features and customization options.

Tumblr Themes List

Mystic Summer	Install (for free)	Demo Blog
Weiss Zima	Install (for free)	Demo Blog
Rustelia	Install → Gumroad / Sellfy	Demo Blog
Sol Aki	Install → Gumroad / Sellfy	Demo Blog
Verde Frühling	Install → Gumroad / Sellfy	Demo Blog
Fiorella	Install → Gumroad / Sellfy	Demo Blog
Arica	Buy now | More info	Demo Blog
Rei Asa	Buy now | More info	Demo Blog
Clarent	Buy now | More info	Demo Blog
Jelana	Coming Soon	Demo Blog

Writing Sites

Aside from watching anime and reading manga and fantasy books, I also love writing. So, yep, I’ve also written and published numerous articles on the following sites:

Writing Sites List

• HubPages
• Persona PaperSite stopped paying, no longer active
• Daily Two CentsSite changed payment structure, no longer active
• WritedgeSite changed payment structure, no longer active
• BubblewsSite shut down
• NiumeSite shut down
• Medium

Other Blogs

I also have blogs on other platforms. Here they are:

Other Blogs

• Writing Archives (Freya Yuki)Google Blogger
• Freya YukiWordPress
• Anime Archives (Anime Meta)
• Movies Meta
• Writing Sites Meta
• Blogging Sites Meta

I write about all sorts of topics and subjects including movies, books, technology, world news, and more.

I also have accounts on Elance and Fiverr, and I’d be very happy to work for you, so feel free to hire me or contact me for details. You can also follow me on Flipboard, Twitter, and Pinterest.

For more info and details on all of the above, you can just check out the links that you’re interested in. For a more detailed, interesting, and entertaining overview of everything mentioned above, you can go here and here.

If you have any questions, comments, and/or concerns, etc, then please feel free to contact or message me anytime.

Last updated: July 04, 2017 Tuesday

Who's Planning to Join NaNoWriMo?

Hi there. What's up? It's been a while since I've last been here. How are you all doing? Anyway, do you know what NaNoWriMo is? Is anyone planning to join NaNoWriMo? What do you think of NaNoWriMo?

What is NaNoWriMo?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. This is a writing project (that takes place on the month of November), which challenges participants to write at least 50,000 words of their novel or story.

You're supposed to write at least 1,667 words or thereabouts each day until the end of November. There are other rules, but the basic gist is that, by the end of the month, you should have been able to write 50k words of your novel.

NaNoWriMo site

There's a website that's specifically for this project. You can join to chat with others who are also participating on this challenge, get motivation and encouragement to write and achieve your goals, etc. But do you really need to join the NaNoWriMo site to write your novel?

Will you join?

Anyway, I was thinking of taking on this challenge, but I won't be joining the site in question. Why? It's because I don't really have all the time to read all the site's rules, terms, FAQs, TOS, etc (I always read these stuff before joining a site). Besides, it's not really necessary to join said website now, is it?

Your own personal NaNoWriMo

So I decided to just do my own personal NaNoWriMo with my own rules. Basically, I plan to / am hoping to be able to write at least 2,000 words of my novel each day for the entire month of November.

What about you? What's your plan? Are you interested in NaNoWriMo? Will you take part in this writing challenge? Are you planning to join the site or will you have your own personal NaNoWriMo?

Feel free to share your thoughts and let your voice be heard by leaving a comment below or answering the poll.


*Notes:
- This was originally published on Persona Paper on October 31, 2014, 4:09 AM.
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki using Canva based on the image by kirimatsu (CC:BY) from deviantArt

Here are some of the comments from this article, back when it used to be posted elsewhere:

Feisty56 wrote on October 31, 2014, 9:41 AM:
I'm going to be a cheerleader for anyone and everyone who is taking up the NaNoWriMo challenge. My hat is off to those who are up for this and will be participating.

Roselyn wrote on October 31, 2014, 10:16 AM:
I will just be one of the audience and reader of their novels. Good luck to all participants. I don't have the talent to participate in that contest.

tinamarie wrote on October 31, 2014, 1:42 PM:
Wow, what a challenge and good luck to those that are able to pull it off.

3 Reasons To Add Read More Links To Articles And Blog Posts

Also known as "Importance and usefulness of read more links in articles and blog posts."

A blog’s homepage will list or display all articles or blog posts that have been published on said site. The front page will usually show a preview of an article with a read more link right below said snippet.

Exactly what is so important and useful about this kind of link? Why would you want all your articles to have this feature?

Pique people’s interests with your article preview

The post preview provides a teaser to your article. It helps to pique people’s interest and curiosity while the read more link located right below the teaser encourages people to view or check out the entire post in question.

Read more link encourages people to view the entire article

If your readers or visitors can see the entirety of your articles on your blog homepage already, then what reason would they have to go to the page where your article is?

They don’t need to do that anymore since they can already see and read your entire post straight from your site’s front page. This is why having a read more link is important. This gives people a reason to check out your article if they want to find out more.

Read more link keeps your homepage organized

Furthermore, this feature is useful in cutting or truncating articles that are too long. Instead of having your really long articles show up on the homepage, you can cut these articles by using a read more link.

This prevents people from having to scroll down endlessly on your homepage. It also stops your front page from looking too cluttered and disorganized.

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Open book in the image is meant to symbolize the read more link
- This was previously published elsewhere

4 Reasons Why You Want To Change The Titles Of Your Articles

Writing sites and blogging platforms like Tumblr, Medium, and Google Blogger usually let you change the titles of your articles whenever and anytime you want to. But what reason is there to want to change the titles of your articles?

Improve your article titles

If you think the titles of your articles need improvement, then, by all means, feel free to change them. Improving the titles of your articles is definitely a good thing so you can get more readers.

If the titles of your old articles are not as good as the newest or most recent article titles that you have, you should go ahead and change them to improve them. This is especially so if, previously, you struggled to come up with great titles for your articles.

Make your article titles interesting

Are your article titles boring, dull, and bland? You should definitely change them to make them more interesting. Who wants to read boring titles, right?

Put yourself in your potential article visitor or reader’s shoes and think about what kind of title would get you to check out an article.

More often than not, the title is the only thing that people can see before they can look at the rest of your article.

If the title doesn’t interest them or grab their attention, then they won’t bother to read said article. They’ll just look for other articles that are more appealing and interesting to them.

Article titles are too vague and mysterious

A mysterious title is pretty good if it can help to pique your readers’ curiosity and get them to want to check out the rest of the article.

But you can’t be too mysterious and vague about it, otherwise people won’t have an idea on what the article is going to be about.

Or they might get an idea on the article’s topic based on its title and they think that sounds interesting, but when they check out the article, they’ll soon find out that they got it wrong and that would no doubt upset them.

So be sure that your titles aren’t misleading and that they’re actually relevant to the article in question.

Don’t explain everything to your readers or visitors in your article title

Some titles seem to have the contents of the entire article summarized in one line. Don’t do that. You should be giving people a reason to want to check out your article.

If your title already answers their question or explains everything to them, then why would they bother clicking and checking out the rest of your article?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by CoDLia (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to represent someone trying to change the titles of their articles
- YouTube video talks about some things that can help you make your titles less boring and more interesting and catchy
- This was previously published elsewhere

Can Article Titles Be Too Long?

Is it all right to have long titles for your articles? I don’t know, but I hope long article titles aren’t all that bad since a lot of my articles have pretty long titles (this is one of the few that has a pretty short title actually).

Do you have a hard time coming up with article titles?

It’s hard to come up with a short title though without coming across as way too vague or even misleading. Sometimes, maybe there really is no other way to say some things; what do you think?

Descriptive titles

After all, titles have to be descriptive too, right? And they need to give people a reason to want to check out the article itself by piquing their curiosity and getting them interested.

So you can’t be too vague or broad or generic, and you definitely shouldn’t be misleading or you’ll just piss off the people who decided to check out your article only to find out that it wasn’t what they were expecting or what they were looking for.

How to come up with the right or best article title?

For example, I wrote an article (well, I wrote more than 1, and they all have pretty long titles) about the Malaysian Airlines MH17 tragedy and my title was really long.

This is the title: “How Is What Happened To Sirius Black From J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series And To Those Being Blamed (Russia, Ukraine, Etc) For The Malaysia Airlines MH17 Tragedy Similar?”

I couldn’t come up with anything shorter. I mean, I can’t just simply say Malaysian Airlines MH17 tragedy since that would make the title way too plain, and it doesn’t say anything about the contents of the article at all.

Sure, anyone who clicks on it will be expecting to see stuff about the airplane crash, but this topic is broad enough as it is.

There are many aspects of the plane crash that you could be talking about and people need to know that before they decide to read the article. What if they wanted to know about something else and not specifically about whatever your article is about?

What do you think? Can article titles be too long? How can they be shortened then? Or maybe it doesn’t and shouldn’t matter; what say you? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a message in the comments section below.

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by CoDLia (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to symbolize someone trying to come up with suitable and interesting titles for their articles
- YouTube video talks about some things that can help you make your titles less boring and more interesting and catchy
- This was previously published elsewhere

How To Improve Your Article Titles?

Do you hate writing titles for your articles or blog posts? Some people find it easy to improve their article titles. Some will struggle and have a hard time. I’d say I’m more on the latter. Sometimes I hate having to write titles for my online articles or blog posts.

It’s such a pain and hassle trying to come up with one. I always have so many draft titles. Usually, I write a long list of titles before even choosing one. More often than not, I just write my post first and leave the title for last.

Say no to misleading titles

The main body of the article is definitely easier for me. Article titles have to be interesting, not misleading. They should be able to get people to read them. They should be able to pique their curiosity.


I’ve been working on improving the titles on my articles (like the ones on this blog and my other Tumblr and Google Blogger blogs) a few at a time, but it’s definitely not that easy.

Edit your article titles

Sometimes I’ve to change the article title several times before I’m satisfied. Even then I might end up changing them again later on when or if I come up with something new that seems interesting enough. Wouldn’t it be great if there was an easier way to improve our article titles? What do you think about this?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by CoDLia (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to symbolize someone trying to improve their article titles
- YouTube video talks about some things that can help you make your titles less boring and more interesting and catchy
- This was previously published elsewhere

How To Come Up With Interesting Titles?

How come your articles should have interesting titles? Many people say that it’s important for articles to have interesting titles in order to draw readers to check them out and read them.

The title is usually the first thing that people will see or notice when they come across an article especially if said title is of a different or bigger font than the body of the article.

Creating titles is easier said than done

The problem with saying something like that is that it’s easier said than done. How can you come up with interesting titles that will grab or catch the attention of potential readers?


Some articles about this topic might give some examples, but it might not be all that helpful because the title of a post really depends on what the article is about.

Say no to misleading titles

The contents of your article will dictate its title because you can’t have misleading titles. Your titles should convey what your article is about without revealing the entire contents of your text (if people already know what your post is about based on its title, then why would they have any more reason to read the entirety of said article?).

You need to be a bit descriptive when it comes to your titles and yet, at the same time, you can’t be too descriptive. There has to be a balance. Do you think there’s some sort of secret formula or way in which people can come up with awesome titles? If there is, I definitely want to know.

I find that I have a bit of a hard time in coming up with article titles. Sometimes, it really seems that writing the body of the article itself is so much easier than trying to come up with an appropriate and yet interesting title. Sometimes, the titles might seem to be a little too long or maybe even a bit vague.

What about you? Are you having a hard time coming up with titles for your articles and blog posts, or do you find this to be an easy task?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by hayashinomura (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to symbolize someone trying to come up with interesting titles since the figure in said image looks thoughtful
- YouTube video talks about some things that can help you make your titles less boring and more interesting and catchy
- This was previously published elsewhere

Why You Need To Use Paragraphs When Writing Articles?

This post is also known as "Why huge blocks of text are annoying?" and "Why is it important to use paragraphs when writing articles?".

Articles with huge blocks of text

What do you think or feel when you come across articles that have very long paragraphs or, worse, that have the contents of the article written in one huge wall of text? Who wants to read huge blocks of text? Don’t you get turned off or feel miffed, frustrated, and annoyed when you see articles like that?

Reason to add paragraphs to your articles

They hurt the eyes, don’t they? And they can make you feel confused as you try to figure out which part of the huge block of text you’ve already finished reading.


If I see articles like that, I just leave and go look for other articles that are easier to read. I wouldn’t want to read articles with huge blocks of text unless said article is really, really very interesting. Even then, I'd hesitate to read such articles, and might only do so if there's no other article or post about whatever I might be looking for.

How to make your articles easier to read?

What’s wrong with putting spaces and paragraphs in your articles? What’s wrong with making them easier to read?

Since I don’t like articles with huge blocks of text, I make sure my own articles are separated into small paragraphs and that there are plenty of spaces to make them easier on the eyes.

This should definitely include the need to add spaces between paragraphs, so your article won’t end up looking like one huge wall of text

The spaces might make the article seem longer, but they are easier to read, which is what’s most important. If people like what they’re reading and find that their eyes aren’t getting strained and that the contents of the article are interesting, then they likely won’t even notice the length.

What about you? Do you also write articles and make sure to separate the text content into small paragraphs?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) based on the image by CoDLia (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- Image is meant to symbolize someone writing articles
- Second image is from Amazon.com; link shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads card format widget
- YouTube video shows you how to add spaces between paragraphs using a word processor like Microsoft Word
- This was previously published elsewhere

Results Of The Editing Old Articles Poll

I added an Opinion Stage poll on this post about editing old articles. For reasons which I'll talk about in another post on another one of my blogs, I've decided to delete this poll and replace it with one from SurveyHero instead.

According to my dashboard on Opinion Stage, the aforementioned poll had been created on 31 October 2014. I posted the article in question here on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 1:22 AM, but it had originally been posted elsewhere (either Daily Two Cents or Writedge, if I remember correctly).

The statistics page on Opinion Stage for this poll looks like this:

This is the new poll from SurveyHero:

So, what about you? What do you think about editing old articles?

Update on July 7, 2023 Friday: had to delete all my SurveyHero polls.

*Notes:
- Pics are screenshots from my Opinion Stage account

Is Your Story Or Novel Going In The Right Direction?

Are you writing a story or working on a novel? How's it going? The last post I published on Niume was on October 30, 2016. It was about NaNoWriMo. I haven't been able to log on to Niume until now since I've been busy with a lot of things. One of these things is writing a story. Yep, am doing my own personal NaNoWriMo.

In the story am writing, the main chara gets lost in a forest. He ends up encountering a griffin who tries to kill him.

I'd say it's going pretty well so far. Have been talking a bit about it on Twitter using the #NaNoWriMo, #NaNoWriMo2016, #amwriting and #amwritingfantasy hashtags. Yup, am writing a fantasy story. I've written a few thousand words already, but I've still got a long way to go before I finish the entire thing. I think it might take me more than 50k words.

I hope to be able to write as much as possible for the whole month of November and then be able to continue doing so even after NaNoWriMo ends. So, how 'bout you? If you're writing a story, what genre is it about? How's the plot coming along? What can you say about it? Hope it's going well for you too. Good luck 😃.

Here are some of the comments from this article, back when it used to be posted elsewhere:

Zack Plourd wrote on 6/11/16:
I started a profile on NaNoWriMo, with the intent to write a thing, but I found the site slightly incomprehensible as to how to go about that. It wasn't very clear.

Freya Yuki replied to Zack Plourd on 7/11/16:
The site does have a FAQ (http://nanowrimo.org/faq) and how it works (http://nanowrimo.org/how-it-works) page. Note: you can't actually write your novel on the site. You can just use it to check your word count or get to meet other writers, etc.

Zack Plourd replied to Freya Yuki on 7/11/16:
^see thats the kind of stuff i wasn't clear on. thank you for clarification.

Freya Yuki replied to Zack Plourd on 9/11/16:
You're welcome.

Barbara Ciruelos wrote on 6/11/16:
Good luck! The fact that you´re trying to complete NaNoWriMo is more than impressive. I´ve always been more of a self-time author, to be honest, but every approach is effective as long as it fits your style!

Freya Yuki replied to Barbara Ciruelos on 7/11/16:
Thanks. Am trying to write as much as possible to finish this story.

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) using Pablo by Buffer based on the image by kirimatsu (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- This was previously published on Niume on 5 November 2016

What Will Make You Think That Critique Circle Is Awesome?

Critique Circle is an online writing critique group. It's free to join although the site also offers a premium or paid version.

Is Critique Circle really a perfect and awesome tool for writers?

How does it work?

The basic premise is that you critique a person's work and they do the same for yours. So, it's a give-and-take (or tit-for-tat) relationship. You can post your story on the site and people can choose to critique it, giving you constructive criticism that can help you improve your writing, plot, characters, etc.

However, before you can post your story to have it critiqued, you will need credits. You get credits by critiquing the works of other people.

It's only after you have the required number of credits (meaning, after you've critiqued a certain number of other people's stories) that you'll be allowed to post your own to receive critiques. It seems to be a pretty neat system that ensures that everyone's work will be critiqued.

Is Critique Circle really awesome?

I've been trying to find more information about Critique Circle since I wanted to join an online writing group and have my stories critiqued. I've found a number of positive reviews that recommend this site, however, most of them are dated several years ago.

The site itself seems pretty okay, though the layout could maybe use an upgrade in terms of looking more modern. There's a lot of info on the site including help pages and the like. However, I noticed that they don't have a Terms of Use and Privacy Policy pages. At least, I can't find these 2 pages anywhere on the site.

I wonder why not? Do these pages even exist? If they do (and, really, they should), then where are they? If you try to register for the site, you'll be asked to agree to the rules, but there's no mention of their TOS and Privacy Policy. What's up with that? Weird.

Is Critique Circle still active?

Critique Circle has a Twitter account, so I thought I'd send them a tweet to ask about their terms and policies. But they never responded (even now, they've yet to respond). So, I wonder if the site is even still active?

Unfortunately, you can't tell for sure unless you join because the main site itself (minus the help and FAQ and other such info) is locked and visible only to members. That's not really a bad thing.

In fact, I prefer it to be that way, so your work is only visible to site members, which should ensure you don't lose your story's first publication rights. But, on the other hand, if you want to know more about Critique Circle, this does mean you won't be able to find out much.

Who has joined Critique Circle?

Has anyone joined or tried out Critique Circle? What can you say about it? Would you recommend it? Is it still active? Does it really not have a Terms of Use / Terms of Service and Privacy Policy? Do you think it's a legit site?

Other online writing critique groups

If you don't like Critique Circle, can you recommend other online writing critique groups (except Scribophile)? What other groups have you joined or tried? What can you say about these sites?

Edited to add: I've joined Critique Circle and will be writing more about it in upcoming articles.

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki (CC:BY-SA) using Pablo by Buffer based on the image by sayuko (CC:BY-SA) from deviantArt
- This was previously published on Niume on 14 December 2016

Mir Aias Google Blogger Blog About Page

Mir Aias was the name of one of my very first Google Blogger blogs. I've deleted it already. This blog (Writing Archives) replaced it. Since it's been years since I've had Mir Aias, I can't quite remember anymore if I simply replaced the name with this one or if I deleted Mir Aias then created a new blog. Either way, that blog is gone now.

The post below shows the text for the Mir Aias about page. I didn't want to just delete it and lose all the info, so I decided to keep it here. It was last edited on September 22, 2016 1:38 PM. You can check out the very first post for that blog here.

Hello and welcome to Mir Aias. I hope you enjoy your stay here. In this blog, you will find all sorts of writing tips and tutorials. You will also find stories, fictional pieces, short stories, poems, philosophical musings, thoughts, and so much more. Since this blog is rather new, you might not be able to find all of the above yet. But rest assured that you'll soon be seeing all of that and more later on.

Now, I’m sure you're curious (you are, aren’t you? Well, if you’re not or if you prefer not to know, then you can just skip this part and scroll further down for the other info that you might be interested in) and wondering about this blog's name. What in the world is Mir Aias, am I right? Well, first, let’s look at each word individually:

Mir

• This is actually a Russian word and it means "world"
• It can also mean "peace"
• In Russian Cyrillic, the word is written as мир
• What do you think about this word?
• I think it's got a really nice ring to it, you know?
• It flows so well and I like the way that it sounds so I wanted to make use of it
• Plus, don't you think that the meaning is absolutely, utterly brilliant?
• Oh, and did you know that there is a Russian space station known as Mir? Awesome, Да (pronounced as da, means yes)?

The Shuttle-Mir program is a collaboration between
Russia and the United States of America. Isn't it nice
to see the world's 'superpowers' working together?
Look at the things that they can do and achieve when
they combine their forces, strengths and abilities.

Aias

• This is actually a Greek name. You might recognize it more as Ajax. Yes, Aias can also be known as Ajax
• Ajax or Aias is actually a figure from Greek Mythology
• He is a Greek hero who plays a very important role in the Iliad by Homer
• He is said to be really powerful, strong, and tall. He was a really great warrior, and it was said that only the hero Achilles was greater than him 
• His main weapon is a shield, and he fought against many of the Trojans including Hector
• Aside from being the name of an awesome hero from Greek Mythology, the word Ajax is also associated with programming
• It is known as either Ajax or AJAX and is short for asynchronous JavaScript and XML
• Ajax isn't a programming language. Basically, it makes it easy to send and receive data from a server asynchronously or in the background, which means that you don't have to reload or interfere with the look of the webpage you're on while you're trying to get this new data

Ajax the great, hero from Greek Mythology, holding his spear and shield

Well, if you haven't guessed by now (but I'm sure you have if you've come this far), I am really quite interested in mythology, and this includes more than just Greek Mythology. I am also interested in some Russian stuff too, but that's mostly thanks to my current interest in Hetalia Axis Powers.

It's an anime and manga series by Hidekaz Himaruya where the characters are all anthropomorphic personifications of the countries of the world. And, yes, that means that I'm also very much interested in the other countries or characters of this series as well. But, then again, I've always been fascinated with history and world travel and other things like that.

Some of the characters from the Hetalia Axis Powers anime and manga series by Hidekaz Himaruya

Anyway, combine Mir and Aias together, and you get Mir Aias. It sounds even nicer when you put them together like that, ne? But how did I come up with this name in the first place? Well, I actually came up with this name thanks to one of the stories that I'm working on.

Mir Aias is supposed to be the name of a programming language that one of my characters created. Anyway, I was looking around for possible names from the existing programming languages and other programming-related concepts out there when I decided to just make up my own.

As mentioned above, Ajax isn't a programming language, but it is related to programming, so I went with Aias since it's another name for Ajax. Plus, I didn't want to use Ajax because it doesn't really sound all that nice compared to Aias, now, does it?

What about Mir then? Well, it has absolutely nothing to do with programming, but, like I said earlier, I like the meaning and the way that it sounds so I went with it. Besides, in the story that I said I was working on, this programming name was actually suggested by the programmer's friend who just so happens to be Russian so that explains the use of the Russian term.

In the story, the American is a very talented programmer who creates a
programming language. His Russian friend was the one who came up with the name Mir Aias

Just to be clear, there is no real-world programming language known as Mir Aias. I made it up. LOL. But, hey, maybe someday, it can be made real? What do you think?

Okay, that ends our discussion about the name of this blog. Aside from this Google Blogger blog, I also have several blogs on other platforms, and I also write and publish articles on a number of other sites.

Here's a list:

Blogs

• Tumblr
• Potter Plotholes
• Hetalia Archives
• Soyuz Mir
• Quote Archives
• WordPress.com

To add: as mentioned here and here, I've deleted the Quote Archives Tumblr blog.

Writing Sites

• HubPages
• Persona Paper
• Daily Two Cents
• Writedge
• Bubblews

To add: Bubblews has shut down, Persona Paper has stopped paying, and Daily Two Cents and Writedge have changed their payment model from pay-per-view to revenue-sharing.

I also make themes for Tumblr. They’re highly-customizable, responsive and mobile-friendly with lots of options and features. You can take a look at the demo blogs to see them in action.

For more info and details on all of the above, you can just check out the links that you’re interested in. Am currently working on even more themes so stay tuned for more updates. If you need some help with your theme or if you want me to make you one, please feel free to contact me for more info and we can talk about it.

For a more detailed, interesting and entertaining overview of everything mentioned above, you can go here. You can also find me on social media: Twitter and Pinterest.

If you still want to know more, then, please, read on. I write on several other sites, writing platforms and blogs as Freya Yuki. I write about all sorts of different topics and subjects including:

• Tutorials
• Tips
• Anime
• Technology
• Writing
• Blogging platforms
• Website builders
• And so much more (seriously, if I tried to list everything here, this About page will be even longer than it already is)

If you're interested, please feel free to check 'em all out as well as my portfolio from each site. Here they are:

Daily Two Cents

Some of the topics that I write about here include world news (like about Russia and the Malaysian Airlines MH17 tragedy), Wi-Fi or wireless internet connection-related articles like how to troubleshoot your internet connection problems, reviews of movies like Conflict, a 1945 murder mystery starring Humphrey Bogart, and more.

HubPages

Some of the topics that I write about here include Bubblews (a writing site), Pinterest (a visual bookmarking platform), BBB (the Better Business Bureau), and more.

This is a screenshot of one of the articles that I published on HubPages. It's a complete and detailed guide on how to use Google to look for images that you can use even for commercial purposes

Persona Paper

Some of the topics that I write about here include Bubblews like how to get your payments from this site, tutorials like how to move your articles from one blog or site to another, Wix (a website builder), and more.

Bubblews

Some of the topics that I write about here include tutorials, tips and guides about Bubblews, short stories, philosophical musings and more.

Tumblr

This is my main Tumblr blog where I write about technology, website builders (like Weebly), blogging platforms (like Tumblr and WordPress), and more. You can also find lots of tutorials here such as how to add a comments section to your Weebly site, how to resize videos added to Tumblr posts and so much more.

This is a screenshot of one of the tutorials that I wrote on my main Tumblr blog. It's about how to center YouTube videos that you add to your text posts

Writedge

Some of the topics that I write about here include tutorials about fixing up your Tumblr (a microblogging platform) theme, information about polls and polling services like Opinion Stage, a comparison and contrast between some of the features of Google Blogger (a blogging platform) and Tumblr, and more.

Potter Plotholes

This is a blog dedicated to the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. It contains discussions, thoughts, analyses and so much more about the entirety of the HP series. There are even a lot of posts told in an interesting short story format.

This is a screenshot of one of the articles that I published on Potter Plotholes. It's written in an interesting short story format and is about the consequences of not participating in the Triwizard Tournament

Hetalia Archives

This is a blog dedicated to the Hetalia Axis Powers anime and manga series by Hidekaz Himaruya. It contains all sorts of information, discussions, thoughts, reviews, analyses, opinions and more about the entirety of the series and its interesting characters.

Quote Archives

This is a blog dedicated to quotes from all sorts of different sources including anime, books, movies, song lyrics and more. The quotes range from inspiring to depressing.

WordPress.com

This is my main WordPress blog where I write about Tumblr, WordPress like theme reviews, problems with this platform, things to like and dislike about this blogging service and more.

Hire me

If you need some help, please feel free to hire me. You can get in touch with me here or here.

This is a screenshot of one of my gigs on Fiverr. Let me help you add some awesome and beautiful-looking social media sharing icons or buttons to your blog or site

I can help you with all sorts of things including:

• Writing, rewriting, editing, and proofreading your stories, articles, text content, etc
• Adding text and/or a polaroid effect to your images
• Adding social media sharing and follow buttons to various platforms including Google Blogger, Wix, Weebly, WordPress, Tumblr, etc
• Providing constructive criticism and spotting all the plot holes in your stories
• Helping you fix up your blog/site theme/template
• And more

Originally published on: March 16, 2015 Monday
Last updated: June 18, 2016 Saturday

*Notes:
The following pics are from Amazon.com; links shown below:
- First pic is Hello, World DVD and book
- Second pic is the Shuttle-Mir: Russia and the United States of America share history's highest stage book
- Third pic is the statue of Ajax the great from Greek Mythology with his spear and shield
- Fourth pic is some of the characters from Hetalia Axis Powers around the earth
- Fifth pic is laptop keyboard with typing hands
The following are screenshots from the other blogs and sites where I write or work
- Sixth pic is from my HubPages account: How to use Google to find or search for copyright-free images?
- Seventh pic is from my main Tumblr blog: How to center videos in Tumblr text posts?
- Eighth pic is a screenshot of the article "What are the consequences of not participating in the Triwizard Tournament?" from my Potter Plotholes Tumblr blog
- Ninth pic is from my Fiverr account: I will add floating social media share buttons to your blog