How To Submit A Blog Post
Youth River Voices Blogger Parameters
The purpose of this document is to give Youth River Blog student bloggers simple guidelines for crafting a compelling and engaging blog post, including what to write about, the tone and style of writing to use, and tips for helping the Youth Water Leadership Program foster a community of connected blog authors and followers.
What should you write about?
The Youth Water Leadership Program (YWLP) invites youth to consider what issues or topics you find compelling you have done extensive research on or a call-to-action topic. Draft your idea in a google doc and then share it with info@wildroseeducation.com with permission to edit. Once the focus of your blog post is established between you and the YWLP, think about what unique viewpoint you bring to the topic that will inform and inspire readers while also being thought- and conversation-provoking. Then write about it! Here are some guidelines:
Our process:
Content standards and policy:
Blogs use less formal language than newspaper articles, technical reports, etc. Don’t be afraid to let your personality come through in your writing. This could mean inserting humor, personal anecdotes, and perspectives. However, be conscious that drawing absolute conclusions has the tendency to alienate your audience.
Please also keep in mind that the Youth Water Leadership Program promotes the sharing of diverse perspectives and the analysis of different courses of action for better overall civic participation. The goal of the Youth River Voices blog is to engage the online community in constructive dialogue that fosters civic engagement among youth. It’s important to avoid making libelous claims or attacking other organizations or viewpoints.
Additionally, we avoid publishing posts written specifically to promote a product or event without any educational focus. In other words, we’re happy to point people toward resources in provided they have the opportunity to learn something on the way, but the blog is not used for pure marketing purposes.
5 Tips for Writing the Perfect Blog Post:
The purpose of this document is to give Youth River Blog student bloggers simple guidelines for crafting a compelling and engaging blog post, including what to write about, the tone and style of writing to use, and tips for helping the Youth Water Leadership Program foster a community of connected blog authors and followers.
What should you write about?
The Youth Water Leadership Program (YWLP) invites youth to consider what issues or topics you find compelling you have done extensive research on or a call-to-action topic. Draft your idea in a google doc and then share it with info@wildroseeducation.com with permission to edit. Once the focus of your blog post is established between you and the YWLP, think about what unique viewpoint you bring to the topic that will inform and inspire readers while also being thought- and conversation-provoking. Then write about it! Here are some guidelines:
Our process:
- Work with a staff member to determine a topic and discuss an angle and content ideas.
- Send a google document with your draft text (approximately 500-800 words) to your staff contact, who will edit your text and return a redlined version and/or any comments.
- Include a short bio (50-75 words) to include at the end of your post.
- You’ll receive an automated invite by blogger.google.com to upload your blog content directly to the blog. On rare occasions if we aren’t able to negotiate edits on a post and it doesn’t meet our standards or fall in line with the topic we discussed, we may delete your post.
- Please include 2-3 photos and/or graphics into your your post. Using the caption tool, create a photo caption as well as offer credit to the photographer. No screenshot or google images are allowed without accurate attribution.
Content standards and policy:
Blogs use less formal language than newspaper articles, technical reports, etc. Don’t be afraid to let your personality come through in your writing. This could mean inserting humor, personal anecdotes, and perspectives. However, be conscious that drawing absolute conclusions has the tendency to alienate your audience.
Please also keep in mind that the Youth Water Leadership Program promotes the sharing of diverse perspectives and the analysis of different courses of action for better overall civic participation. The goal of the Youth River Voices blog is to engage the online community in constructive dialogue that fosters civic engagement among youth. It’s important to avoid making libelous claims or attacking other organizations or viewpoints.
Additionally, we avoid publishing posts written specifically to promote a product or event without any educational focus. In other words, we’re happy to point people toward resources in provided they have the opportunity to learn something on the way, but the blog is not used for pure marketing purposes.
5 Tips for Writing the Perfect Blog Post:
- Keep it short: Blog posts can be anywhere from 500 up to 800 words. Also, remember that you have about four seconds to hook an online reader: Readers should be able to grasp from the first two sentences what the rest of the blog will be about.
- Provide links: Don’t be afraid to comment on current news, linking to relevant news stories in the press and large media outlets. And remember to link to other posts within the Youth River Voices blog as well. Generally, all posts should contain four or more hyperlinks — one or two that link to content on other websites and one or two that link to content on the Youth River Voices blog. YWLP staff can help with identifying related Youth River Voices posts.
- Engage your readers: One of the simplest ways to entice readers to interact with you is to ask them a question. Consider starting your post with a question to hook them into reading more. Or end your post with a question to encourage commenting and feedback.
- Be yourself: Readers are interested in your posts a) because of the information you impart, b) because they want to be entertained, and c) to connect on a personal level. Authenticity is king — if the goal of the blog is to create community, then the blogger needs to interact with the community. Be transparent about who you are and your goals for writing the post. And when readers comment, be sure to comment back. Think of this as an ongoing conversation that you’re initiating.
- Publicize: You’re published! Tell your colleagues, friends, teachers, school administrators, local media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn followers and anyone else who might be interested about your blog post. There’s no better way to engage readers, begin a conversation and make the impact you want than to go out and invite people to read and comment on your article.
- Writing Sample: Use this blog post as a writing sample for college applications, job applications or to build your portfolio or resume.
Thanks these generous 2019 Youth Water Leadership Program Sponsors
