Aug 9, 2012 / Posts We Loved

What Makes a Post Freshly Press-able? Literature and Libation

Every day, 19 WordPressers are featured on the Freshly Pressed section of WordPress.com. And every day, many more wonder, “What do I have to do to get Freshly Pressed?”

Well, it’s time to reveal what the folks who push the launch button are thinking. Each week, a member of our editorial team will do a close-up on one post and why we thought it was Press-worthy. We hope we can provide insight into the process and give you tips and tools to make your blog the best it can be.
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Before we delve into today’s post, there are a few preliminaries to get out of the way:

  1. We don’t actually get to push a launch button, although that would be awesome.
  2. There are half a million of you and a handful of us, and we’re scouring the blogosphere day in and day out. If we don’t find you, it’s nothing personal – promise. Keep writing, and we’ll keep looking.
  3. We’re real people with different perspectives and tastes, so we’re drawn to different content. And we love feedback, so if a Freshly Pressed post feels really off-base to you, let us know!
  4. We do not accept bribes, although that may just be because no one has offered us enough gold bullion… yet.

Last week, Oliver at Literature and Libation made it to Freshly Pressed with Craft and Draft: Character Counts. If you haven’t wandered over there to read it, you should remedy that immediately (especially if you’re a fiction writer).

Go ahead, I’ll wait.

There are lots of reasons to love this post, but the big three are:

  • The content was informative and entertaining.

Two-Headed Humanioid PirateLots of Freshly Pressed readers are themselves writers, and we thought this post – a tutorial on the mechanics of character development, with homemade Lego illustrations – would speak to you. The figures morphed as the easy-to-follow post took us though each step of the character creation, refinement and revision process.

The accompanying commentary was clear, well written, and made us laugh hard enough to shoot coffee out of our collective nose. On his newly-born character, left, he writes:

I mean, it is kind of identifiable as some sort of humanoid, but there are some major problems here. One: his period-inappropriate tri-corn hat is on fire. Two: He has two heads, one of which is completely black and has no face…

This is an extreme example, but my point remains. It is very difficult to properly build your character the first time around. He’s going to come out with conflicting motivations, bad dialogue, missing limbs, and possibly even a flaming hat.

See what we mean?

  • The photos were genius and filled out the content.

Many posts can benefit from an image; they add another layer of texture to your words. Photos also help break up a longer post, and are useful for clarifying complex or intangible points. Oliver’s Lego shots took the potentially ephemeral process of developing a fictional character and grounded it in something nearly all of us can identify. Plus, they were cute as heck.

  • The organization and layout made reading easy.

Reading dense blocks of text is difficult enough on the printed page, and even more so on a screen. Smaller paragraphs help readers scan more easily, while headings make a longer post digestible and keep readers from getting lost in your content.

Oliver took full advantage of both guidelines. Paragraphs were short and focused on a single point. Headings broke the process down into four discrete components.

What did you think of this pick? Will you be reading along with Craft and Draft?

For another glimpse into what makes for great Freshly Pressed content, check out the roundup of July’s top 10 posts over at the News Blog or read So You Want to Be Freshly Pressed?

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  1. Just curious: I follow one blog in particular that I think is genius, but hasn’t been Freshly Pressed (I don’t think). But, I think her best post ever was a few months back. Do you only “press” truly ‘new’ stuff?

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  2. I feel your pain! There are so many great daily posts on WP that it must be near impossible to choose favourites (I find it hard enough to choose my faves and I don’t follow all 4,000+ of them!)

    Keep up the good work 🙂

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  4. Ah, I was Freshly Pressed once. It’s kind of like that time I got an upgrade to Business Class on a trans-oceanic flight – now every time I get on the airplane, I know exactly what I’m missing. But I soldier on… Thanks for a look at the process!

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  6. Just want to say I’m the host of 4 different blogs on WordPress, and I do not feel at all insulted or hurt that you haven’t chosen one of my “offspring” for ‘Freshly Pressed.’ I do realize that you have so many thousands to consider every single week that it’s impossible for your staff to even visit all the good ones, let alone spend enough time on them to choose them for promotion. The way I see it, I have instituted each of my blogs because I believed it was the right thing to do for my own reasons, and I write every article because I want to do so and believe each one will bless the right person at the right time. I don’t write to get “Freshly Pressed.” I write for my readers and for myself. So you can rest assured that there are many of us out here who don’t get up tight about the “Freshly Pressed” choices. However, I think it’s nice of you to offer these insights in order to encourage bloggers in a number of ways. Keep up the good work.

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    1. Thru freshly press I have found some gems, thank you. What a cute mug (is that mug in you gravatar?), would offer a bullion, but only have coffee and some pastries ;),

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      1. No problem. I just posted a comment on a friend’s blog, and right in the middle of my writing it, my computer sent my page somewhere else and posted my totally incomplete comment before I was ready. I don’t know what happened either. Sometimes I wonder if computers really do have a mind of their own.

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    3. Good – we hope you’re all blogging because you love to do it, and not with the hopes of being Freshly Pressed. We’re starting this series both to give folks a look into the inner workings, but also because the best FP posts have lessons that can help any blogger make the most of their site.

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  7. This is a great idea for a Daily Post series. It’s interesting to read your comments and thoughts in choosing blog posts to highlight. I regularly read the blogs chosen to be honored with Freshly Pressed status and have discovered so many good ones that I now follow. I hope to be among them, someday, but meanwhile enjoy all the creativity out there.

    Thanks for sharing a little behind-the-scenes insight.

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  8. I agree with the reasons for why that post was chosen, although I agree with the others who say some FP posts kind of leave me scratching my head as to what the criteria was for choosing them. On the other hand, like you said, those who are choosing it have a variety of tastes among them so what appeals to them may not appeal to me.

    Have definitely come across some good reads, so keep up the great selections!

    Btw, did it change from 10 to 19 FP posts per day?

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    1. It did; we upped it so we could highlight more of your great work. As we continue this series (it’ll be a weekly feature), you should find yourself scratching your head less frequently.

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  10. Cool people from WordPress, I just want you to know that I love all of you and that I enjoy your every Freshly Pressed edition! Keep up the good work. And I’ll write in my little corner, work at my 8 hour day job and earn enough “gold bullions” to invite you guys for tea sometimes and make a proper offer! Wait, or are you guys more of a coffee bunch? Let me know!

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  12. That’s really helpful – it’s good to know how other people do things right. I’ve been blogging on and off for years, but only started on WP a while ago. Let’s see how things work out here. I certainly already met a few great characters. It seems to be a nice community here, where one can learn a lot 🙂

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  13. Interesting you guys wrote this blog because I had been wondering about this for some time.

    It did bug me that I wasn’t rising up the ranks by being featured on the Freshly Pressed page. Even after racking up likes for a blog or short story I posted but I resolved those grievances by crying myself to sleep after eating a big bowl of ice cream. 🙂

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  14. After two plus years of blogging, I don’t expect I will ever be Freshly Pressed. I don’t have that kind of luck. (How else would you describe the confluence of the right post, right tag, right place, and right time?!) Of course, after a blogger has been Freshly Pressed once, they have an increased chance of being Freshly Pressed numerous times. Luck breeds luck!

    No, my lack of luck is summed up by Calvin: “You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help.” ― Bill Watterson

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    1. Like what Michelle W. stated, never say never. But I believe you are so right about a couple of things: No. 1 — LUCK. Because aiming for FP is like waging for the lottery. No. 2, about the “increased chances” — maybe so. Because once you make it to FP you’ll get an email which says “You are now part of an ELITE group etc.” Wow. Elite.

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      1. FYI, you now get a very different email with no mention of your elite status. Which means no Sky Club passes or priority boarding, but them’s the breaks.

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    2. Margie,

      I have been blogging here on WordPress for two plus years as well, as this was the first time I got Freshly Pressed. Michelle said it higher up in the comments; it isn’t the age of the blog, but the quality of the post they review.

      I say this: don’t blog to be Freshly Pressed, blog to blog. To write. To create. To have fun. Sure, it’s an awesome little feature that gives you a great little ego boost, but it shouldn’t be the goal of your craft, I don’t think.

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  15. Huh. Before this, I thought you had to sacrifice a virgin to volcano gods before you came even close to getting Freshly Pressed.
    Colour me surprised! (Incidentally, the colour of surprise is purple.)

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      2. avery: i laffed out loud when i read your comment.
        as i was just listlessly sifting thru’ the whole thing, still … if i make it to the end i’ll post something…
        i’m afraid, tho’, that CTHULHU LIVES !

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  18. So far I have not used anything but my own photos, creations, and artwork- and some of my daughter’s. Sometimes I don’t have time to make something. Is it better to use a photo from a google search and give credit or go without a pic?

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    1. I highly recommend using Wikimedia Commons when you don’t have your own photos to use. It’s a giant photo library that is free for anyone to use; photographers upload stock images and you simply search for an image, download, and pop in your post. It’s always good to cite that it came from Wikimedia Commons, but other than that, you’re good to go!

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    2. You can use photo’s of me wearing a Mexican wrestling mask if you want. No credit required for such awesomeness. 😛

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    3. I used to use GIS images, but eventually found it was a lot more fun to make/take my own. I pose beers in ridiculous places, often in my neighbors yards while they’re not home. I also take pictures of Lego men on my desk at work, during my lunch break, much to the confusion of my coworkers.

      It’s so easy to just Google and Save As. Creating your own images takes creativity and patience and the result, I think, is a much more personalized and engaging blog experience.

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      1. That’s how I have kind of felt in my short time of blogging. I am learning some new programs and more about my iPad as a result, which brings me joy in itself.

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    4. Along with what other folks have already said, you can also search for Creative Commons images to use. As for whether or not to include an image at all, I’d say that depends on whether/how it contributes to the post – be open to how an image can enhance things, but don’t stick one in just because you feel like you need to to increase your Freshly Pressed odds.

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  20. Loved the post, thanks for bringing it to my attention. Ummm, no gold bullion, how about a red velvet cupcake, smothered in gold dust? Yes? No? You cam PM me 🙂

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  21. What a great idea for a blog series: dissecting the Freshly Pressed posts to show why they were chosen. I bet this will be extremely popular with the WordPress community.

    I was Freshly Pressed in June, and all I can say is thank you! I was so honored and unbelievably surprised. You truly helped me get my blog off the ground, and I can’t thank the team enough!

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  22. I’m pretty new to wordpress (2 days actually) and I’ve written 3 articles already. But I’m not pressing on the freshly pressed button yet. I hope to refine my work so it becomes worthy of publishing. I’ve got time and patience. 🙂

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  24. Thank you for the advice; I appreciate it and your sense of humour as well! I am still a new blogger (as of a week) and truth be told, I blog more for myself than for an audience, but if I ever make it to Freshly Pressed some year down the line, I will be honoured. Thank you for all the work you put into this site, I have had a wonderful first week blogging here!

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  25. Does posting at a particular time of day have anything to do with it? I post EVERY day for almost two years -a great blog about parenting, kids, drinking, and murder (sort of) and I notice an uptick when I post in the morning as opposed to late at night.

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  26. This may sounds like a dumb idea but I think while a panel picks who will be freshly pressed it might work to have a month long vote in kind of feature where other bloggers nominate the bloggers they like and love for the honor. I think that way you get a little bit of feedback and its further strengthens the WordPress community in many ways

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  30. I do not have the slighest bit of doubt, “My blog will never be picked for “Freshly Pressed.” It basically comes down to the signs of the times, and I as an age 70 writer of my blog, do not fit perfectly into our liberal minded socieity. I come from a generation of those who believe in working hard and earning our way in our socieity in America. Where does a WordPress Blog, that is spiritually-centered in written poetry fit into WordPress? The answer “No Where” in a society that placed an individual such as Obama in office as President of our country. Defeat Obama in November 2011!

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    1. Whether or not you feel like you fit into our liberal-minded society, you fit into the WordPress community. We try to showcase diverse voices every day, and that includes people from all places on the political spectrum.

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    2. I think my blog and writing style are pretty deeply rooted in what most people would consider “fringe” (I discuss dragons and wizards and pirates more often than not) and yet I’ve found a great home here on WordPress. Sure, not every reader is going to love every sentence you pen, but if you write with passion and skill (no matter the topic) you’ve got just as much chance as anyone.

      Don’t get too mentally mired in what is popular or how you fit it. I just read some of your poetry and thought it was quite moving, even though I am not a spiritual person.Just keep doing what you love; fame and glory finds those who aren’t chasing it.

      P.S. There are still some hard working young Americans too.

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