Feb 23, 2014 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Community Pool

The Community Pool is for those of you looking for input, whether on post ideas, writing, blog design and layout, or anything else. If you have a post, page, or idea you want to bounce off someone, leave a comment. Your fellow bloggers can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

Read on for the ground rules and to leave a comment . .

  • You’ll get the best feedback if you can be as specific as possible about what you’d like people to respond to or where you’re struggling.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. We’re here to help and support one another, not to beat anyone down.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • To keep from losing your place in the comment thread while you visit others’ blogs, right-click on a link to open it in a new tab or window.
  • No running on the deck.

Photo by t_a_i_s.

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  2. Hello! I am fairly new to blogging – I only started a couple of weeks ago – and I don’t have any previous experience with this sort of thing. So I would really appreciate if people could visit my page and give me feedback on my writing style and/or anything about my site in general! http://acollectionofcuriosities.wordpress.com/ Thank you and I hope you enjoy it!

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    1. Great blog! I loved your post: The Musée du Louvre, Paris. There is a really nice feel to your site, it sucked me in and made me want to travel 🙂 well done! Feel free to have a look at mine too. x

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      1. Yay I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Your short stories are really great as well!! I particularly liked ‘The Return’ – it starts and ends so well (the bit in between is good as well obviously!), I just really liked the way you linked the beginning and ending with the proverb. 🙂 x

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      2. Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed them. Hopefully will be posting more this week. Looking forward to hearing more from you too! x

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    2. Your blog is very cheerful and inviting. I love the illustration of your blog posts with pictures. I read your post about Amsterdam and I love how positive and informative it is. Inviting writing style, informative with links and addresses added, it’s making me hungry! 🙂

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      1. Thanks TravelSan! It’s been two weeks and I’m still talking about the food I had in Amsterdam…it was SO good! I really enjoyed looking at your blog as well – you take such beautiful photos! 🙂 x

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  3. Hi there, I’m less than 48 hours old to blogging. I have 250 views and am trying to keep the hits coming. I’d there any possible way to link our blogs on here to Pinterest? Is that permitted here?

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    1. I’ve been fascinated with Alaska for a looong time now, so I’m going to follow your blog to see what else you can tell about it!

      I love the clean and simple layout with the stunning header image to draw you in. At the bottom of the page, I see everything twice: recent posts, archives etc. Maybe clean that up a bit? That’s seriously the only thing I have. 🙂

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  9. My blog is baerboards.wordpress.com and I really want to improve the organization of my posts. I feel like as a reader it must be pretty hard to read the huge paragraphs I write, but I also don’t want to split them up into sections that are too small and spread out. Any advice?

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    1. Hi there! I browsed through your posts and personally, I don’t feel like the paragraphs are that ‘huge’. Paragraphs and pictures alternate, giving the content a balanced feel. I like it! And the yellow and black layout gives your blog a funky, beachy feel. Well done!

      A guideline I try to apply in my own writing is: start a new paragraph when you’re hitting a new topic or part of the story. Some paragraphs may be longer than others, simply because of what you’re writing about. 🙂

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  10. Hi everyone! I would like some feedback on my blog in general, and would like to see my posts being read. Please respond to anything you find interesting!!! Thank you.

    Home

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  12. I’ve just posted my first poem. I’d appreciate it if anyone could take a look at it and leave some feedback about whether you like it or not or have any suggestions on how I can improve on anything. Thanks!

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  15. Hi everybody! Still new to blogging, have another question for you all. I just posted a pretty long blog post. How long is too long for a post? Do you think people will read the post I just wrote, despite it’s length? Or, should I wrote on being more concise? Any insight or opinion is appreciated!

    What is Sin?

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    1. At over 2500 words, I would say that’s too long for a single most. (Many short stories are about that length.) I usually try and keep my posts between 250-400 words; 500-600 is my outer limit. It’s hard to keep your reader’s interest past that point. If I have a post like this that’s longer, I will cut it into two or three posts to provide manageable chunks AND give users a reason to return.

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  16. Still new to this blogging stuff. Have been up and running for 3 months now… getting some followers but don’t have a clue what a pingback is or why I would want to “press” my posts? Any help or suggestions welcome! If you need dog advice I own an extremely successful dog behavioral rehab and whispering company, check out my dog info and biz on http://www.thecaninecalmer.wordpress.com

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    1. the biggest problem I see on your blog is that you don’t have a structure for your posts and you aren’t concise and direct. I don’t want to provide any examples of my own that I can’t back up, so I will provide you with a few direct sources instead:

      Conciseness: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/concise.htm
      Always start with a thesis: http://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/better-blogging
      Clarity: http://wiz.cath.vt.edu/tw/TechnicalWriting/style/clarityverbs.htm

      These are only a few examples, you should look up concise and clarity, as well as passive voice, writing outline, etc. so that you can research how to make your posts more relatable to your audience.

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    2. So, a couple of things. When I read your title, I was excited to read posts that would help me learn about Glasgow, the lifestyle, fashion being worn, restaurants, concerts, etc. Instead, the posts are mostly about…you. Not that you’re not interesting, but it’s a little different than I was expecting. Even the concert post was less about the venue and show, and more about your issue with the tickets. It’s more minutiae that I might not return to read…does that make sense? I loved the restaurant reviews, though, and would be interested in reading more about them and about your life in Glasgow in general. Also, I think your template could be a lot more fun and colorful…it feels like you need something more artistic and less utilitarian. Hope this helps.

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      1. Thank you for the hints and tips!! Yes all makes sense. I guess I was trying to make it a bit more personal – life in Glasgow if you will – as lots of others seem to do the foodie thing I was keen to avoid doing too much of that but glad you like them and may try and do a few more if that’s what the audience like xx

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  22. Hello everyone here, looking for feedback on my blog as well! I would love feedback on how my blog reads, the layout, etc. I haven’t posted a lot yet, but I feel I have enough there for a review by someone. http://craftingourfuture.wordpress.com

    I will give detailed feedback to anyone that provides feedback for me, and I hope to give feedback to as many people as I see on here. If any of you are interested in workshopping, please let me know so maybe we can work together on this! (contact me via my email: craftingourfuture@gmail.com or on my website if you want)

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  23. Wouldn’t mind feedback on my latest post. It’s very sports oriented. I was going for fun yet persuasive, and using video to make my point. I’d like to know if I hit that mark…

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    1. Your blog sounds very interesting. It has a pretty eccentric concept too. To answer your comment, I understand that a good way to receive more readers/followers would be to comment on others blogs and giving more constructive feedback to fellow bloggers. That would indeed make your blog very popular and help others. Cheers. All the best. 🙂

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  25. Hi, I realize this an old post so this comment may go unnoticed, but I started a blog a couple months ago and have written 2 meaningful entries and a couple short writing samples. It may sound silly or ridiculous but I’d like some input as to whether I’m “blogging” correctly. Overall input on my writing as well as ideas on how to generate traffic would be helpful as well. Thank you for your time in advance
    timpahuta.wordpress.com

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      1. Hello. Your blog is pretty great. In response to your previous comment, I would like to tell you that there is no “correct” way of blogging. Your blog is anything and everything that you make of it. If one were to follow norms, then we would lose that personalisation which is ought to be part of writing blogs. This brings me to how you can make your blog “popular”. I think a good way to start would be to connect with more bloggers, and give and take constructive feedback! I think you’re doing great! I love the fact that your posts are simple in language, and make a conversation with the reader. Good luck and all the best! 🙂 !

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      2. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my comment. I really like the way your blog is set up graphically. I feel like man is very bare bones compared to yours, which is more aesthetically pleasing. I’ll work on that… Thank you again for taking the time
        Tim

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