Stephanie Henkel, From USA, 136 Fans, 60 Hubs, Joined 7 months ago
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An Interview with Stephanie Henkel
An Avid Writer and Photographer Shares Her Background and Advice
1. What brought you to HubPages?
I always loved to write. When I was a child, I kept notebooks of poems and stories that I wrote; later I wrote newsletters for my administrative job at a major university as well as for my porcelain art organizations. When my husband and I began traveling the U.S. in our motorhome, I wrote regular newsletters to family and friends and always thought I’d like to develop my writing into something more. I was delighted when I found HubPages as it seemed like the perfect place for me to try writing for a wider audience. From my very first Hub, I’ve been impressed with the support I’ve received from other Hubbers, and I’ve been inspired by their willingness to share their encouragement and expertise.
2. What are your favorite subjects to write about?
My husband and I were full-time RVers for four years and still spend about eight months each year on the road in our motor home. I love to share our RVing experiences through my writing and enjoy incorporating my own photographs of birds, flowers and scenes into Hubs about some of the places we’ve visited across the U.S.
Since I have many other interests, I have also enjoyed writing Hubs based on funny personal experiences, a few family recipes, crafts and, of course, my cat and his philosophy of life.
3. You include tons of amazing original photos in your Hubs—do you have any tips for other Hubbers when it comes to taking, uploading, and using original images?
I’m an avid amateur photographer and take pictures of everything—flowers, cactus, birds, animals, rocks, buildings, scenes, etc. (Now that I’m writing on HubPages, I’m sure to be adding to that list.) My obsession has finally paid off as I have thousands of digital pictures in my files to use as resources when writing my Hubs. When I download pictures from my camera to my computer, I try to name each photograph so that I can find it again by doing a search on my computer.
It’s not necessary to have an expensive camera to have good, useable pictures as long as they are clearly in focus. Before uploading, be sure that photographs are cropped to the best advantage and adjust lighting so that the pictures aren’t too dark or washed out. I usually save my cropped image in a jpeg file smaller than 1mb for easier uploading. If, after it’s uploaded, the picture is not top quality, delete it.
Perhaps my biggest downfall is that I want to put too many pictures into my Hubs. While some Hubs, like the ones on wildflowers in Arizona, should have many photographs, others really only need two or three pictures to break up the text. I’m learning restraint!
4. You just won the Best Hub prize for Week 4 of the So You Think You Can Write Online contest for your Hub on bluebirds in which you show people how to attract and feed bluebirds. What inspired the Hub?
I enjoy watching and studying birds, whether at home or during our travels. I took these bluebird photographs last spring before I started writing for HubPages because I love documenting bluebirds, their nests and the bluebird babies. Watching our bluebirds nesting this year reminded me of those photographs, and inspired me to write the bluebird Hub. I was surprised and delighted at the positive attention it received!
5. In general, you were rather active in this past month’s contest—what was the experience like for you?
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I started the month of April attempting to do the 30-Day Challenge. It seemed logical to enter each Hub in the writing contest at the same time. While I didn’t meet the 30-Day challenge, I did manage to produce 20 Hubs that I also entered into the writing contest. It was definitely a challenge as well as a fun learning experience.
I learned that I’m not a fast writer. Given unlimited time, I write, then rewrite and tweak my writing endlessly. Writing under pressure taught me that I don’t need to tweak, re-tweak and re-tweak. I now try to do my best writing, proofread my work, fix mistakes and move on. I know that many Hubbers can produce several Hubs every day. I doubt that I will ever get to that point, but it does give me great satisfaction when I can produce several Hubs a week. Maybe I’ll even try the 30-Day Challenge again in a few months.
The whole April experience was great! When I entered my Hubs in the contest, I really didn’t expect to win anything at all. To actually be chosen, first as the Hub of the Day winner and then the Hub of the Week 4 winner was so exciting for me! Having my writing recognized by Hubbers who are such talented and experienced writers is an inspiration for me to keep writing and keep improving.
6. Do you have any advice for new Hubbers—either with regard to contests or to general writing?
My advice to new Hubbers would be to
- Learn from the HubPages Tutorials and from other Hubbers
- Participate in the Hub community. As you comment on other Hubs, participate in forums, answer questions or go HubHopping, you will also gain perspective on your own writing, learn from other writers and get to know other Hubbers.
- Proofread your work carefully before you post it. Proofread it again after it’s published. The most professional Hubs do not have common mistakes in them because the writers are careful proofreaders.
In my own Hubs, the ones that have gotten the most attention have been those with subjects close to my heart and in my area of interest and experience. Photos, videos and maps are wonderful enhancements to a beautiful Hub.
7. Is there anything else you would like to say to the HubPages community?
It’s been 7 months since I published my first Hub on HubPages, and it’s definitely been a challenging experience. Each day I learn something new from other Hubbers about writing, keywords, backlinks, monetizing my hubs and life in general. Some days I find so much to read that I don’t have time to write! And when I just need a laugh, there’s always a humorous Hub to brighten up my day. I’ve truly enjoyed being a part of this community. Thanks, Hubbers!
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