HubPages Interviews Dr. Griz
One of HubPages' top pet experts shares excellent writing advice
1. How did you find HubPages? What inspired you to join?
I found HubPages by accident reading through a forum on another writing website that I was a member of. The folks in that forum had good things to say about HubPages so I decided to check it out. At the time, I had written several pet-related articles at my job to give to clients for informational purposes. HubPages appeared to be an avenue to do something similar, only on a much larger platform. It has always been an aspiration of mine to write in a professional capacity in both fiction and nonfiction. By joining HubPages, I saw an opportunity to share my veterinary expertise while growing in knowledge, skill and confidence as a writer.
2. You share in your profile that you are a small animal veterinarian, and your Hubs are full of awesome advice on animal health. Where do you get ideas for new Hubs? Is it pets you treat at work, or common questions you get from their owners?
The ideas I have come from both. Over the years of treating pets and talking with owners, I have a pretty good feel what people have questions about or where common misunderstandings concerning specific health issues exist. A big part of my job is providing pet owners the information they need to make informed and sound decisions on the care of their pets. My articles are geared toward that. I also get ideas from professional journals or from comments left by HubPages readers. There are literally hundreds of ideas I can choose from just in my area of expertise. As my understanding of SEO grows, I use it to focus on the topics people are most interested in.
3. Have you ever referred pet owners you work with to your Hubs before?
I have and the response has been good. Some of the veterinary staff I have worked with do a lot to help send people my way. I hope that trend continues as more and more Hubs are published.
4. If pet owners could read just one or two of your Hubs, which Hubs would you recommend? Which issues do you think pet owners must become most educated about?
Health-related issues due to fleas and obesity are so common that they warrant special attention. The good news is that both are very preventable if pet owners have the proper information to make decisions for their animals. I would recommend my Hub “Dogs and Fleas: A Review of Flea Medications” to get a side by side comparison of medicines that are currently available. I also offer some advice on what products have done a good job in my hands. My Hub entitled “A Fat Dog is a Common Dog” addresses the obesity epidemic currently going on it pets. I offer advice for either preventing obesity or alleviating it after it has already occurred. Similar Hubs addressing these issues are in the works for cats.
By simply addressing these two topics, pet health would vastly improve while saving owners a lot of money in vet bills. If someone reads these Hubs and he or she is prompted to make a positive change to help their pet, I am happy. That makes one more animal out of the millions out there with flea or obesity problems that is healthier and happier.
5. You've been on HubPages for more than half a year now- has your writing changed much since you joined?
I think my writing has improved in both style and structure. There are several nonfiction and fiction writing projects going on in my life right now and I see myself becoming more skilled and confident. Things are getting done with better efficiency. I am not where I want to be yet, but I think I am heading in the right direction. With additional time, study, and practice, I plan to continue growing into the author I want to be.
6. Your Hubs are really top notch- they have been from the start! What writing advice would you give to new Hubbers?
Thank you. I think the biggest thing is to be patient, take your time writing your Hubs, and strive for quality more than quantity. The numbers of Hubs and readers will come, but only if you invest the time and effort to deliver quality writing that people will deem worth reading. I think it is a good idea to focus on learning to write well at the beginning while using the page-building tools on HubPages to put together an attractive hub packed with valuable insight and information. Utilize HubPages to become a better writer, editor, marketer, researcher, and Hub designer. Ask questions of other Hubbers. Take constructive criticism in the context of helping you improve what you are doing.
One of the biggest attributes of HubPages is its community atmosphere amongst its writers. We all have a vested interest in helping each other succeed. For someone that is new here, that is a huge benefit. I want to establish credibility with readers. It is difficult to do that without having a polished Hub free of misspelling and grammatical errors. I prefer to write Hubs in a word processing program just because it is easier for me to clean things up. When that is done, I simply cut and paste into HubPages. It may take longer that way, but I can deliver better writing. Proofread before, during, and after publishing a Hub. Put yourself in the position of your potential readers. Would you read what you are putting out there? When I first started, I read through all of the Learning Center Hubs at least twice. It took some time, but I think they saved me a lot of frustration in wasted effort just by giving me a good foundation to build on. The learning Hubs were a great asset to me for delivering what HubPages expected while helping me to build an audience. I still make mistakes and I still have plenty to learn from the folks on HubPages that have been doing this a lot longer than me. I try to follow the forums when I have time and they have proven valuable in helping me improve.
7. Is there anything else you would like to share?
I would just like to thank all the people that have checked out my Hubs. I hope that you have found them useful.
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