Time to submit?

1. 87

   Jan Stepanposted 3 years ago

   Hello everyone!
   
   I am now considering submitting one of my articles to Owlcation's site. I have re-edited it many times and feel that it could be published there. However, I am still scared to take that final step because I know that I can only submit one article in two weeks. Should I just go for it?
   
   It would be nice if you shared your opinions and how you started. This will be my first time ever submitting an article to a niche site and I do not want to screw up by missing something important.
   
   By the way, the article I want to submit is the one where I write about how to increase productivity.

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   1. 60

      chef-de-jourposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It's important to learn all you can from the Learning Center on HP, especially the QAP - I trust you are familiar with this crucial section? If you are and have confidence in your article's quality then it is time to take the plunge. We all have to start somewhere! I made many mistakes at first but bit by bit managed to pass muster.

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2. 76

   Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

   As chef-de-jour notes the Learning Center is crucial. There are signs you haven't fully absorbed the information there. For example, you need to use text capsules and put your subheads in the cell provided so they will be rendered in the correct font. They also need to be in APA title face.
   
   I would change your title to better reflect the content as being relevant to college study rather than speeding up the production of left-handed widgets in a factory.
   
   There are a few grammar errors.
   
   For example "Step 1 - Small gains makes the difference." It should be make - singular.
   
   And "what life throughs at you," it should be throws not throughs.
   
   I'd say the piece is thin on content. There are a lot of observations about how we procrastinate but little advice on how to avoid this trap, and the whole first paragraph in "Step 3" is largely irrelevant. It would be better if you can find credible research about the optimum length of effective study time and quote from it. People want practical hints rather than nostrums such as "Remember why you may struggle in your life. The actual reason may be because you want to achieve something extraordinary and develop yourself further in life."
   
   Don't give up. It's a long slog in the writing racket and you will face a lot of rejection until you get it right. Practice, practice, practice.

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   1. 87

      Jan Stepanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the feedback!

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3. 65

   Glenn Stokposted 3 years ago

   Jan, You wrote three beneficial points.  And you did that well. I see you made the corrections the others had suggested.  Good work so far. But it still might not make it into a niche site. I'll tell you why.
   
   It would be better if you stayed focused on how you began the article.
   
   You started with a quote listing three things: commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. But then you talked about three other things in your article. 
   
   Readers will be disappointed when they expect to learn what you began saying and never get an answer. So, I would suggest you include a discussion of those three items too. And change the title to "6 steps."
   
   Of course, I'm sure you already realize a problem with that. Your URL includes the keywords "3-Steps." So you'll have to decide how you want to handle that.
   
   That is why I always change the URL not to include specifics, as I talk about in one of my tutorials.  That leaves me flexibly to change the title later without becoming a mismatch with the URL.
   
   Note that you can only change the URL before you publish, however. The URL field is above the title field when you begin to create a hub. So take advantage of that when you write new articles in the future.
   
   While writing this, I realized a solution. Leave it with three items, so it matches the URL. But change the subtitles to relate better to the three items you quoted. Then a minor modification to the text might make it all fit in place.
   
   For example, your first step about "small gains" can relate to "intelligent planning" with a bit of modification to the content.  And your last step does already discuss focusing, so that could work if you tie it in with the quote.
   
   So, what's missing? A discussion of "commitment to excellence" that you quoted.  Maybe you can work that into the discussion of step 2.
   
   Three other things:
   
   1. Your bio doesn't give you credibility. Saying "studying at a distance" works against you, in my opinion.
   
   2. It would help if you included references to high-quality websites that reflect on the points you are making.  Google likes it when you can show trustworthy accounts of your statements. Please note that's nothing against you. But since you say you are a college student in your bio, it would help with authority to include resources.
   
   3. Try to break up your paragraphs some more. Readers tend to click away when they see too much text in one place, especially when reading on a smartphone's small screen. Each paragraph should only have one thought. As soon as you go into another thought, make it a new paragraph.
   
   That's about it. All in all, I think you display a lot of intelligence in the way you write. So keep it up, and welcome to HubPages.

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   1. 87

      Jan Stepanposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, that is what I call a detailed answer Glenn, thank you!   I appreciate that you took the time.
      
      Your suggestions seem all great although it for sure won't be easy at all to adjust the text so that everything fits correctly, however, I will give it a go.
      
      I can see from your answer that you are extremely experienced in this field. It's great to see, it gives me inspiration.

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      1. 65

         Glenn Stokposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         None of these things are easy, Jan. Anything that's important for success takes work and effort. But I know you can do it.
         
         Just sit down with it and contemplate what you need to do with the text. When I do that, it begins to flow, and before I know it, I complete what I needed to do.
         
         It's worth the effort, especially if you intend to get everything into the niche sites. As I said, I know you can do it. I can tell from the way you express yourself. And you'll be pleased with yourself when you're done with it.

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4. 67

   PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago

   Glenn is right about the biog. Although it's called a "biog", it should be treated more as a resume/CV for a job. You are trying to demonstrate your expertise and why you should be trusted on your subject matter.
   
   Read some other people's biogs for inspiration. The serious writers on here have different approaches but find ways to inject more gravitas, make themselves sound like reliable sources.
   
   The blunt truth is that the readers don't care what you want to be, or your aspirations, it's more about things like experience and qualifications. You can put a bit about general interests at the end if they don't relate to the subject(s) that you're writing about.

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