How can I better my writing?

Jump to Last Post 1-6 of 6 discussions (18 posts)
  1. CaityBugsMommy profile image60
    CaityBugsMommyposted 14 years ago

    I am new to HubPages and so far I am enjoying it. I would like for some constructive criticism to make my hubs better. Any and all mistakes you find if you could point them out, would be helpful. Most of my hubs are recipes, and all are about food in one way or another. I am just sticking with this topic for a while until I feel comfortable with my research skills and knowledge of other topics.

    1. liljen23 profile image74
      liljen23posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hello Caity and Welcome to HP!! I have a few suggestions for you and even know I am not expert, this is something I use to make my hubs. Most of my hubs over that are over 400 words, I try to use more text capsules, link capsules, and amazon capsules to make the hub more colorful and full of information. I break down most of the topics included in the hub with keywords related to my title. I make at least 1-2 long paragraphs for each section. This makes the hub more targeted for traffic because you have so much information included in your hub.. Cagsil is right about the tags/keywords, you should have at least 9-15 but I usually complete a bit of research and work with keywords related to my title. I suggest using the Google Keyword tool to help you with keywords and making good titles for your hubs. I hope this helps..

      Jennifer

      1. CaityBugsMommy profile image60
        CaityBugsMommyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        So you are saying to
        1.) make my hubs more "colorful" or entertaining. Make them longer and break them up more?
        2.) as Cagsil says, create more key words for my hubs relating to my title?

        This does help, I just need a little more clarification. Thanks so much for responding.

        1. liljen23 profile image74
          liljen23posted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Caity, to clarify I will say to break your topic down into categories to make your hubs longer. Have at least 4 text capsules with each hub and at least 1 paragraph per text capsule. The more words the better your ads are, so you can bring in more revenue.

          What I mean about "colorful" or entertaining is saying that most readers like to see more things than just a bunch of words when they come to hubs. People get bored easily and if you have a few amazon capsules, photo capsules, and link capsules this will catch their eye. This will keep them on your hub longer, which is a plus. Make more text, photo capsules, link capsules, and amazon capsules and this should catch the search engines attention. This is something you will get better at with time, so take your time.. smile I hoped this help smile

          1. CaityBugsMommy profile image60
            CaityBugsMommyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            That is all great. Again, thank you for your help. I've also read a few of your hubs and have learned a little more. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to help me here.

            1. liljen23 profile image74
              liljen23posted 14 years agoin reply to this

              You're welcome smile smile Let me know if you need any help in the future, I'm always here on HP, lol..

  2. Cagsil profile image69
    Cagsilposted 14 years ago

    Welcome to HubPages Caity!

    However, I would like to point out that you have come into the Extreme Hub Makeover forum thread, but apparently unsure about the usage of the thread.

    I only say that, because you are to post a link to a hub you would like critiqued or reviewed by others.

    You cannot expect one person to go through every hub you've written so far. That would be unfair. hmm

    Please post a link or two, so we know which ones you prefer to have checked first. If you would like more checked after, then that would be fine also, but the reason for this forum thread is to get advice on a couple of hubs, make adjustments, get more critique after adjustments and then when all set, proceed onto others. smile

    1. CaityBugsMommy profile image60
      CaityBugsMommyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I apologize and thank you for letting me know! Here are the links of the two I'd like read over the most.


      http://hubpages.com/hub/Cooking-Around- … Restaurant

      http://hubpages.com/hub/Healthier-Eatin … r-too-much

  3. Cagsil profile image69
    Cagsilposted 14 years ago

    You're Welcome and Thank you for posting links. I'm off to check you out. smile

  4. Cagsil profile image69
    Cagsilposted 14 years ago

    This hub is a great topic, however, there are a couple of things.

    http://hubpages.com/hub/Cooking-Around- … Restaurant

    (a) It is too short. A typical hub should be more than 400+ words. And, some veteran writers, other than myself will tell you that 1000+ words is best.

    (b) The tags/keywords are not enough. A hub should have no less than 9 keywords/tags. The average hub should have targeted keywords/tags between 9-15 or more depending on length of hub.

    I'm sure there is more, but then again, I'm not the best person to talk to about SEO techniques, for which, are needed to make money from writing.

  5. Cagsil profile image69
    Cagsilposted 14 years ago

    This hub needs a couple of things also.

    http://hubpages.com/hub/Healthier-Eatin … r-too-much

    (a) It needs to be longer, because it is too short.

    (b) Plenty of keywords/tags on this hub. No need to change, unless you learn more about SEO techniques.

    (c) Utilize more text capsules, like you did in the other hub. Why you didn't in this hub? I do not know.

    Otherwise, you have a couple of good topics. smile

    1. CaityBugsMommy profile image60
      CaityBugsMommyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you so much Cagsil. I will go back through and fix these before I start publishing more.

      I am still learning about SEO and trying to see what other hubbers have to say about how to utilize it efficiently. Its a lot to take in. :-) I will work on making my hubs longer.

      As for the healthier eating hub, this was actually one of my first so I was unfamiliar with everything that was offered. This is one of my highest rating hubs. (I figured that if I knew what to fix on my best hubs I could better the lesser ranking, and the future ones)

      Again thank you for your help. I truly appreciate it :-D

      1. Cagsil profile image69
        Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        Hey Caity,

        Here are some hubs to read....

        Darkside wrote many helpful hubs on HubPages. All worth reading.

        http://hubpages.com/hub/how
        http://hubpages.com/hub/capsules
        http://hubpages.com/hub/howhubworks
        http://hubpages.com/hub/Hubscore
        http://hubpages.com/hub/hubpages-works

        Sunforged is the "guru" on SEO techniques. Also worth reading.

        http://hubpages.com/hub/Writing-for-mon … nt-revenue
        http://hubpages.com/hub/Get-Website-Tra … -earn-from

        Relache wrote a great hub about earning generation.
        http://hubpages.com/hub/Improve-Your-Hub-Earnings

        That should get you started. smile

        1. CaityBugsMommy profile image60
          CaityBugsMommyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks so much Cagsil. It was very kind of you to go out of your way to post these links for me. I will start going through them ASAP.

          1. Cagsil profile image69
            Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            You're welcome. Those are very useful and please do not rush your learning process. Always learn at your own pace. smile Don't force it. smile

  6. donotfear profile image82
    donotfearposted 14 years ago

    Without reading the links yet, I will say that learning how to write is important.   One can learn the best writing skills ever taking the college course English Composition & Rhetoric. I had to take all three...I, II, & Advanced Composition. This is where I learned to write. It was fun, too.
    If college is a bit much, you can order lots of study guides,
    including the English writing guide on Amazon.

    1. CaityBugsMommy profile image60
      CaityBugsMommyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      This is more of an answer that I was looking for. While the SEO information is incredibly helpful, I wish to know how my writing is actually coming across. I suppose I should have been more specific in my original post. However, I am still learning and have never been apart of a forum before.

      I do have some college books that I am trying to study on writing. Are there any that you would suggest specifically?

      1. McHamlet profile image60
        McHamletposted 14 years agoin reply to this

        I'm glad you care about the quality of your writing and I think, from what I've seen, it's reasonably OK, although it could probably do with a clean-up.

        Just to take the start of the first hub you mentioned:

        "Sometimes you just want to have a healthy, cheap and easy dish with a different flavor. Going out, or ordering in can get expensive, there isn't always the healthiest option available, and sometimes the cuisine you crave isn't close by. So how can you make an “exotic” meal right in your kitchen? Well its easier than you think. Here are some tips and tricks to making your kitchen teleport to different parts of the world for a night or two."

        This would probably sound better written as:

        "Sometimes you just want a healthy, cheap and easy dish with a different flavour. But going out or ordering in can get expensive; also, the healthiest option isn't always available and the cuisine you crave isn't always close by. So, how can you make an "exotic" meal right there in your kitchen? Well, it's easier than you think. Here are some tips and tricks to help teleport your cooking space to a different part of the world for a night or two."

        That just involved a few changes in punctuation, sentence structure, and vocabulary. If you're interested in why I made any of the changes feel free to ask and I'll let you know. I won't go into an exhaustive analysis right now. In any case, as I mentioned in another post, as well as being aware of specific grammar or structural issues, it's important to read as much quality in the area you write in as possible and let it rub off on you so to speak.

        Cheers.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)