- Blogs are informal and written in the author’s own words. Make it easy to read in 5-7 minutes. Don’t get too technical.
- Write in the third person when possible.
- Use a title that is interesting and creative.
- Write a beginning sentence that catches the reader’s interest and tells what your blog is about.
- Your first paragraph should introduce your topic and provide some interesting facts.
- Avoid sentences that begin with “is” such as, “The rose is a beautiful flower.” Instead, make the sentence more interesting by adding a description at the beginning of the sentence, such as, “One of the most beautiful flowers found in a garden is the rose.”
- The body of the blog provides information about your topic.
- End the blog with a sentence that summarizes what your blog is about.
- A blog is not your personal opinions or feelings on a topic. It is an opportunity to share information with readers.
- Do not cut and paste information from a source, that is plagiarism. Restate the information in your own words or use quotation marks around sentences taken directly from a source.
- Read several articles about the topic you are writing about to make sure your information is correct.
- Find one photo, or up to five, for your blog. Preferably, the photo is one you took. Because of copyright laws, you can only use photos you took or someone you know took and gave permission for their photo to be used in your blog, public domain photos that are not copyrighted, and photos on government sites, such as U.S. Fish and Wildlife. If you don’t have a photo, the blog manager will find one.
By Karen Bowen, AFGC Blog Manager
