Anyone interested in being paid to write articles for DG?

LOL. Gail ..... I'm a talker but not a writer. I can talk for hours, but write? No way! I'm afraid I'd bore people like I do with my chatter! I have actually had a couple of family members fall asleep while I'm running my mouth!


..... Should I be embarassed to tell that? :)

I am laughing so hard. That is an accurate description of me! I should be embarassed! Guess what? I'm not.

Dave,

I would love to write some articles for you. Let me know what you need and I will get started.

I will enjoy the opportunity to expand my horizons and learn more as I go. This is a great web site and I would love being able to contribute what I can.

Thank you,
Charlene

Charlene: You need to d-mail Dave and let him know you want to join the writer's group.

Nice to know this! Someone had hinted me about this some time back asking me if I would give it a go. I have been seeing [not reading much to be honest - pictures I've been eating up all the time], the articles. I think if I've to write, I've to slow down on my pictures and I think it's time for that. I'll give it a go on a trial basis and see how I can manage my time. I'd like to know, Dave:

~if there would be a deadline for sending the completed article.
~if we can cull out from other sources in the absence of own resources and expeience.
~can subjects be chosen by the writer besides the ones given by you.

Dinu

Hmmmmmmmmm, I don't know wether I should either..... BUT on the plus side, I do hold the National Collection of Crocosmia, and I have reseached them for 7 years....... but write?????????? I don't know!! I too will have to think about that one...........

To answer a few questions.

No deadlines. Just submit when you are satisfied with the final product. We have a very nice article editor program that lets you work on the project, then view it as others will eventually see it. I usually compose my work on my computer as a rough draft first. Then upload it to the editor program to add images and smooth out rough edges. At that point, it's in the Pending File, and the other writers will be able to see it. We sometimes ask for comments or advice from the others if something just isn't satisfactory to us, and they can read it and let us know what they think. When you are satisfied, you can then assign a date to run, and hit the submit button to send to Dave. You can do a bunch of articles all at once, or work on one at a time, it makes no difference.

Other sources with proper research and proper footnotes and credit given is fine. You do not have to write from personal experience, if you have a talent for this type of writing. We are just very careful to properly document our sources in the footnotes if we do this.

We are free to write about anything that DG members might enjoy. As long as it keeps the same tone of the website and does not break the normal DG rules. Dave has a list to choose from if we need some ideas, or we need to publish an article about a subject that we might not think of, but it's all free will as far as our choices of subject goes. Dave's list pretty much reflects what people are searching for doing web searches that are gardening related. If you know what people are looking for, then you have a wider audience automatically.

Even if you have a specialized subject like the Crocosmia, there's an audience. I've thoroughly enjoyed Palmbob's articles so far, and he has a specialized knowledge of the palm type plants.

Islandshari's window on the Pacific Islands are a lovely specialized topic. She helps us understand how similar and how different life there is to all of ours. Great subject matter that I never tire reading either.

As far as the topics that can be covered with the amount of articles that we will soon be publishing, that's no problem. Garden magazines would have run out of material years ago if this were to be a problem. Each writer could write on the same subject and throw a whole new perspective on it. I'm not concerned by this at all. I'm anxious to see new spins on old ideas.

The thing is, what have you got to lose? If you feel like you can put complete sentences together in an entertaining manner, then by all means, try. We've had several try their hands and find it wasn't for them, no hard feelings. They're still our friends. Folks all just have different talents. You never will know if you don't give it a shot.

Just remember that you have to D-mail Dave to let him know.

I'd like to contribute ... do I dmail you?

Hmmmmm.....very interesting! I have no experience doing this sort of thing, but could always write a good paper in college. Will give it some thought :)

Hello Dave,
I am an experienced writer with a degree background.
I have written in different areas, but for the last years I write for a local newspaper ..
spotlights, features, council meeting coverages, etc. I also do other writing and photos.
I grow many plants and knowledgeable on many, especially canna.
I would be willing to write on subjects I am knowledgeable or able to research.
Thank you.
Alice

If you're interested in writing, you need to dmail Dave. Just posting here isn't enough, you need to send him a dmail too.

Everyone needs to D-mail Dave personally to let him know you're interested. He'll be out of pocket for the next couple of days though, so be patient for his reply.

Oops! same time posting!

Mr. Crocosmia, just find you a co-writer, and go for it! You could use your knowledge, and the co-writer could help you put it into a viable article!

Go for it!

FlowrLady............................... Are you volunteering for the job??????????? LOL

Mark...do it !

*hmmm...putting Paulgrow and Plantladylyn on my list of people that want gourd birdhouses...whether they get one from me very soon is an different matter...but..they are on my list of things to do as soon as I get a "Roundtuit". * Jo

If I send you a Round Tuit, you will make me a birdhouse? ;-)

Oh Jo .... That is so sweet of you but I didn't mean for you to think you had to make me a birdhouse! I was just teasing! I would LOVE to trade .... what are your interests? I have tons of plants of all kinds! I have lots of seeds but have no idea if they are still viable. I collected seeds from plants in my yard and my sister's yard and at my niece's college last year ... have a feeling seeds don't stay viable that long. They've been in mason jars, labeled and sitting on a shelf for a year! Just let me know if there's any "Florida" plant you would like to have!

I do hope you will write an article about gourds! I know I would find it very interesting and think many others would too!

Yes, we will send you a flock of Round Tuits if you'll write a gourd article! :-)

Send her chocolate round tuits!

Mr. Crocosmia, you have Dmail.

Marylyn dear...I am dieting and have given up chocolates...except those I sneak at bedtime. LOL

I will try to do some writing soon...to see if I can...and as to the birdhouse...I knew you were kidding...LOL Jo

Sugar free chocolate round tuit's then. ;-)

:) OK Jo

Oh, I wish I had the will power to stay away from Chocolate!

You are not supposed to stay away from chocolate. Didn't your mother tell you to eat lots of vegetables? Chocolate comes from a bean, beans are vegetables, thus chocolate is a vegetable by association and good for you!

Oh, Tetley .... I LOVE that explanation! Works for me!

Hi! Glad to see some good response, we sure can use extra writing voices. There is such a wide variety of subjects, and people who specialize well in them. For heaven sake, DG has over 200 forums, and at least half of them have projects going on as a team effort. I would venture to say that over 90% of those projects are complete successes!!. There's your diversity! It's built right into this place.
Judy, not only do you have a great garden, but a way with words. We have met in the darndest forums, (one of us really gets around, you or me? lol).

What is beyond our immediate scope can be easily done as an investigative reporter on techniques, projects, things that go on in the woods behind us..., and even places we visit. elsewhere.

I am going to the Big Thicket this weekend, and I hope to accumulate some things worth writing about. I have done quite a bit of research on it, because we have property there in Hardin Co. So I really hope I can see something that grabs me back. Hopefully not one of those Piney Woods Rooters!! http://www.longleafalliance.org/teachers/glossary/pineywoodsrooter.htm!! Yikes, LOL! If I had actually included that link in an article the words "Piney Woods Rooter" would have been blue and click-able to the site. Very cool linking gadget!
___
I see 3 articles in the gourd idea right off the bat, Jo. 1) Growing gourds. 2) Making a birdhouse from a gourd. 3) What kind of bird will use the gourd? Write about that bird and observations.
Research coupled with observation of any aspect of gardening will bring out your passion for it. This would create a huge draw. The 2 articles a day will be quite a collective task, but it will definitely keep things hopping around here. That in of itself will hold interest .

II am glad to see ecrane inquiring here! I know he does tons of research and identification work. One can tell right off that he loves it, and has a great respect for accuracy. Plus, if you see one of my articles in the pending files that has any ticks, you can dmail me to get it right, nudge nudge..:-)

Good Luck everybody!!

debnes

This message was edited Nov 14, 2007 6:36 PM

This message was edited Nov 14, 2007 6:38 PM

Thanks for the vote of confidence! I don't know about writing articles though--I suppose I could, but I feel like I'm one of those people who knows a little bit about a lot of things, but not really an expert on anything (Jack of all trades, master of none!). Plus I work full time, and on top of that I'm helping Dave out with developing the new pet website, so once he gets it up and running I have a feeling I'm not going to have much spare time!

PS I'm a girl :-)

Two things,

Debnes, your link is giving a 404 error as of about 2 minutes ago - What the H$%# is a Piney Woods Rooter?

Secondly, I have a round tuit, but I can't share because it is always in use LOL! I wonder if a digital photo would dilute it's power?

TTFN, KK.

I haven't read the last few posts but I just love tutorials and that doesn't take any writing talent.

I have been waiting almost two months for Snowrose to come back and do a tutorial on propagating chimeras.

Would good tutorials count as an article or is there any place for them in these daily writing articles? I would love to do tutorials of various propagation techniques on the gesneriad family. Tutorials in pictures in worth a 1000 words.

So sorry Kaelkitty!! ...I think the tuits get even more powerful when you share them, if I'm not mistaken...

Let me try it this way.. This is all the page has:

Gail, I for one would love tutorials.

me, too. Good idea.

I agree about the tutorials with photo's!

I never could have gotten started without begoniacrazi's tutorials and there were other tutorials on the av forum when I first joined DG. It is sometimes difficult to go back and find some of the really old tutorial threads which have even been bumped up several times.

And...there are always new 'things' happening on the forums which are of interest to a lot of people.

Ah Huh,
That's a relief, I had some most peculiar thoughts. We have feral pork up in Queensland, the pigs make a lot of trouble for the cane farmers up there. There was an Australian horror film released in 1984 called "Razorback" (what else) directed by Russel Mulcahy and based on a novel by Peter Brennan. The taglines for the film were so over the top that I found them hysterically funny -

Yipee....I now have a round TUIT! Got it printed and hanging over my craft stuff. Thanks! Jo

Kaelkitty: I have not seen that Round Toit saying in years! My dear MIL used to have something with that exact saying on it and I had totally forgotten about it until seeing your post! I've got to print it out and save it!