Today is our first wHooligan feature, with the lovely Shilpa Garg! Check her out on Twitter, too!Shilpa joins me from India! The design of her site is so poetic and lovely :) Also she says she likes written words, sweets and beautiful conversations that happen over a mug of tea - totally my kind of lady! Excited to have her on the team :)
Each of my wHooligans has answered a few of the questions that participants posed to the co-hosts over on the A-Z blog, and here are Shilpa's answers:
Is there an ideal length for a blog post? Is 500 words too many?
For challenges like A to Z where our focus is on networking and building relationships by visiting and reading other bloggers. And since each one is keen to read more, reading long posts can be a bit of a concern. So, anything less than 500 words is acceptable. I believe we must KISS our posts, Keep It Short and Simple, I
mean! ;)
Name three frustrating aspects of being a co-host participants might not know. NO, CAN’T ANSWER WORD VERIFICATIONS, THAT ONE’S TOO EASY!
• Real long posts on blogs!! Agree, one may have a lot to share, but can that be
divided in parts? Or can the post be concise and crisp?
• Painful layout and fonts: White text on black background or multi-coloured
text in between or the curvy cursive writing kind of fonts are so hard to read.
Such layouts and fonts are a big strain on the eyes and sometimes you have to
squint too!! And in this process, even the brain (of course, I am talking about
my brain!) fails to register the written text!
• Selective engagement: On some blogs, I find that only a few comments are
replied to and others are ignored. I find this discrimination pretty weird.
Of course, we understand that paucity of time may lead to the blogger not
responding to the comments at all, but replying to select few, is simply rude.
How far in advance do you prepare your theme and complete your A-Z
before the Challenge begins?
Last year, it was my first A to Z challenge, so took each day as it came and
wrote on random subjects from A to Z. But this year, I am working on a theme
and the plan is to write all posts in advance. So, I am giving myself the entire
March to finish writing for this April's A to Z!
How do you comment - if someone posts 5,6,7 times a week .. once - or 3
times .. then each time or once or twice .. then each time I can't keep up ..
but hate not supporting everyone..
In case, I am writing everyday too, then I visit my circle of blogs everyday too. But in
case, I am MIA from the blogosphere, then I take time to visit the blogs and read and
comment on all the missed blog posts for that blogger. So, I usually aim to not miss
any blog posts from my Reader!
When writing, do you prefer to compose your first-draft by hand, on your
computer, or using Morse Code?
It is my life line, my laptop. Usually I write from start to finish. But sometimes, the
drafts keep lying as drafts for long, but they are always on my laptop. I do use the
notes on my smart phone or a small notebook in my bag, for jotting down ideas.
Thanks so much for stopping by, Shilpa!
