Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Ways to be a good digital media writer


 

DO’s
-DO use bullet points

It is so much more efficient than full sentences. It looks less wordy and cleaner for the blog. It is easy on the eyes of the readers. And no one wants to read an article filled with words and no paragraphs or points, compared to bulleted points as it’s easier to find and most of the time contains the important points.

 
DO READ, READ & READ!

Read other blogs and other news to get inspired or more knowledgeable about things around us so we won’t be embarrassed if we’re out of the loop. Read your article at least TWICE to know ensure that you don’t make any grammar or spelling mistakes. And also to ensure that your word and sentences are properly phrased.

 
DO use simple vocabulary.

No one cares for fancy vocabulary that blows your mind. Readers just want to understand what it’s all about and leave. Don’t use fancy words which will make them wonder what it means or have to google the word.

 

-DO know your target audience & theme

It’s best to decide on the theme of your blog, (e.g. lifestyle, beauty, fashion, food, personal, etc.) so that your target audience won’t be confused about the content of your blog. Also, know who you are targeting (e.g. teenagers, women, men, unisex, fashionistas, etc.) so that you can link it it your content.  For us,our mistake was that our blog theme and content didn’t match and so, you need to plan your content and theme carefully to make sure they match.

Our stories didn’t exactly match the theme. So,a suggestion for improvement would be since we are “Weekend Ventures” to do a story about an adventure in Sentosa like taking the zipline, then going water surfing.

 

DO have multimedia’s

To show a variety of the happenings throughout the 10 weeks of Blogger’s Challenge. It won’t bore the readers as there’s a balance of visuals and text. It is also comfortable to the readers. 

 

DONT’s

DON’T go out of point and drag the words.Give the information clearly.
Beating around the bush is common is most writers. Yes, sometimes we tend to over-describe and that leads us….out of point. Now we don’t want that to happen, don’t we?
If you have problems writing, plan it out. Take as much time as you need. Remember, quality over quantity.

Here’s an example:

Bad:  I took the the 15 minute train ride all the way to bugis and even had to spend another 20 minutes on a bus ride just to get to Adam’s chicken rice stall.

Exemplary: It took me a long time just get to the Adam’s Chicken rice stall.

 
DON’T hyperlink the whole sentence but a word.

Hyperlinking the entire sentence will not only give the audience the wrong idea. But it will also not give them a clear understanding of which term is more significant and relevant. Also, hyperlinking the entire sentence will make the blog look messy and a lot more colourful, thus making it distracting for the readers. 

 -DON’T plagiarize

How would you like it if someone else took your information and claim it as theirs? Wouldn’t like it, would you?

Did you know? Plagiarism may tarnish your reputation and even lead you to legal repercussions.

Hence, iIt is essential to produce your own original content. Put your ideas into words. Be proud of your own work.

 
DON’T use pictures from other people or blogs without permission

Do make sure that you ask permission from the owner before taking it of from the net as it is may arise to copyright issues. Did you know that you could get into trouble! Get creative and take your own photographs or simply ask the owner for permission and  lastly do not forget to credit the owner.

 

-DON’T write anything offensive

Anything offensive or has insulting connotations should be left out. Especially if it’s about race and religion. One should never insult another’s race or religion or write anything as readers could get hurt. Any sensitive topics should be left out!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

New addition to the WV family

The weekend ventures have something in store! Yes, like you have read in our headline, we will be partnering with project to hero.


Who is project zero to hero?
Project zero to hero is blog that is run by 6 ladies.They aim to give back and contribute back to the community. They aspire to bring more smiles to people through their different missions.

What do they do?
They come up with creative ideas to go around and beyond Republic Polytechnic. You can watch the mission that they have done here.

Why are we partnering with them?
We will come up with fresh ideas to give you wider, fun and enriching activities to do!

How will it impact YOU?
Here are some of the things you can look out for in our future post:
  • Activities that will not only impact you but the society
  • Being more aware of the positive side about society
    • DID YOU KNOW?
      BOUCH will be giving out oranges to 150 homes as a gesture to celebrate the Chinese new year

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Building homes at 14


A partnership with Project Zero To Hero



In this era, lending a helping hand to others is seen as a rare gesture. There are plenty of reasons why most of us do not volunteer. Some of the reasons include,


  • Not getting anything in return
  • Don’t benefit easily  
  • Lack of free time
  • Feel that our efforts are not being appreciated
  • Shy/awkward/out of place because they’re the only one who wants to do it and it feels as if they’re the only ones trying to make a difference
  • Find it uncool
And many more..

However, Iffah Yasmin Bte Abdullah, 19, a year two student from Diploma in Mass Communication began volunteering journey as young as 10 years old. Her parents who instilled such values in her has made want to continue to do good. It started out with helping out at the orphanage and old folks home, followed by joining 4PM, a Malay Youth Literary Association, in an event called Ramadan on Wheels which she takes part annually. And she finally made a move to join UNICEF when she was 14. According to her, UNICEF focuses on the less fortunate kids, ranging from orphans to those have been abused by their family.


Photo Credit: Iffah Yasmin

Iffah shares her experience when she was with UNICEF, " I participated in 2 of UNICEF’s project to help out the children in Tanzania. We helped them by building a school and put together a little show for them just for entertainment. We also went to Cambodia to build a school, a community hall and teach them basic English. UNICEF has a vision to support child rights and I believe that their efforts to raise this awareness around the world is recommendable."

Her volunteering spirit has inspired her friends to join her in this volunteering journey and "it was a very satisfying feeling to know that just by doing so little, i can inspire others around me to join me to do good".

Photo Credit: Iffah Yasmin

Iffah is one of those inspiring people with a kind heart. We hope with this story, you would be inspired to do good. Maybe not in helping kids but maybe animals or your community.



Just by building a roof above their head, you can make someone happy. There are many organizations that you can sign up with. You can either sign up with Sg Cares, Red Cross, Volunteer Singapore or 4PM. For animal lovers, sign up at SPCA.
Go make someone smile this weekend!

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Republic Polytechnic’s Annual Open House



This year, RP has a whole new approach in organizing their 2014 Open House.

Unlike the usual performances, giving out free goodies, selling of different courses, as well as to give hyping up the crowd with the student’s enthusiasms, this time there was more.



Beauty and fashion products were one of the main attractions for the 3 day event. Volunteers from The Body Shop, Sally Hansen, as well as Teenage Magazine were all lined up at the entrance of Republic Polytechnic, providing free make overs for both visitors and students.

In addition to that, not only were there performance done by the Republic Poly’s students, this time round, students from the Platinum Vocal Student had also made quite an appearance at the front stage, pulling off a splendid performance which gathered much crowd.

Editor's note + Collaborations

Photo Credit: Funny 2014


HAPPY 2014!!! *pops champagne*

We know that it's already the 15th day of 2014 but we hope it's not too late to wish our readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope this year is full of magic and you'll be blessed all year round and enjoy this year, just like we all did back in 2013.

2013 was a memorable year for most of us at Weekend Ventures. Our writers went through the ups & downs of life and we found out about our internship posting. We had fun, we cried and laugh in 2013.

Last year, we had animal-cruelty awareness week where it was an especially important week for our writer, Fateha Sulaiman, who felt really strongly on the animal cruelty happening around the world for beauty, fashion and movies. We hope we have shed a bit of light on what goes on behind the scenes of the beauty, fashion and movie industry and how you can play your part for the innocent animals to end their sufferings.

So this year, we promise to bring you more exciting reads. We'll do our best to find you things to do to fulfill your weekends so your weekends will never have a dull moment. We look forward to 2014 to bring you even more joy.

Good news for you, Weekend Ventures will be partnering with other great blogs such as Project Zero to Hero and Duh Friday Club to bring you even more juiciest deets from fashion to how you can make the world a better place, or both. Weekend Ventures are always open to making the world a better place for everyone through our blog.

Look out for our collab post with the above mentioned blog.

Happy New Year!!

Much love,

The WeekendVenturers

Special edition: RP is the place to be

This post is dedicated just for our lovely young readers!
The O-level results have just been released and we hope that it has brought you guys tears of joy. Now, the big question, "Which route should I take?" JC, polytechnic or ITE? We'll recommend you the one place to be- Republic Polytechnic!
Come and follow our fellow, weekend venturer, Sharmeet, to see what a typical RP student  does on a typical day! Let's see...