Get published on the CLV blog!

Are you a future marketing/communications professional looking to get some experience?

Or do you have a knack for writing and you’re looking for a platform to share your talent? If yes, you could get published on the CLV blog!

If you want to make it as writer or work in a communication related field, having a portfolio of published work is crucial to getting your next gig, and we’d love to help.

We’re opening up the CLV blog for student submissions, and we’d love to see your writing.

To get published, here’s what you need to do:

1. Read and understand the CLV values and blog guidelines (below)

1. Have a look at our existing blogs to get an idea of the style of content we publish, and make sure your idea is an original one that we haven’t covered before

1. Choose one of our writing prompts (below)

1. Write a 500-700 word article

1. Submit it through this form, with a short bio about yourself.

Each month, we will select some of our blog submissions to publish. If your blog is selected, we will email you to let you know, and send you a little thank you gift. We get a lot of submissions, so it may take us a while before we get to yours.

What we’re looking for

We look for original, interesting content that shares a student perspective and provides value to other students. Blog submissions we publish are high-quality writing that reflects the writing style/tone of the CLV Blog

Note that we will only accept blogs that meet our values and guidelines, so please make sure you have read them carefully before you start writing.

CLV Values and Blog Guidelines

• The CLV blog is about sharing support, encouragement, advice and useful information that is relevant to Village and Campus life

• All of our blog posts are respectful, positive, supportive and inclusive, and provide value to our residents and readers

• Being inclusive means not using inside jokes people wouldn’t understand, not being negative (especially about others), not leaving anyone out, and remembering that our students are diverse, and are often international students or speak English as a second language

• Your writing should be professional and not contain mistakes; however, it is a more friendly, conversational style than a uni essay. Think about how you would talk to your friends and family and remember to keep your language accessible to those who speak English as a second language

• All content must be unique, original and written by you and must not contain any personal or confidential information about yourself, others or a business.

• We would love to see unique/original images you have taken, to accompany your posts, but we cannot publish other people’s images. If you do not have an image, we will find one.

• We do not publish anything that goes against our aims of having a happy, welcoming, inclusive, healthy and safe community.

• We will not accept or publish anything that is offensive, inaccurate, political, or overly critical of individuals or companies — this is not a site to air grievances.

• We reserve the right to edit your article to meet our guidelines and objectives or for accuracy, including writing a new headline or making edits in the future to ensure the content still stands.

• Link to your sources – you don’t need full citations, but if you state facts, statistics or claims, you should link to a verified source to back it up (hyperlink the text)

• When you submit your blog you agree to grant Campus Living Villages a permanent irrevocable royalty free worldwide non-exclusive licence (including the right to sub-licence its rights to third parties) in perpetuity to use, reproduce, modify, publish, adapt and exploit the material uploaded in this form.

Blogs should fit within one or more of the following categories:

• Studying

• Campus life

• Travel

• Food & Drink

• Tips and Advice for students

• Career

• Culture

• Health & Wellbeing

Writing Prompts

Here are some writing prompts to help make sure your article is accepted. If you have a different idea that doesn’t fit within these prompts, first, make sure it fits into one of the categories above, then have a look at our Blog to see the style of article already there and decide if you think it would fit. Then, before starting writing, submit the form with a pitch for the article that describes what you plan to write and why, instead of uploading an article, and we’ll be in contact to let you know if we think it would suit.

• Local Guide – what are the best places in your local area? From cheap eats to cool bars and fun activities, where would you tell someone new to the Village to explore near you? What are some must-do experiences at uni and in your local area?

• Advice I wish I knew – what advice do you wish someone told you before you came to uni? To the Village? What piece of advice did you receive that totally changed your uni experience?

• Study tips – what are your best tips for study success? How do you balance life and studies?

• Healthy Living – how do you keep your mind and body healthy with the stresses of uni? What advice do you have for students? You might like to tell us about your experience trying meditation or going to a new type of fitness class, or give us a great workout to do from a cool space in the Village

• Masterchef – do you have an awesome recipe that your flatmates love? Share it! Don’t forget to take a photo of your masterpiece and tell us why you love it and how you came across (or created) it.

• Lifestyle on a budget – what advice, ideas or experiences can you share with other students about living on a budget? From travel and experiences to saving money to shopping smarter

• Uni insider – what inside knowledge about the university do you have to share with your fellow students?

• Humans of the Village – got an interesting friend at the Village who’s doing cool things? Interview them and write a profile about them. Don’t forget to take a picture. We’d love to know: what are they studying? What has their experience at uni been like? The Village? What are their career aspirations? What are their hobbies? Why is their story interesting?

While these prompts are quite general, blogs that area really interesting often zero in on a particular topic, for example under the Local Guide prompt, you don’t need to do a total guide to the neighbourhood, but you might get more specific such as ‘A new Axe throwing experience just opened and here’s why you should try it’ or for Health and Wellbeing you might write about ‘How having hobbies outside of study can improve your wellbeing’ or ‘How to make sure you’re getting enough sleep to stay happy and healthy’

Tips for writing blogs

• Proofread your work.

• Make sure your article has an intro, body and conclusion.

• Make it easy to read by using headings throughout and bullet points/lists (people like to skim-read blogs).

• Your writing should be professional, but conversational and friendly. Blogs are not formal like essays, but still, need to be well structured and explain your concepts well.

• Not sure what that means? Have a look at the CLV blog for an idea or professional lifestyle blogs such as Concrete Playground or Urban list. Something like Pedestrian TV is often too informal/not professional enough.

• Keep your writing straight forward – long, formal words are not required in a blog, and shorter sentences are better than long, complex ones. Avoid unnecessary filler words – use your natural voice.

• Paragraphs should be no more than three to five sentences long.

• Think of a catchy, short headline that will capture people’s interest and make them want to read more.

There are some great free tools you can use that will help show you when to cut down or simplify a sentence, such as http://www.hemingwayapp.com/

Ready to get published?

Submit your blog here!