Today reader Ian McKee, whose blog handle is 45Bravo, tells us his side of writing a guest blog. This is what you asked for, reader halfstep — a guest blog about how to write a guest blog. Atypically, today I will insert several comments into this guest blog. I only do this to clarify things for you. I think Ian has done a fantastic job of describing how to do this.
If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me at blogger@pyramydair.com.
Take it away, Ian
Writing a guest blog: Part Two
by Ian McKee
This report covers:
A daunting task
Pick a subject you know
Google Docs
Winnowing the chaff
Step away
Tips to make BB’s life easier
Just do it!
Summary
A daunting task
To many of us writing a blog report seems to be a very daunting task, shrouded in mystery. To BB, it’s just an everyday occurrence.
BB has to write one report a day, five times a week. In 2023, that would have been 249 reports, if none of us would have contributed guest blogs.
That leaves very little time for him to do other things like range time for the reports that require testing beyond the 25 yards that he can do at home, photography and deeper research into other subjects. (BB doesn’t really need to do much research, as he is our walking, talking and typing Encyclopedia Airguntanica).
That also does not figure in having to take a different path when his intended blog subject goes out the window because things don’t always go as planned.
Unlike us, BB just doesn’t have the luxury of time to put a lot of information into one blog, so he has to break it into smaller segments. With his tight schedule that formula has proven to work well.
Many of us may take several days to write a guest blog and that’s ok. The more you write, the better you will get and the more comfortable you will become.
Pick a subject you know
The easiest way to start is to pick a subject you are familiar with and would like to share with people. Then just put it on paper — by which I mean type it into a computer, tablet or smart phone. It doesn’t even have to be airgun related (but it helps). In this blog we have learned many things. Like how to sharpen a straight razor, or how to reload rimfire firearm ammunition and many other subjects that do not pertain to airguns.
Everyone will have a different style of writing and organizing the information into a coherent exchange of information. Personally, unless I am writing a report that is technical in nature and I have to give very detailed information in a certain sequence, I tend to do a “brain dump” as I call it and get as much info as I remember it on the page. I will circle back and reorganize it later.
Google Docs
I use the program Google Docs as the place where I enter my text. I can add things that come to mind while using my tablet, laptop, desktop or smart phone regardless of who makes the device. Just open the document and type or speak the part that I want to jog my memory about what I wanted to say at that point in time.
Winnowing the chaff
Once I have put what I want to say on the page, I take a break. Maybe get something to snack on or something to drink. Then return to read what I have done. I then start rearranging the content into areas that cover the same part of the topic. This is where I organize things into something that starts to make sense.
Once that is done, I read it again — this time looking for glaring grammatical and spelling errors even though Google Docs does a great job of weeding them out automatically. English not being my native language (I grew up in rural Louisiana, so Cajun Redneck is my heritage), Google flags many things I type.
During this time, I will remove parts of the blog that don’t quite fit with what I am trying to convey.
I will also let BB know where I would like the photos to go.
Step away
After this round, I will go do something not related to that blog to get my mind off of it. Sometimes I even wait until the next day so I am in a fresh mindset.
Like Hank (Vana2) I will have my wife read a technical blog to see if it makes sense to someone that knows very little about an airgun.
The last read is to see if I forgot anything, or if there is something that still doesn’t quite fit.
I then get my photos together, and run them through a photo-editing software. On a Mac computer I use the built-in program called Preview to adjust the colors, and to reduce the size of the photos to make them compatible with WordPress.
You really don’t have to adjust the images as BB will massage them into what he knows will work with WordPress. But I do this to help reduce the workload on BB.
Most modern smartphones generate photos with more than 12 MP (Megapixels) meaning they contain more than 4000 x 3000 pixels in height x width.
WordPress likes them to be no more than 800 pixels wide if I remember correctly. And they need to be 72 dpi (Dots Per Inch). [Actually the pictures cannot exceed 650 pixels wide or 490 pixels high. The 72 dpi is correct.]
They also need to be in the .jpg format (pronounced jay-peg). JPG is an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Other file types may not play well with WordPress.
While at SHOT show this year, I watched while BB typed his blog and checked his facts about the specs of the new products. I was glad to be there to help keep track of what we saw and their specs and features. He would then pull the photos up on his laptop, crop them and adjust the colors and sizes.
He would then upload the content and photos to WordPress, and set the schedule for the blog to go live.
Then say a prayer that WordPress would do what it is supposed to do, when it is supposed to.
He was narrating what he was doing as he was doing it so I could follow. But like he said, he works fast, as he has done this five times a week for many years.
What would have taken me a day to accomplish, he did in about two and a half hours or so.
Tips to make BB’s life easier
As he said in part one, do not use any special formatting and send the text in a .rtf file (Rich Text Format), let him take care of the formatting.
A subject that sounds easy to you may seem like ancient Hebrew or advanced calculus to a reader. Try to write the article with the mindset that the reader may have little or no previous exposure to the subject you are writing about. They may even be reading the blog through a language translation software. Also, please explain the acronyms when you first use one.
Try to stay away from photos that have a lot of red & green in them as BB is red/green colorblind. [That is true, but since I am colorblind I don’t know if Ian is giving good advice or not.]
Wherever you wish a photo to be inserted into the text I suggest using this format.
INSERT PHOTO: FRONT SIGHT
CAPTION: This is how the front sight is mounted. [Yes, yes, yes! This is the easiest way I have found to locate where your pictures and captions go!]
The all caps will draw his attention as to where the photos need to be.
When you send BB the email with the .rtf file and the .jpg files, let him know how many files should be attached to the email and what file types. [This is important because sometimes the writer forgets to send something, or I forget where I put it.]
Just do it!
You still may be uncertain about writing a guest blog. I say give it a try. You may never submit that guest blog, but you will have at least written a small portion of your knowledge onto a page and read it at least once. It may be something you have never actually done before. And you may even find it enjoyable.
Once it is on the page, you might as well submit it. BB will massage it into a report that others will learn from and enjoy reading.
Summary
I will tell you I was absolutely terrified when I first asked if he would allow me to write a guest blog about the Crosman MK1 — an airgun BB had covered many times before. He said send it in, and he would let me know.
Crosman Mark I Target pistol.
Look where we are now, him asking me of all people to write a blog about writing a guest blog.
HAVE FUN!
Ian
45Bravo,
Great tips and super insight into how Tom does it all….
The only think that I can think of to add, is to write in proper English. No regional dialects, no made up words, no colloquial expressions. Just plain English.
-Yogi
Yogi, you didn’t like my “Encyclopedia Airguntanica joke?”
It was meant to be a play on the Encyclopedia Britannica.
In the days before the internet, it was the definitive reference repository for the English speaking world.
And Tom is the living breathing Airgun version.
Ian.
No Ian,
It is people who mispronounce words and then spell the mispronunciation!
As Casey Stengel used to say, “You can look it up”. If you look it up, and there is nothing there, then something is wrong….
-Yogi
I agree with that.
I do a lot of looking up….
Ian..
Ian,
Me, too. When people say to me that I know a lot about airguns I sometimes tell them that I have learned to lie convincingly. I think you heard me say that more than once at SHOT.
BB
And, not to create discord, it is FM’s opinion that looking things up on Wikipedia does not count as much as looking them up using a long-established, trusted source that cannot be edited/massaged by just anyone – for example, Encyclopedia Britannica.
FM,
I have heard of Wikipedia, but I trust it as much as I trust anything else on the internet to be true.
Yogi,
Your tip this morning is a great one. And one that I violate too much.
BB
Yogi,
How would I know whether or not “Kentucky windage” or “deer in the headlights” were colloquial expressions or not? (I suspect they could be, but I can foresee a time when I may have to use them) I’ve heard them used all my long life and everyone knew exactly what was meant by both of them.
I have a similar question about regional dialects. If it’s my dialect from my region, wouldn’t it be expected that I would think it WAS plain English, if I didn’t travel much outside my region? I say, “ask” if you don’t understand and the writer can clarify if needs be. We’ve had to get used to dialects and such forever in this country. Ever wonder why you don’t have “foxen” if you possess more than one fox, yet more than one ox is not oxes. The words came from Europe at a time when villages could be as little as 30 miles from one another and didn’t know that they each existed, much less share the same words for anything in their daily lives and they had their own rules about how to use the words they had. When travel became easier over long distances, commerce was still severely hindered by the fact that one party was unable to tell the other party that they wanted to buy an egg. We in the English speaking world adapted rules from both villages, so to speak, and thus, you have the fox/ox rule.
I know I probably sound like I’m just pickin’ fly specks out of the pepper,but……ooops LOL
Half
You sure that is not picking flies out of fly paper?? lol!
Yes, once upon a time, everything was local. The enemy was the town next door, until men realized that the woman were prettier in the town next door. We now have the internet, the knowledge of all things at our finger tips(or else we would not be reading Tom’s blog). Use it!
To those people who have lived their entire life within a 50 mile radius, TRAVEL!! The world is a fascinating place.
Maybe Tom should write a blog just about his European experience. Military service aside, I bet it really opened his eyes.
If “yuns” ever in “my neck of the woods”, I will buy you a “16 ounce curl.”
-Y
Yogi,
I almost used “neck of the woods” as an example in my comment! That’s hilarious!
Half.
Great job, Ian, as usual. All solid tips. Thank you!
As someone who still feels like a newbie around here, I can say, if you have something to share, just try it!
My first guest blog took me two weeks or so to write. But it was a very rewarding experience, and the folks here were very supportive. I wrote about a Diana Model 24J, which B.B. never had written about, to my knowledge. https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2023/04/roamin-grecos-wrestling-match-with-a-rws-diana-model-24-j/
Now I have a few more airguns around here at RGIAA (Roamin Greco’s Institute for Airgun Appreciation). I hope to report on some of them soon. I would love to read about your favorites or a new acquisition of yours.
May this serve as an inspiration to others to submit a guest blog sometime.
Siraniko
I take a great deal of time trying to find the exact words I want to use and deciding what order to arrange them in to get my point across. I usually write as I speak but it isn’t always grammatically correct or come across as intended. I still have some perfectionist and analytical behavior that I must overcome to get something done.
For example:
Exotic cars are like earth rockets, when driven fast.
Exotic cars, when driven fast, are like earth rockets.
Exotic cars are, when driven fast, like earth rockets.
Which is correct? Forgot all the rules of grammar and it bugs me. I’m constantly changing words and sentence arrangements in comments.
An entire blog would drive me crazy, trying to think of everything I should mention and in what order.
Still, if I ever completed one, I think I would enjoy it.
Still, I think I would enjoy it if I ever completed one. Get my point?
Bob,
Edith and I had a running joke. She would remove all my commas and replace them with commas of her own. We argued about proper grammar and punctuation all the time.
BB
Bob M, if you were writing a dissertation, or a book, I could see agonizing about the proper inflection. Steinbeck is known to have said that writing is back-breaking sweaty work, or something to that effect. And although we all make a sport, of sorts, about correcting B.B.’s grammar, at the end of the day, we all just get our point across and don’t worry about it too much. I see nothing wrong with your grammar.
None of the above.
Just write it and we will figure out what you mean. You folks understand me most of the time, don’t you.
Mostly.
Close enough.
Bob
I think they are all correct and I’m impressed that you knew so many ways to phrase the thought. I wouldn’t have. And I do get your point. I try to be grammatically correct because I want to make one of the most influential men in my life, my 8th grade English teacher, Mr. Wallace J. Fox, proud of his efforts with me.
Half
FM blogged for about five years back in the first decade of this crazy century but finally burned out – pursuing perfectionism had a lot to do with that; don’t let that disease paralyze you – your writing does not have to be perfect; good enough is good enough. Approach blog writing with an attitude of just having fun writing about a subject that is fun for you, whether it be airguns or road kill cuisine.
Still remain quite impressed with BB’s seemingly inexhaustible source of energy for writing these blog posts and keeping it all together – FM will have what he’s having if he cares to reveal his secret “sauce.” 🙂
Mmmm. Road kill.
Somewhere in the house, there is a book Mrs. FM gave Worst Half – as a joke or not, not sure – with road kill recipes; recall one of them was “Possum on a Plank.” Confess never tried any of them; happy enough with the BBQ found in her neck of the woods.
I will have to be pretty hungry to eat a ‘possum. They are nothing more than a furry buzzard. Around here they usually end up as roadkill while eating roadkill.
I have eaten deer that I have hit. I might as well get something out of all that damage.
I have seen that book for sale before. I might just have to pick up a copy next time I see it.
RR,
Are you some kind of savage. You don’t eat a possum right away. You pen it up for about 2 weeks and feed it corn and fresh vegetables, just like you would before you ate a skunk. You ’bout turned me off both with that comment. Yuck!!
Half
We were discussing roadkill, not livestock.
RR
OK, I see the distinction. So I’ll assume that you ARE flushing out your LIVE possums before you eat ’em and will once again hold you in your usual place of high regard in my heart. 😉
Half
Half,
I do not under any circumstances eat ‘possum.
RR
I suppose that’s better than ruinin’ one by eatin’ it too early.
Half
Regarding B.B.’s secret sauce, make mine a double, please. Hold the road kill. Speaking of roadkill, why do squirrels lick the road? (Sounds like a joke, but it isn’t).
RG
I think it is for the same reason they chew up the wiring in a car that isn’t driven regularly. They like the salt from snow and ice management. That’s what I’ve heard anyway.
Half
BB
I often enjoy the humorous adjustments to commonly used words. Examples: thingy glowy & rememberer & BB Pelletier. Nicknames for commenters including mine can make me smile out loud. Some come from you and some from readers. I do understand that there is a huge number of readers from around the world so some control is necessary. I hope that what is currently allowed is okay.
Deck
Deck,
Try this one out. Discombobulated. I have been saving it. This is a real word. If you don’t believe me, look it up on the internet. Everything on the internet is true.
RR
Discombobulated is used enough around here. My wife sometimes uses it in reference to me.
Time for another RR Diana 34 report.
Deck
Deck,
Tomorrow.
BB
What he said.
Will vouch for that – a favorite with Mrs. No need for internetting! Or find it in one of Webster’s tomes if you please.
RR,
Have you ever tumped over a barrel of water. I did it many times over the years, until I learned there was no such thing. You can, apparently, “tip” or “dump” individually, but not simultaneously.
Half.
What?
RR
I told a story to a co-worker of mine a few years ago about how my Jon boat filled with rain water overnight. When I got to the part where I emptied it, I said that I tumped it over. He asked “What the hell is tumped?” I said “You know, I emptied out the water.” He said “That ain’t no real word, you made that up!” I said,”The hell I did! Everybody says that!” “Well I’ve never ever heard anyone say that” says he. “You can tip it over or dump it out but tump is just made up”. So he bet me $10 that I couldn’t find it in the dictionary and I lost $10.
Half
Half,
Hey, I like it. I will try to remember it and use it some myself. Who cares what your co-worker thinks?
When I step out of line, which I often do, I am usually slapped back into position pretty fast.
I do have a suggestion for writing a quest blog. Do not copy and paste a bunch of stuff. I recently tried to make BB’s job a little easier by copying and pasting the headings of previous posts including the shortcuts and picture. Boy, did I hear about how I messed up.
Just don’t do it. Let BB make that stuff right.
By the way, thanks Ian. I hope that the fence sitters will hop off and write something.
Me too.
I like reading about what interests and expertise other people have.
Oh when I include links to BB about previous articles.
I only put them in the body of the email that includes the .rtf file and .jpg files.
Never in the .rtf file.
Also I will say in the first line of the email I will say something like this.
Attached you will find the .RTF file and six photos.
Links to other articles mentioned in this blog are at the bottom of this email.
And only send the link to the particular article and let him take it from there.
Ian.
I personally find writing anything to be a chore best left to those who like it. Though when forced due to my work, when I had a job, I could get the task completed. When you use a Microsoft to determine the reading level, my writing was typically 12 to 14. Where the goal was to be 9 or 10 at the highest. If the document really needed to be dumbed down it generally took as long to do that as it took to do the initial writing. The exception to that rule was when I was writing Naval messages, once you are accustomed to this style it is very fast to write. Naval messages take a very specific format and use NO Punctuation and absolutely the fewest and shortest words possible to convey your exact meaning / intent. Conjunctive words like “a”, “the”, “and” are also omitted. Think of it as giving orders and being very abrupt when doing so.
Mike
Beamer,
No wonder I had so much trouble understanding what they were trying to say.
Yesterday, a bunch of you folks started talking about the new Umarex Komplete. Well, now for my two cents worth.
Really? If they make an adapter where an airgunner can put a refillable bottle on there, maybe. I can even see someone putting a foster fitting on the end of one of those disposable bottles.
I quite frankly think that Umarex is having a pipe dream. If a sproinger shooter is too cheap to buy a hand pump, tank and/or a compressor, what makes Umarex think they are going to buy a bunch of those NitroAir cylinders?
If’n my rememberer is a workin’ right, Umarex has had more than one idea that seems to have fallen to the wayside.
Rick Rhem has serial number 6 of the Komplete rifles.
I am going to try to talk him out of it for my prototype collection.
With the cost of the cylinders and only 45 ish shots per fill I don’t see it being in production long. But we never know.
There are people that will buy it.
Hopefully they will see the benefit of PCP airguns and migrate to a more advanced airgun.
That’s what they are marketing is as a gateway to precharged airguns.
I am sure it will serve that purpose with some people that buy it.
45Bravo,
Good guest blog about the ins and outs of guest blogging.
On the Komplete i see one item they could do to improve SAFETY Immediately; although they have a degassing feature from experience with both modded CO² screw in cartridge systems and even bottle guns a notch correctly cut into the threads will provide WARNING HISS and a SAFETY relief of pressure if someone continues to unscrew a full or partially pressurized cartridge.
I am prepared to testify at the injury law damages trial that Best KNOWN Practices were not incorporated in the design.
I also predict no better than a typical user getting 3+ MOA (10 SHOT GROUPS) at even a close 10 yards with the included “optical sight” WAY more as range is increased.
shootski
Ian,
Yes, there will be some who buy it and yes, of those a few will go on to other PCPs, but the majority will be intimidated by the cost of the Nitro Air cylinders. To my way of thinking, the Origin kit would be a better way to go, but as I have said, Umarex has gone down this road before.
RR,
I have a AirJavelin CO2 powered arrow launcher and it’s too weak for deer and gets weaker as the temperature drops as the weather approaches deer season. The AirSaber is a TRUE PCP arrow launcher that is powerful enough, but requires the auxiliary equipment to fill it and a hunter might not want to buy that for a few shots at a deer once a year. Now imagine that Umarex made a N2 cartridge powered arrow launcher that a bow hunter could get in a little practice with and still have a charged arrow gun to take to the field. He doesn’t need hundreds of shots per tank and a spare tank, just in case, would be easy to pack out into the field. I am assuming that the Nitro tanks would be more pressure stable than CO2 at differing temperatures and would be even more stable with the regulator.
Whatcha think of that?
Half
Half,
I understand what you are saying. It is too cold around here in the winter for any CO2 powered thingy to work properly. Nitrogen would indeed be a better choice for deer season. I myself would prefer to use a hand pump or compressor to that Nitro Air cylinder myself though.
Thanks Ian for a very helpful report!
Ian,
You did a GREAT job on this!
You may even get me to write a guest blog, LOL! 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
Ian,
Thank you so much for writing this. Sorry I didn’t comment right away, but it was a busy day yesterday and I just read the blog. Between it and the blog by BB himself, I think I have the tools I need to at least consider a guest blog.
I have one question about the Google app and how you use it. Do you just randomly, as points occur to you, open it and just speak the thought and let it transcribe it or type it, thereby ending up with a fairly random arrangement of points of interest and data that you later organize? In other words, just use it as one of those pocket recorders that folks once used to leave reminders to themselves throughout the day. Or is that an oversimplification? Maybe write some stuff that you’ve already thought through pretty thoroughly and then slowly add to it as new stuff pops into your mind?
Thanks again for coming through on my personal request.
Half