Youth Voice Blogger

Planning your blog

Before you submit your blog, take time to consider what you want to share and how to convey your message.

1. Keep It Personal and Focused on Events in Your Life: Don't try to cover your whole life story. That's too much for one blog. Instead, focus on a specific event or period in your life.

2. Describe Moments and How They Made You Feel: Small moments can help readers understand your experience and your feelings.

3. Don't Shy Away from the Tough Parts: These experiences make your story real. What helped you through these moments and cope with your experience?

4. Have You Come on a Journey? Do you feel you have changed because of what happened?

5. Do You Have Any Tips or Advice to Share? What would you say to someone going through a similar experience?

Writing your blog

We find that blogs work best when they're informal and conversational. Here are some tips for writing:

Style:

1. Write Like You Talk: Imagine you're chatting with a friend and tell your story like you would in person.

2. Be Yourself: Don't worry about trying to sound like a writer - just be you! Let your personality shine through your writing.

3. Keep It Simple: Use short words instead of long ones.

4. Use Short Sentences and Paragraphs: This makes your blog easier to read.

Structure:

1. Catchy Opening: Think about your first sentence. What can you say to grab your reader's attention right away? It doesn't need to be shocking to do this.

2. Stay Focused: Build your story around key events. Keep it straightforward and avoid repeating yourself to make it easy for your readers to follow.

3. Edit for Clarity: Once you're done, read your blog from a reader's perspective. Does it make sense? Make any changes needed to improve it.

4. Length: Aim for your blog to be between 500 to 1,000 words.

Ideas we're interested in

We want this page to be genuine and relatable for young Londoners, so we're excited to receive blogs about issues that have affected you and things you care about. If you're unsure where to start, here are some topics we'd love to see a blog on:

- Mental Health and Wellbeing: Personal struggles, coping strategies and stories of resilience.

- Education and School Life: Experiences with exams, college applications, school-related stress.

- Relationships: Friendships, romantic relationships and family dynamics.

- Social Issues: Activism, environmental concerns, equality and social justice.

- Technology and Social Media: Navigating digital life, the impact of social media and tech trends.

What we can't accept

- Triggering descriptions of violence, mental health and abuse. Try to focus your writing on feelings rather than behaviours.

- Blogs that could identify you. For your safety, avoid giving detailed information about where you live, where you go to school, and who your family and friends are.