What Makes a Post Freshly Press-able: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Every day, a handful of WordPress.com bloggers are featured in Freshly Pressed. And every day, many more wonder, “What do I have to do to get Freshly Pressed?”
Well, it’s time to reveal what the folks who push the launch button are thinking. Each week, we’ll take a close look at one post and why we thought it was Press-worthy. We hope we can provide insight into the process and give you tips and tools to make your blog the best it can be.
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Many Freshly Pressed picks make us laugh, introduce us to new ideas, or provoke conversations. After all, one reason for having Freshly Pressed at all is to inspire everyone to blog more, so we’re drawn to posts that will stimulate discussion.
Sometimes, though, a post slices through the din of the blogosphere on the strength of raw emotion. When we run across those posts, we share them for three reasons:
- There is power in the words used to so bluntly describe a painful experience.
- We know that the WordPress.com community will respond with support.
- Sharing the post might help some else facing a similar situation feel less alone.
That’s why we recently featured There Is a Light That Never Goes Out, from new blog Charlie’s Other Angel. Two things about this post forced us to stop in our tracks:
The opening line made us sit up and take notice.
It’s not often that you click over to a blog and are confronted with:
My ex-husband died tonight.
There was no cute story gently introducing the topic, no collage of family photos, no loving words about the deceased; just four simple words landing on our screens with a thud. “My ex-husband died tonight.”
Those words tell us what the post will be about in more ways than one. Yes, it will be a post about a serious loss. And it will be straightforward and unforgiving. There will be no scrim softening the line between the experience and the post—this blogger is going to lay things bare. This will not be an easy post to read, and if this topic is a trigger for you, now might be a good time to leave.
She pulled no punches.
True to her opening line, she was honest about her ex-husband, their relationship, and herself.
Because, over the 22 years I’ve known my ex, it hasn’t been easy. It was often fun. I laughed and cried and laughed some more. I got cancer. I attended a lot of Al-anon meetings. I wished his death on at least one major occasion, and luckily God knew me better than that weakness of character and said No…
I am so sad. And not just for our boys — though most especially for our boys. Sad at what might have been for this sweet man. Sad that he hadn’t been able to kick the demons. Sad that it took his final month to bring us all back together, so close.
This is not a storybook memorial to a prince charming. It’s a real-life look at the flexibility and resilience of the ties that bind family members, even those from whom we think we’re unfettered. Ultimately, it’s the story of a woman who was able to knot off one of those ties in a way that brought her peace, and the redemption of a man ultimately bested by his addiction.
Blogging can be a scary activity when we’re publishing something lighthearted; there are always elements of fear and uncertainty when we release our words into the wild. To write so openly and eloquently about such a deeply personal experience takes another level of bravery, one that we’re moved to acknowledge.
Charlie’s Other Angel is off to an incredible start with this post—will you stick around to read more?
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Press-able: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out | MetaRead360 Small Press presents
- Online code-teacher Treehouse is now serving up WordPress | Open Knowledge
- What Makes a Post Freshly Press-able: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out | birdmanps
- Day 286: Think Before You Speak– Too Bad I Don’t Follow My Own Advice « cherylhuffer
- Top Posts — WordPress.com
- I have this shame that won’t go – A Satirical Open Letter to WordPress about Freshly Pressed | A Spoonful of Suga
- What Makes a Post Freshly Press-able: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out | Industrial Training In Chandigarh
- A Splash of Blue « *any day my way*
- What Makes a Post Freshly Press-able: There Is a Light That Never Goes Out | alhamdpk
- My Interview w/Ms. Jen&Tonic a recently Freshly Pressed Blogger | A Spoonful of Suga
Comments are closed.
I did like this post too. Good choice on making it Freshly Pressed.
Awesome start for your blog! I will be happy to stick around! What’s next!
I absolutely will stick around to read more! What a brave woman!
Its so hard to write about such personal losses, but it can be cathartic too, that’s the wonder of blogging I guess…A great freshly pressed choice!
I’m still thinking about this one after reading it, and I know I’ll continue to do so. A beautifully heart breaking read.
Yep. That is a devastating opening line. I came to THIS story because someone tipped me off that I had been Freshly Pressed yesterday. Having no idea what that meant, I checked my site this AM to see that I had well over 500 views yesterday. Not sure why THAT had happened, I found this story about exactly that process conveniently at the top of the charts.
So thank you, and both congratulations and my condolences to Charlies Other Angel.
I read that post, so raw and emotional. Very well done.
Please read my HELP article and offer me some way to talk to WordPress and fix my publishing problem. I love writing for WordPress, it is therapeutic and refreshing. I have been chosen for freshly pressed-a great honor. But I can do nothing when I cannot get the PUBLISH button (Green on my screen) to allow me to publish. Once in a great while, I get through by publishing without tags, titles, etc and then going back and editing my article. Even this is not working well now, especially on photographs. Please help me find out what has happened to my WordPress site!
We definitely want to get your publishing again as soon as possible! I’ve sent you an email to get things going; please respond directly to that, and we’ll figure out what the problem is.
I read that post and was very moved on many levels. Well deserving of FP and yes, I will stick around as well!!! Great post today!!
Excellent post that dug deep and pulled me to the end. Thank you for sharing a real part of life.
Very emotional intro here! I can’t wait to check it out. It arouses strong feelings of emotion. I already feel like giving encouragement to someone I know nothing about. Thanks for selecting this piece. I’m off to see for myself!
I’m glad you posted this – I was afraid that the only posts that you focusing solely on humorous articles.
Thanks!!!
-Sunny
Sorry – **were focusing on
Judging by the archives on your page, you’ve been up since about March. Just hang in there! I’ve heard it said that it takes about a year to gain a really good readership. Here’s a few quick tips for a attention on your blogs-
1. Good writing (a given, and the glance I saw on yours looked good. I’ll check back in later. )
2. Approachability (an invite to comment, interacting with your current readers, replying to their comments, etc)
3. Reaching out (interacting with the community, commenting on other blogs, checking out the blogs of your followers…)
These are just a few tips. It takes a while to get it all down, so don’t worry! My blog itself is fairly new, but I’ve been working in the online content business for a few years, so I know how the business goes. It takes a while to get established!
i want to get a chance to one day be on the freshly pressed section of wordpress. i wrote one of my best work with http://colorfulwordz.wordpress.com/2012/10/16/the-era-of-lack-of-attention/ and i got barely any attention outside of my subscriber base. How can i get more subscribers. All my posts are as original as i can possibly get it.
Just keep doing what you’re doing here–be an active part of the community. Engaging with others will always be the best way to move them to engage with you.
This was a great pick. I will definitely read more. My own ex-husband sounds very much like hers and I know someday I’ll get the call that he’s gone, too.
i am so glad i found this on freshly pressed. i cried more than once. i can relate to the loss. i can relate to living with the struggle of alcoholism and the ongoing grieving process it brings with it.
it’s truly inspiring to see someone be so honest with their emotions.
My blog was a guest blog about a charity that has been only going for 3 months and is already international. The charity is set up to help people who have gone through Domestic Violence. I believe this should be shouted from the roof top.
Thank you for freshly pressing that one, a great post.
This is a powerful post- so much can be taken from it. Not only the emotion, but an idea of writing straightforwardly.
Good to know how to be Freshly Press-able, im thinking of a few stories i could use to make my post more enticing and make an impact. Thanks for the insights i may try to get a post Freshly press able
Write because you love it, not because you want to be Freshly Pressed. These posts are meant to be illustrations of great blogging, not a roadmap.
I read this blog the other day and was equally moved by it. Some amazing writing and a wise choice on your part. A good example of what good writing is and what I aspire to accomplish with my own blog. xo
Some of us wonder why we’ve never been Freshly Pressed a lot. We’ve even been tempted to beg. But then again, it’s important to be reminded that others sometimes deserve the honor more than we do, and Charlie’s Other Angel was most deserving of the Freshly Pressed honor.
A very poignant and heart-wrenching post. My ex and I have known each other since grade school We were there for 34 years through which we lost a son toward the end. The pain of that loss colored every other thing and was a dark reminder every time we looked into each other’s eyes. At the end of the day, there wasn’t enough to keep us together. I will follow her blog and thank you for sharing her with us.
I read that post because I saw it on freshly pressed and am looking forward to more posts from the writer. I always enjoy the variety of blog’s featured, it’s good to read things I wouldn’t necessarily seek out and read myself. I have been introduced to some great blog’s this way.
I usually dip into the freshly pressed blogs to see what our community is up to and I did read and like ‘there is a light that never goes out.’. I don’t have an ‘ex’ but I can relate. That’s the thing about other people’s articles. Somewhere, on the other side of the world, somebody is saying the very thing you’ve always said, or saying something that gives you pause for thought. I say our community because when I began blogging, I was ‘a stranger in a strange land’. Now I am beginning to recognise some of the people who reply to the various articles I read. I sometimes visit them. When I began blogging I analysed to death the why of freshly pressed, now I just dip in and enjoy. (This doesn’t mean I don’t want to be fp one day.)
I can say personally, I often shy away from talking about personal topics on my blog. I know part of healing is sharing, and I’m glad this woman found a place to do that. Watching someone destroy themselves, and knowing that you have to step away, isn’t easy.
Wow. That hits pretty hard, blunt, to the point. It instantly brings out emotions.. a very good, yet sad blog.
The articles that get freshly pressed are always great to read whether they be tragic or funny. Keep it up!
Thanks, we’ll try!
This is pretty cool. It’s not easy to write from the heart, to put your emotions into words. But when you find someone that can do that… well, I’d stick around.
Well done.
“Light That Never Goes Out” is an exceptional post. And your explanation of why it stands out is right on, Michelle. Nothing beats clear, crisp writing from the heart.
Will I read more of this blog? Good question. One good post does not make a good blog, but the writer is off to a great start.
Thanks for the great tips – as a recent new blogger I am still finding my way around, but loving every blogging minute! I wholeheartedly agree with the comment “write because you love it – not to get Freshly Pressed.
[Ed: Comment Redacted]
well done. i imagine this post will definitely get you freshly pressed. i know that if i was in control and read this i would bump it to the top of the pile. the whole genre of “amazing shit” feels like one that has yet to be tapped and to know that someone out there has been doing it for 285 without notice…well, i am heading straight to the shed and getting my pitchfork and flaming torch and if someone can just point me towards the FP headquarters a statement WILL be made…
Thanks Brett! I will keep writing, and whatever comes of it, comes of it.
I’ve noticed blunt, honest posts tend to catch your attention. This one was great!
This one hurt to read because I could feel the pain. A very well-deserved Freshly Pressed.
good choice, thanks for sharing this on freshly pressed. I hope to make it there one day
Great post! Touching…real feelings!
Absolutely!
Thanks for sharing this on freshly pressed… well done
Wow. I’m speechless.
Very nice ! Thank’s !
Gael
This one was a good choice – well written, told a poignant story. Many people could identify with this. I felt myself reliving my own mother’s death and how I felt writing about it, although the circumstances of her death were not the same, I felt as if I was back at the bedside watching my father die after a tragic accident, something I’ve never been able to write about.
Although this was a wonderful post, which I actually missed when it was FP’d, I doubt I’ll take on following another blog.
Interesting post on what makes a piece press-able. In the end, I still think it’s all subjective though. Many seem to fawn over certain writing which I’d find utterly boring. Similarly, some of the stories I read are intriguing but others feel differently.
I do agree with blogging about some new idea to generate discussion, though. Perhaps if I wrote out all that happens in my mind (before my own censoring), people would be intrigued by what I write. Who knows? Juggling between what you truly want to say and what you end up saying given that you know you’re somehow writing for an audience, is not easy. We all want to be heard, but when we write for an audience, somehow, our own unique voices are muffled, so what people read is not a true reflection of the writer but an alternate persona the writer has impressed upon others just so his or her work will be read.
So, what does all this suggest? That I’m in a moment of deep, deep thought lol.
Part of the beauty of blogging is that you don’t have to persuade an editor that your words are publishable. You get to decide what’s worth putting out there, so there’s less of a need to tamp down your personality. And that’s what people are going to respond to, anyway, so you may as well go for it! Artifice can still come through on a screen.
Ha! I was just going to say that. Anyone who’s written for a news organization knows that an editor is your worst nightmare. (But a good editor often keeps sloppy writers from making fools of themselves.) You quickly learn not take the editing personally. It comes with the territory. A writer, like an actor, needs to be able to respect the audience, even suffer for the audience, but still speak and act as fearlessly as if no one’s watching.
Reblogged this on pderumez.
Reblogged this on birdmanps.
I Love the witty title, There is a light that never goes out. Why I love it? Because it’s true. Sometimes the light just waits for the perfect time to gloriously shine until you do something about it. Everything that we do creates the perfect atmosphere to share our own successes, problems, and all human emotions but sometimes it is us who fears to be brought out in the light due to our own fears. Thank you for this post. The title led me to you.
Agreed, great post, very moving and real. I really appreciate your frankness about how scary it is to blog. I thought it was just me being insecure! You just never know how people will regard what you say. Thanks
Sometimes, albeit rarely, life is simply black and white and things need to be said as such. Just laid out as they are. A touching post indeed.
Courage and bare boned honesty are two qualities that make a great writer, and she has certainly proved herself to be a great writer.
courage and bare boned honesty are aplenty, but still at loss to pull off a masterpiece.
Nice post, well written
no doubt what you say. ditto.
This was hard for me to read. Thank you for posting it.
Reblogged this on bajoreden.
Great opening line… pulls you right in.
Reblogged this on THE AKANA IUMOLA GROUP : THE ALPHA END USER.
*Tips hat*
*Slight bow, glance toward Freshers*
Two good things
Evolutionary impulse here
The courage to write it, yes
The courage to choose it and gift a new why
Yes
Culture in motion
Thanks Brett. I will keep an Eye for your post.
I thought hers was a well-written version of a certain type of post I’ve seen a lot on WordPress and other blogging sites. I’m very sorry for her family’s loss, and hope it helps her to know that her words moved so many people.
What about other writers who’ve dug deep and written about parts of their lives that you may not recognize as common yet frightening to reveal? If the experiences they write about haven’t reached that uplifting swell that says bravery to you loud and clear, does that mean their words are unimportant? What about people who are saddled with a script that hasn’t made sense yet? Don’t the arbiters of Freshly Pressed think the 99% wants to read about those truths, too?
The more you write these posts about the reasons you give a momentary spotlight to certain pieces of writing, the less I understand the thought pocesses involved. Why don’t you just admit that there aren’t enough hours in the day to look for consistently good writing and fresh voices whether the subjects are serious, humorous, political, artistic, literary, etc. It’s hit or miss. You all fill the spaces as best you can from the relatively few posts you’re able to get through in a day. What’s so hard about saying that?
We fill the spaces with content we think will be engaging and thought-provoking for the community. Often, that means stories we think will resonate with many readers, but not always; any topic is fair game.
Of course, we could have dozens of editors scanning WordPress.com 24-7 and never find all the great posts that are out there, but we stand behind our picks. And as always, we invite y’all to send us posts you think are exceptional, either via email or (even better) on Twitter–we’re @freshly_pressed.
Hi Michelle,
I read this gripping post and was blown away by this courageous well writtin story. Thank you!
I have a post that I think is worthy of you taking a look: http://zentcreativeblog.com/2012/10/16/must-all-traditions-be-fossilized/ While you are there take a look at other post. I have two that are continuing true stories that have quite a few loyal readers. If you have any comments or suggestions about my blog I would love to hear them.
Thank you
June
Reblogged this on lisparc.
Definitely not what I thought this post would be when I saw the title (in the best way). I love it when I see anything encouraging passion over overthinking, while still stressing the importance of a cohesive and well-thought post. Yay for you WordPress!
This may not be the appropriate place for this comment, but it seems there are far fewer travel-related freshly-pressed posts than there used to be. I miss those.
great post and yet, I wonder how to make it freshly pressed.
Great post and also inspiring – thanks!
Reblogged this on Kawanna Phoenix.
I’m new to the blogging and word press world. Exploring and coming across this post was great. I took the time to read the blog written by Charlie’s other Angel and was very moved. It is things like this that remind me that my life is not all that bad and someone out there is dealing with a set of issues much bigger than my own, that remind me to be thankful regardless. My heart goes out to her and her family.
Reblogged this on it's about writing and commented:
How to write Freshly Press-able posts.