Writing a blog post for the Time to Change Wales website is a great way to share your experiences and improve people’s understanding of mental health. You don't have to be a Champion to write a blog for the Time to Change Wales website. Blogs, real stories from real people, can help someone going through a similar experience.
Many of our blog posts are shared widely via social media and can help to get people talking.
Writing about your experiences can be daunting if you haven’t done it before but remember – we can help you! Here are some tips to get you started.
We look for blogs that:
- Are around 500 – 700 words long
- Have a clear focus (we try to avoid too much life story, unless that helps illustrate your main point)
- Have a positive message or feeling, for example finding the courage to talk about mental health, making a recovery, helping friends through a difficult period, achievements that show there’s more to people than a diagnosis
- Challenge stigma and discrimination in some way or help people understand particular issues
- Avoid personal grievances, as this can put readers off
- Always ensure accuracy in your blog at all times
- Are suitable for a broad audience (do not use swear words, blasphemy etc)
- Represent Wales’ diverse communities – we particularly welcome blogs written in Welsh, or which reflect the experiences of people from different parts of Wales, rural communities and black and minority ethnic communities.
A few other things to consider:
- We reserve the right to edit blog posts but we won’t post anything we’ve changed without checking with the authors. We can also help edit posts.
- We usually include a photo but this isn’t compulsory. If you’d like us to include one, please send it along with confirmation that you are the copyright holder and give us permission to use the image.
- Only include what you are happy to be shared publicly – our blogs are read by a wide audience including the media who occasionally contact us to cover stories based on blog posts. For any media request, we will always contact you for your permission to use your blog.
- Don’t feel limited to writing – if you prefer to share your experiences through vlogs, poetry (or something entirely different!) we’d love to see it.
- We link to blog posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – please let us know if you are happy to be tagged in posts.
- You can use your full name, first name only, or a pen name if you’d rather be anonymous. Let us know what works for you.
- Please bear in mind that it can take a few days to get back to you and that we might not publish your post straight away. We also cannot guarantee that your blog will be published if it does not comply with the above guidelines.
If you have any questions please feel free to email our Digital Engagement Officer Leo at l.holmes@timetochangewales.org.uk.