Fall cleaning your computer and Hub account

In a recent Hub, erner from the UK, shared invaluable help in several ways. One was the simple act of preserving our published Hubs in a logical order. Another was a use for all these saved Hubs. It also serves as a reminder to revisit our Account and appraise the statistics. So - one by one...

If you've been around awhile you'll find all your published Hubs as well as the ones that are saved as a draft. Archive them all...you never know when you'll revisit a draft, breathe some new life into it and finally publish it. By this time, you'll probably have written some Hubs you can add as links thereby increasing your traffic.

If you're new and haven't been saving your Hubs - take note! You never know when you'll be glad you did...unless you have the one computer that never crashes. Having them listed all in one place is handy when you want to link to one, even from other sites. They are not grouped in any way on Hubpages, so this will allow you to file them in any order making sense to you.

Erner gives a simple and time-saving way: Put "my account" on the desktop. Start at the bottom and open the Hub. Scroll to the bottom (before comments) and hit "Print". When the next screen comes up, hit "PDF". A sign saying "Generating your PDF appears. Then another screen will appears saying "You have chosen to open... then asks what you want Firefox to do with the file. Select the middle choice "Save File" followed by OK. Now, the last screen will appear asking where you want to save it. This is your chance to save and organize your files all in one. With Mac, select the correct file and hit "save" again (not save as...).

These will all appear in your Finder as Downloads. I just did all my Hubs and averaged under a minute for each. Comes under "a penny (Hub) saved is a penny earned" or "a stitch in time" - take your choice.

It helps to organize your files before you begin, making sure you have a named file for the Hubs to be saved to.

Now that your past Hubs are all saved to your computer, it's time to go back to "my account" and check out the statistics found there. Look at the ones with the least traffic (sometimes none). Read them through as if you were a casual viewer: is the topic interesting to more than a handful of readers? What is the overall look of the site: enough photos? paragraph breaks? Are there any links for readers to follow as a resource? How about a poll to engage your audience? Can you link to any other Hubbers' posts with a relative topic?

Here is the perfect time to proofread your past work! Tighten up random spaces; reposition photos and add info to them; check your spelling and sentence structure (this can change the whole meaning of an article). This all sounds picky, but if you want to sound knowledgeable about your subject, the time is well spent.

Remember also, the strength of Hubpages is the interplay between writers. If you stand alone in the field, no one will find you; interact, and people reading your comments are likely to think, "Hmm, let's see what he/she has to say about the subject."

Now comes the best part! You thought enough about this subject before, what's changed? Is it history, or is there something new on the related horizon? Do your catch-up online; copy the links to the subject for a capsule of Resources; get some updated photos (preferably your own). Now write a new Hub to update your readers on the subject, especially if it was well read before. Use the comments as a springboard for your article.

Periodically return to "my account" to see if the action has increased proportionally to the time spent. If so, crank it up again, remembering link backs. Happy with that one? Continue working up your account list. If nothing else, you've had some good exercise improving your writing skills.

There is no "easy route" to being a successful writer, unless you are born with that "storyteller knack".

Go to bed. I'll swear when you reread your piece the next morning, you'll find at least one change. A fresh perspective turns up better ways to say something. Take advantage of the time.

Tip: Read your Hub out loud. That is when you can pick up inconsistencies, such as adjectives describing the wrong noun; plural subjects used with singular verbs; sentences hanging with no beginning or end; over-complicated sentences; too wordy. Clean it up. Or as my kids say, "KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid".

and now...forsaking my own advice, I'm publishing it - before bed.

What do you think is the weakest part in your writing?

Any suggestions for keeping a Hub on track?

What is your favorite part of writing a Hub?