We’re a community of twenty-somethings who live out our God-given identity and calling. Join our community of writers around the world as we dive into deeper conversation about twenty-somethings. (You don’t have to be a twenty-something to become a contributor)
Who Are We?
QARA exists to equip, inspire, and empower twenty-somethings to discover their God-given identity and calling. At QARA, we believe when you discover your true identity and calling, you will be empowered to live every day to the fullest. As an online community and resource hub, we help you become the best version God created you to be – fully empowered to pursue your calling and to make a lasting impact on your family, your organization, your community and the world.
Guidelines for Effective Writing
- Write a compelling headline (title) BEFORE you start writing the actual article.
- This will not only help you be clear on what you want to convey, but a good title will also entice the reader to click on your piece. It has been said that 8 out of 10 people will read the title while only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.
- Use catchy or thought-provoking titles (could be in the form of a statement, exclamation, or question). See below for examples of compelling headlines.
- Ask yourself a few questions.
- “If you come across your own article online, will you stop to read it?”, and “How does your article benefit your reader?”
- Think about the response you desire your reader to have.
- Is your content meant to inspire your reader towards prayer? Commitment to God? Love for God and for people? Service to God and to people?
- Keep your target audience in mind.
- Your content should be written for 20-30 year-olds.
- Start with punchy introductions that hook the reader.
- It could be a story, a illustration, a quote or a question.
- Use the active voice whenever possible.
- Incorporate personal stories/illustrations /analogies that strike a chord with the reader.
- It should not just be a theoretical /intellectual exercise.
The Different Post Types We Accept
- Lists: List post is one of the most popular post types in use today. The basic idea is that you take a topic or a problem and you try to come up with a number of separate solutions to it. List posts are so popular because they are extremely easy to follow. List posts are also great for bookmarking or sharing with friends—precisely because of their reader-friendly construction.
- Stories: There’s nothing like a good story. Stories are ones of the most reader-friendly types of blog posts. The power of stories lies in their ability of disguising certain messages while describing seemingly unrelated situations.
- How-to: This is one of the most popular post types and one that arguably brings the most value to the reader. The most important thing to focus on while writing it, is to give some specific information on how to do/perform/attain/reach whatever is promised in the title of the post. Videos and images work very well as additional resources for how-to posts.
Topics We Are Passionate About
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- Identity + Calling
Identity, destiny, calling, limiting beliefs, living life well, passions, strengths + weaknesses, spiritual gifts + talents, purpose and meaning in our jobs, God’s will, success, faith and work, career, stewardship - Faith
God, gospel, church, spiritual temptations, beliefs, obsessions - Relationships
Dating, marriage, love, family, parents, community, transitions, mentorship, coaching, friendship, work relationships - Personal Finance
Personal finance, college loans, debt, career, financial planning tips, wealth, stewardship - Leadership
Personal development, reading, next generation leadership, self-awareness, vision, mission, influence, failures, productivity tips - Twenties (General)
Tips on navigating quarter-life crisis, best books for twenties, current trends on millennials and twenty-somethings, general tips on twenties
- Identity + Calling
Headlines that Grab Readers
Readers decide whether your blog post is worth their time within a few seconds. Most of that decision is based on the post title (or “headline”). Effective headlines tend to follow a pattern. Here are examples of catchy and thought-provoking headlines you can reference to inspire your next blog post.
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- What I Learned from The Most Successful Mentee (Mentored By Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks)
- Congratulations Graduates! 11 Reasons Why I Would Never Hire You
- If Jesus Took a Personality Test, This Would Be His Myers Briggs Personality Type
- The Simple Phrase that Increases Effort 40%
- Confessions of a Recovering People-Pleaser
- 24 Charts of Leadership Style Around the World
- How to Connect with Anyone With You Just Met With 5 Questions
- I Had Sex With Someone Who Wasn’t My Wife
- Math Says This is The Perfect Age to Get Married
How to Submit Your Post
Please email our managing editor: gracelin [at] qara [dot] org with the following:
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- Your completed post as a Word Doc.
- Recommend three cover photos from https://www.pexels.com/ or https://unsplash.com/
- Short author bio
- Create a gravatar account and upload your high res headshot
- Ideal word length: 1,000 words
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If your article meets editorial standards and aligns with our content strategy, we will respond to let you know your article will be published. That process may take up to 1 week.
Disclaimer
- You agree to let managing editor change the cover photo without informing the contributor on the premises on what suits the needs of QARA’s audience.
- You agree to let QARA change your headline at any point in time to match the needs of QARA’s audience
SOME THINGS TO TAKE NOTE OF
- QARA may change any of these guidelines at any time and post the amended guidelines on our website.
- All content will have to go through an editorial process before it is posted.
- You may be asked to further edit your content (shorten, add illustration, change key point, etc) if necessary.
- QARA may make last minute modifications to the title of your article and the date of posting without telling you beforehand. All other changes to your content will be sent to you for your agreement before it is posted.
- QARA will only post your content when both sides reach an agreement on the revisions made (this excludes the article title and date of posting).
