by Marlin Bressi

Created on: December 23, 2008

Perhaps my biggest pet peeve on Helium is when a writer repeats the title of the article in the opening sentence. This is not only unnecessary, since the article's title already appears once, it is also unprofessional. An article, whether written for Helium or any other form of media, should resemble articles which appear in newspaper and magazines. If you were to pick up a newspaper with a headline which read "Man Attacked By Shark", you would never, ever, under any circumstance find the accompanying article beginning with "Man Attacked By Shark". It serves no purpose whatsoever, and is downright ridiculous.

Similarly, I also dislike when debate articles begin with an opening statement like "Yes", "No", "Absolutely" or "Absolutely not". I believe that no writer should ever begin an article with an incomplete sentence, with the possible exception of a work of fiction. An informative article should begin with a complete sentence, and if an article is well-written, the reader will be able to tell which side of the debate you support without such an opening. Pretend that your article has no title. Have you ever read a newspaper commentary or magazine article that began with the words "yes" or "no"? Of course you haven't. Always write your articles as if they were untitled. This will help you become a better writer. By writing an article that is untitled, you are forced to write in such a way as to make your point to the reader. A well-written article doesn't need a title because everyone who reads it will know what you're trying to say.

Another bad habit to avoid when writing an article is avoid using capital letters to spell words. You would never pick up a book and read a sentence like, "I woke up this morning with a REALLY bad headache". People tend to use all capital letters when they are trying to emphasize something and to make a point. This is a sign of poor writing. A good writer should be able to make his or her point effectively without resorting to spelling words out in capital letters. The same can be said for abbreviations. While some abbreviations are acceptable in writing, others are not. Writing a sentence like, "I just moved to NY with my bf, who's an asst. mgr. at a grocery store" makes a writer appear lazy. "I just moved to New York with my boyfriend, who's an assistant manager at a grocery store" looks far more polished and professional. Similarly, never let your love of text-messaging lingo work its way into your article. Things such as OMG and LOL do not belong in an article. Ever.

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