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As someone who joined the Helium community in the early days and can remember the frustration of being confronted with the prospect of being expected to rate an article that in some cases was less than a single sentence, I fully appreciate the current policy of having a minimum word count for articles. I do, however, feel that there needs to be some sort of discrimination; recognition that in some instances less is more and that on occasion, articles should be published that are less than 400 words.

Most topics, as Helium point out, cannot be comprehensively covered in less than the required number of words.; many indeed need a great deal more if the article in question is to answer the question. However, there are other times when 400 words are way too many and one gets the feeling that the author is putting in largely irrelevant material just so they can be published.

Rather than a non negotiable limit for all articles, I personally would prefer to see a system where more discretion could be employed. Since it is clearly unrealistic to expect the staff at Helium to monitor every article submitted in order to decide whether it meets the required standard, I would suggest that, perhaps different word counts could be introduced for certain channels.

As an example, Food and Drink has numerous articles giving recipes of one kind or another. The problem is that there are very few recipes that are anything close to 400 words long; consequently the reader finds themselves being regaled with anecdotes about the writer's experience with the said recipe. While this may be interesting at times, is it really relevant to someone who just wants to find out how to prepare a certain dish. A similar argument could be made for articles explaining how to play many games.

I think that sometimes it is easy to forget that the purpose of Helium is not only to provide us, the members, with an opportunity to voice our opinions and share our knowledge, but also to provide somewhere where people looking for information on a diverse range of topics can find what they are seeking succinctly. I would also argue that it would be unusual for someone with professional knowledge of a subject to consult a site such as this, when there are so many dedicated sites on the web. My impression of the typical person who would seek knowledge from Helium is someone who does not know much or anything about the matter and who wants basic information that would enable them to continue their quest for more detail elsewhere if needed. Obviously, this does not apply to articles written for Marketplace where the intention is to be published in another publication, just to Helium articles.

In conclusion, the length of an article is important. But just as an article can be too short, it can also be too long; it is knowing where the limits lie for different items that is the key to good writing.

Learn more about this author, Celia Craske.
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