by Aisling Ash

Created on: August 17, 2009

When I first came to Helium, I was wide-eyed, ambitious, and excited to start writing as many articles as I could. I jumped in without learning the ropes, and my scores suffered. I became discouraged and contemplated giving up, but instead I made a point of finding out how to do better. By reading Helium help and forums, looking at successful articles, and rating my own fair share of articles, I now understand the beginner mistakes I was making.

Some of those most common mistakes include:

[1.] Getting discouraged too quickly.
I can't count the number of board posts I've seen from new members are frustrated with their writing scores, and ready to give up after less than ten articles. Everyone likes to think their article could be in the top; if they didn't, they probably wouldn't have written it. But take a breath! It takes time for a new writer to build enough articles to get a decent score with some stable stars, and everyone has days where the rating just doesn't go in their favor. Stick with it instead of giving up, and you'll begin to see returns for all your hard work.

[2.] Publishing unpolished pieces.
Most members won't get bent out of shape if you miss a comma. Typos happen to everyone. However, I do rate articles down sufficiently if they have flagrant spelling and grammar errors. Take it seriously when you hit the publish magazine. You want your article to be something you'd be proud to have published in a magazine. Writing sentences that don't start with capital letters isn't going to cut it.

[3.] Forgetting about format.
Reading a solid block of text is daunting and tedious. If you want the raters to give your article a good, thorough read, then make sure you use white space to separate your thoughts. Although Helium doesn't allow for formatted bulletin points, you can use asterisks or numbers to create lists that help organize your ideas even more.

[4.] Refusing to try to learn new things.
We all like to believe that we're already talented writers, but even the most talented among us has new things to learn every day. If you think your article is the best but it isn't ranked number one, then there is something you can do to make it even better. Mentors can help new writers learn ways to make their articles more successful. New Helium members should take advantage of this opportunity and use the resources Helium offers to become successful.

[5.] Wanting to make a lot of money quickly.
To date, I've made nearly $200 on Helium, and I intend to continue earning more every month. However, often I read messages from people in the forums who are very antsy about when they can start earning and how much they will earn. From what I've seen of their articles, this makes them try to write a lot of things very quickly, and their output usually isn't very high quality. Focus on making your writing the best it can be, and the dollars will follow.

There are some things that you will only learn through trial and error, but hopefully this article has helped you avoid some of the mistakes I made when I first started out. Just remember to focus on self-improvement, and don't get discouraged if your writing stars twinkle for a little while. As you continue to write and learn, your credentials and earnings will grow and solidify.

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