Everyone has their own style, though Helium has a way of bringing out the best in writers in developing and honing this style. There are a number of reasons for this, since the site is designed to be competitive. Writers who write to the website compete with other members to hold the top places in each title, and can never become complacent about what they produce as writers. The reason complacency comes into the picture is that when I writer fails to see how their own natural writing style works best, they are not actually making the most of what Helium offers.
*Being a knowledgeable writer.
*Finding your niche.
*Watching the rating of articles.
*Learning from the pattern of results.
Being a knowledgeable writer.
Often members complain that they have little knowledge. This is, of course, a nonsense, since knowledge takes on many different guises. A mother who learns to potty train a child has every bit as much knowledge as a philosopher. The reason for this is that searches all over the Internet are different, and people seek solutions. Using knowledge to produce articles helps the writer to produce fluent content effortlessly.
The nice thing about Helium is that you can write many articles on very similar knowledge titles and still shine. Knowledge comes from being a human being. From that first breath humans take, experience teaches them daily lessons which build up into knowledge. Look at the kind of articles which allow your style to flow easily. These are the topics in which you can shine.
Finding your niche.
The ability to measure your progress on Helium is astounding. Look at what raters thought of your articles, and it may surprise you learn that you do better in some channels than you do in others. For example, someone accustomed to writing movie reviews may actually find their style doesn't work too well on Helium, though their first attempts at writing movie analysis do.
The way to find your niche is simply to look at the numbers. In competitive titles, how well do your articles rate? By establishing which topics go down well with raters, it is easy to discern where your particular style works best.
Watching the rating of articles.
The idea of watching the ratings is that you can learn to develop niches. These may not be natural to your style, though if you fail within one area, this teaches you to adapt your style. In the real world of print publishing, what happens if an editor doesn't like your style is that you get rejected. Rejections act as lessons. They don't mean that your writing is bad. What they do mean is that some adjustment must be made to get your style more accepted in the market to which it is written.
Watching the ratings on articles which sit in the depths, instead of rising, helps the writer to develop a style which is more effective. By developing the writing style, a Helium writer can produce work which rates well. There are so many areas in which a writer can shine, and the Marketplace, contests and competitive titles give each writer an opportunity to see which are their best channels and subjects.
Learning from the pattern of the results.
Another way to see which area of Helium is the best for your writing style is a tool which appears on every member's page. Articles are sorted into channels, and can easily be accessed on the same page, by pressing the channel on the right hand side. Here, you can look immediately at ratings in each channel in one place, and if you see that in a particular channel your articles shine in number one spots, then perhaps this is an indication of where you best write.
The learning process takes a while. At first writers write randomly just attempting to get content onto the site and to develop their portfolio. Experienced members, however, will know which channels they excel in, and will target their style to that particular channel. Marketplace success gives a writer an enthusiasm and often Marketplace writers become established because they have met the criteria of publishers in the past and know what to expect.
In debates, a writer's style should give good argument based on belief, and written in a fluent manner. Many members love debates and shine because of the logical structure of their articles, while others fail.
As your Helium experience develops, a writer learns where their writing fits. Creative writing also has its place. The poetry, short story and other creative writing channels give a writer a chance to see how their style works against others. Not everyone has a badge and if it seems impossible to gain one, perhaps creative writing isn't the best to suit your style. Take advantage of mentors available at mentor@helium.com to develop your style, and soon you will see where your writing fits best on Helium's website.
It is a learning process which is undertaken by most members with ambition to find out where their writing style fits the best. Those who bury their heads in the sand and ignore ratings rarely succeed simply because their approach is not flexible enough. In any given market, whether print or web based, improvement and development of style should be the writer's goal. Helium offers writers the opportunity to fit into channels, marketplaces and contests, and the writer who finds the style which works for them, and the suitable channel for it, will always succeed.