by Joan Inong

Created on: November 12, 2009

Although Helium praises creativity, it is also important to remember that there are rules and guidelines by which Helium writers must abide. As such, it is important for all Helium writers to know what type of articles do not fare well with Helium raters. A short list is provided below.

- Personal narratives

If you want to write articles that use the word "I," it is best that you go straight to the Creative writing channel. "I" is not used in formal articles, and even if you think that the article title provides room for personal narratives, it is important to remember that Helium raters generally do not consider personal narratives appealing.

Usually, articles that express your opinion are already known to express your opinion. For example, when writing a formal essay, you do not have to say "I think that..." The fact that you are writing the article means that it is your opinion.

- Articles with basic errors

Basic errors include: spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. Helium raters do not think that these errors are appropriate for articles that will need to illustrate Helium's standard of quality. So, before you click on that "Submit" button, make sure that you have checked your articles for spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. If you miss a few of these errors, you may also use the leapfrog option to correct them.

- Articles with no resources

If you are writing an article that expressly requires you to state your resources, you will need to state them. Helium raters will not take your facts seriously if they feel that you have pulled them from the air. For example, if you are writing a scientific article (even though you are obviously writing in your perspective), you must still cite your sources.

- Off-topic articles

Nothing will frustrate a Helium rater more than an article that is off-topic. These articles are usually thrown out, removed, replaced, etc. Always make sure that your article follows the title precisely. Even one word that you mentally change will affect the way that your raters view your article. For example, if you are writing about "Trees' changes throughout the year," you will want to write about the changes that happen to trees throughout the year, not describe a variety of trees.

As you can see, there are a number of articles that will not fare well with Helium raters. However, many of these article types can be remembered via common sense.

Learn more about this author, Joan Inong.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.