by Olivia Elsom

Created on: May 21, 2010

As with everyone else writing to this title, I realise I am potentially setting myself up for a fall.  My own writing is far from perfect, as I am sure some obliging soul will be happy to point out.  I found reading the other articles in this title hugely interesting so this is just my personal opinion, and an insight into what will make me reject one article in favour of another.

Off Topic – I don’t mind a little bit of wandering, but some people are so way out there I wonder if they actually read the title at all.  Maybe they have but they just decide to write what they want anyway.  Maybe they think what they have to say is so much more interesting.  I don’t know, but if I find myself halfway through the article having to look back at the title to see what it’s meant to be about, I will mark them down for it because it’s irritating.

Too Much Information – This usually goes hand in hand with the first point.  Sometimes it’s appropriate to use personal experience to make a point.  In fact, some titles encourage it.  However, there is a difference between using personal experience as an illustration, and writing your autobiography.  The problem is articles which rely too heavily on real-life experience tend to lack balance or objectivity, and often don’t fully address the topic in question.  I won’t automatically mark someone down if they use the personal experience approach, but it better be relevant and not just an excuse to ramble on about their latest experience of childbirth, tattoos, puppies or whatever.

Lack of Space – Paragraphs are supposed to have spaces between them.  This is just as true online as it is offline.  Long expanses of text with no breaks in between are tiresome and difficult to read, and I will quickly lose patience with the article I’m rating if this is the case.   Please note that spacing should be single line.  There is no need to add four or five lines of space in between as I’ve seen lately on some articles.  This is also tiresome but I haven’t made it as a separate point, because I’m not sure whether it’s intentional on the writer’s part, or if it’s a formatting quirk on Helium. 

Sloppy Spelling – I confess now that spelling is my personal hobby horse.  I’m not including the spelling differences between UK and American English,

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