by Charles Bobbitt

Created on: September 17, 2010   Last Updated: March 08, 2012

Many people are afraid that submitting an article for writing critique is the sign of an amateur. If you are a good writer - they think - you don’t need someone else to tell you how to make your article better. You are the expert. Such people don’t understand the craft of writing.

Professional writers know better. They welcome the review process as a way to make sure the articles they publish are the best they can possibly be. Professional writers constantly have their writing subjected to an extensive process of review before it is published. The writers may first have friends review the article and make suggestions. Then, when they have rewritten and polished the article, they submit it to professional editors who take the perfect article and suggest changes to make it even better. After several iterations of critique and rewrite, the article is finally ready to be published.

For those of us who don’t have a stash of literary friends or access to a panel of professional editors to help us, a Helium peer critique is the next best thing. All Helium members have an interest in good writing, and many of them have strong backgrounds in writing. The advice they give, more often than not, is accurate.

Like any critique, a Helium peer critique can help you improve your writing. Improving your writing has a cascading effect of benefits on the Helium website.  Improving your article will improve your article’s ranking. Improving your ranking will increase your page views. Increasing your page views will increase your earnings.

Participating in a Helium peer critique will also increase your exposure on Helium. As members read your article to give some advice, they may also find out that they enjoy your writing. If they like the article they read, they will read more. They may even make you a “favorite writer” and recommend you to their friends. Once again, more page views equals greater revenue.

Furthermore, the benefits can also extend beyond Helium. As you improve your writing, you will increase your chances of selling your writing in markets outside of Helium, should you so desire. If you increase your page views and the number of people who claim you as a “favorite writer,” you will also have persuasive evidence to show a potential publisher that your writing will sell. All publishers love writers who come with their own established audience - the bigger, the better.

As a community that promotes good writing, it is not surprising that Helium would offer its members an opportunity for writing critiques. What is surprising is that so few Helium members take advantage of it.

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