by Kate Johns

Created on: October 08, 2007   Last Updated: January 13, 2010

I've been writing for helium for over two years now and I've seen some really well written terrific articles that could be sold in magazines. And I've seen some that have great ideas, but are written in what seems like record time. And then there are the stories that are written like a text message.

After reading the rules for writing on helium, I found out that the powers that be at helium want people to write like they're writing an article for a magazine. We're not getting paid for writing the articles, but we are getting exposure, a place to communicate and a place to build up our portfolios.

Okay so not everyone who writes for helium reads the rules.Not to say that I'm the all knowing and powerful OZ, but I saw this title and I wanted to just show writers how not to write so that everyone can understand what it is that you're trying to say;

here's where the fun begins, because i'm writing this really fast and i'm trying not to capitalize anything at all, or use periods or commas which i'm really having a hard time doing,and this is so much easier having one continous run on sentence, but i really have to think what i'm doing cause i'm so used to writing with commas and periods and sentences that have endings, and thoughts that are thoughts, and i can misspell words too-Oh yea!

Okay, so what have we learned here today?. Think through what you're going to write first. Don't  write everything that pops into your mind. If you have to write your main ideas on a piece of paper first, then think about it and organize what is the most important thing first.

Use punctuation and capitalization. I know this isn't elementary school, but using capital letters and commas and periods helps people who are reading what you wrote. And then they can understand it.

Don't write one long run -on sentence. Write shorter sentences. Then, they make sense and people know what you're trying to say. To go along with this-use paragraphs. Each paragraph has a separate idea. And each paragraph usually leads into the other paragraph.

Realizing that we are writing articles that appear on the internet, they should be short, and deliver a punch. But at the same time, they can't be so short that, you're left saying-that's it?

Write with the thought that millions of people of all ages will be reading what you wrote. (Kind of scary, huh?) With the possibility that a million people could read what you wrote, then you have to make it easy for them to understand. You have to use punctuation, correct spelling, correct grammar, -all that stuff we learned way back in elementary school. And we have to write with that thought in mind- We need to explain things so that everyone understands.

With the thought that millions of people could be reading this, don't give out really personal information. It's just like your Mom telling you not to answer the phone and tell people she's in the bathroom. So don't write about your next door neighbor, by using your name or his name. (Unless you will be moving soon)

Check over your work. Use the spell check when you're done. Everybody makes mistakes.
Read and re-read your work when you're done writing it. You will find so many mistakes. And then you can correct them, and think of another article to write. The more you write the better you get. So write, write, write.

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