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error.

Listing the points you will address in a leading sentence, then discussing them in a different order is often a problem too, as is forgetting to discuss a key point.

Another issue is how sentences are organized into paragraphs. One long 350 word paragraph is impossible to follow, as are 35 ten word paragraphs. Sentences address a central point, paragraphs are blocks of related sentences.

3) Follow Basic Spacing, Punctuation and Capitalization Rules
There are several spacing problems that I see regularly. First, many writers omit the spaces between paragraphs, which in effect creates one large block of text. Many writers use a hard return at the end of a line, probably an habit picked up in the hey-day of the typewriter, but the lines and paragraphs don't wrap correctly when published or rated. I've also seen writers omit the spaces after periods!

The rules for colons, semi-colons, dashes, comma and capitalization are many and often obscure. The key thing to remember is to use them! If in doubt, read your sentence aloud, and try to see where there's a natural pause. The use of the apostrophe is also problematic, ether in contractions or in possession.

Capitalizing the first letter of a sentence, "I" or proper names are also basic rules that everyone should know and follow. Articles with no capitals are impossible to read.

4) Don't Use Your Name
Helium is all about self-promotion, and many opportunities are provided to every writer to showcase their talent. However, one thing that is not allowed is including your name, your company name or contact information in your articles, and along with the word-count requirement, this is one of the key instructions on the "Write article" page. Too many writers, many with real ability and obvious knowledge, ignore this rule, and often include a paragraph in their articles on why they disagree with the policy.

5) Always Proofread
Proofreading your own work is often very difficult, especially if you don't let the work 'rest' for a few days or even a few minutes. Basic proofreading should at least catch missed spaces between paragraphs, make use of the available spell-checker and catch obvious spelling and grammatical errors. One or two, or even a half-dozen typos aren't really a big deal - an error every other sentence is unforgivable.

English majors and technical writers love to sit around and discuss the many uses of the semicolon, or correct spacing and fonts to be used when writing. However, unless you are an English major or are writing professionally, these discussions do get a bit dull after a while. But there are many, more obvious things the casual writer can and should do to make their work easier to read, more enjoyable to rate - and higher earners!

Learn more about this author, Pat Gray.
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