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you come to the end of a thought, put a period after it, then start the next thought/sentence with a capital letter.

EXAMPLE OF WHAT NOT TO DO:
"That we can follow your thoughts instead of worrying about what your trying to say it makes it mucheasier to get your message that is why punctuation is really important if you want to learn more and improveyour writingskill your rating swill go up to."

The last paragraph is exaggerated but unfortunately, it's not too different from what we see in many articles. You may be passionate about your topic and may be very knowledgeable about it. But whatever you have to say isn't worth the effort to read if it's written with inadequate punctuation, spaces missing between words, spaces between letters in a single word, or capitalization missing in important places. This isn't text messaging! It's writing (maybe for money, if you get it right!).

We have the opportunity to read winning articles in the weekly contests and learn how to improve our own skills by comparing our writing to that of the top rated writers. And, as tedious as the task of rating may occasionally be, it's a perfect way to see firsthand the mistakes that cause us to select "By far" for the other article, regardless of the real value of the information or minor formatting errors. Sorry, but chances are that if you're not learning from rating, you may be missing a great opportunity.

Try this: if a writer flags an article you've written, use the opportunity to contact the person who flagged you and ask for explanations and help. Many of us are delighted to hear from you and to have an opportunity to work with you.

For those of you who are native speakers of English, it's very tempting to say "Shame on you!" However, not knowing your age or circumstances, I will first blame the quality (or lack thereof) of the education you received. Over the years, I've worked with many recent college grads who seem to have gotten their degrees without being able to communicate effectively in their native language. Some have been fortunate enough to have been exposed to proper grammar and good usage of the language from a very early age.

For those who weren't that fortunate, take advantage of this unique website and its writers to use the more experienced writers, absolutely cost-free, for your own continuing education.

Learn more about this author, Sondra Deuber.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

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