Articles written by Barbara Whitlock

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About me - Barbara Whitlock

I write for Helium in the midst of the teaching world. I continue to teach some of my own, while offering online writing classes to a mostly homeschool crowd at http://writewell.lifewerks.com.

My path toward teaching and writing followed a long educational

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Parenting & Pregnancy > Toddlers Combating bad behavior in toddlers: 1 of 28

Toddler behavior sometimes wears combat boots. But it's best to avoid combat as much as possible. Unfortunately a toddler's emerging assertiveness is met all too often with parents all too eager to assert their authority. This article will outline strategies to avoid such tussles, as well as arm parents for necessary battles...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium To flag or not to flag at Helium: Guidelines on using the flagging tool: 1 of 10

Helium provides an open publishing portal to the world. That means we get the good, the bad and the ugly. Rating provides means for sorting the good and the bad. Flagging is the tool to fix the ugly. This article clarifies the dos and don'ts of flagging at Helium, while exploring some of the other issues the overuse of the f...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium Raising Helium to the next level: Helium's Writing Standards: 2 of 18

The key to selling your writing is to match your work to the publisher's expectations. Helium is no different: Learn Helium's Writing Standards to ensure that your writing will succeed on the site. To ignore these standards is arrogant and misguided. You can find these in the User Guide, prominently available on the main men...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium Taking care of the little things in articles: Understanding paragraphs: 1 of 8

A paragraph is a unit of measure for an article; a sequence of paragraphs forms an article. Taking care of these little parts of your article helps the overall quality of articles. Refresh your knowledge on paragraphs to improve your rank placement and earnings on Helium. Three considerations should be kept in mind: 1. A par...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium Helium's guide for writing effective reviews: For movies, books, products and more: 1 of 6

The Internet captivates consumers. What movie to see this weekend? What new book to purchase? Where to find the latest electronic gadget? What new car to buy? Where to find the hot restaurants? Once advertising, with a sprinkling of consumer reports, drove purchases. Now web-browsing consumers - estimated at 700 million - se...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium Article writing: Sharing real world experiences in articles: 1 of 6

Helium encourages writers to share their real world experiences; yet using personal experience effectively in articles can pose challenges. What makes an article too specific to an individual? How can one craft that experience under shared article titles? This article helps writers learn how to share experiences more effecti...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium How to not let life derail you while writing for Helium: 3 of 16

Helium is the one place you can indulge your addiction and not lose out. In fact, the more you indulge the more you get. Connecting with other writers, refining our craft in a competitive environment, watching writing and rating scores rise and fall - all lead to the exhiliration that drives writers further at Helium. How ca...
Parenting & Pregnancy > Toddlers Bringing baby home: Preparing your two-year-old: 1 of 5

The most common advice for how to prepare your two-year-old for a new baby focuses on "talking to him." I'm going to go against that wave and advise you to say little and do much. Toddlers are too young to understand "the talk." Better to "do the walk." Preparing your two-year-old for a new baby brother or sister requires pa...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium Helium community guidelines for plagiarism: 1 of 5

At the simplest level, plagiarism involves stealing another's words. But there are gray areas in this definition that often trip up writers. Only commonly known facts and ideas are free; all other information must be cited. And, even when cited, one cannot reuse the same words an author uses unless these are off set in quote...
Arts & Humanities > Writing at Helium Tips for surviving and succeeding in Helium's spring 2007 Write to Win Contest: 1 of 5

Helium's spring 2007 Write to Win Contest has sent waves of excitement across the internet writing word. Excitement has met early exhaustion in some quarters as well, creating a kind of under-tow against which writers must steady themselves. Pacing oneself for the long-distance swim, rather than giving one's all through some...