Article Submissions
People of HBH,
There has been an influx of pretty terrible articles coming into HBH lately, so I thought I'd remind you (the ones who need it, that is) what makes a 'good' article.
Original content Avoid copy and pasting at all costs. An admin might miss it, but the members wont, and before you know it you're swamped with 'poor' votes. Before you start writing, make sure you check to make sure your topic hasn't already been written about. I can't stress this one enough, if it's been written about before, don't go over it again. We must have a thousand 'hack your school' articles, and if I see one more, I'm going on a warn spree.
Presentation Give some thought to the layout, its not that hard. Don't go line break crazy, and don't have one huge block of text. Try and split it into relevant sections and header them appropriately, or at the very least use paragraphs.
Spelling and punctuation This is more important than you think, if I'm reading an article that isn't amazing and I see a spelling mistake it's got me reaching for that decline button. We all have spell checkers, just run it through one, takes 10 seconds max, and makes your article so much nicer to read. You can also get spell checkers for Firefox, and quite possibly most other browsers.
Pace Pace your article(s) well. This is a matter of taste, I know, but if you're taking two paragraphs to explain what could be said as well in 2 lines, people aren't going to want to read on. Equally, if you have an interesting point and you rush it, you will leave people wishing there was more content. Just judge it yourself. Remember, people with a variety of skill levels are going to be reading your article, try to pitch it so that it doesn't leave anyone behind, asleep, or clicking the "poor" option.
You don't necessarily have to write an article all at once. Instead, try writing it in the text editor of your choice, then coming back to it the next day (or any day/time that you feel like it, really) and read it through. If it still sounds good, chances are it's half decent and will be accepted. A lot of people probably think this stuff is all common sense, but it's all too easy to rush an article and end up wasting everyone's time.
I look forward to seeing some improved effort in this area, and some interesting articles to read.
Feedback Okay, so you've finished your piece, and you think it's great (as you should, you pessimist) but you really should have a second, or third (hell, go crazy, four hundred and twentieth) opinion. Get a friend to read it through, and listen to what they say. Make changes if necessary, and see how it goes. Doing this would greatly lower the chances of your piece getting declined.
JJ (& Mosh)