Summary of writing tips from 14 pages guidelines by Demand Studios

@scheng1 (24650)
Singapore
May 12, 2009 12:20am CST
Demand Studios has published a 14 pages editorial guidelines for writers and editors. This is my summary of the writing tips. It does not include information for writing About, How to, Fact Sheet, Lists, Product Review and other articles type. 1. Usage of Keywords An article on “how to bid at auctions” should include related words like bidder, seller, auctions and collectibles. Keywords should appear naturally, about one in every 80 to 100 words. 2. Voice Use conversation voice for your article Write in active voice, not passive voice. An example of active voice is “I drove the car”. An example of passive voice is “The car was driven by me” Use as little words as possible, instead of “you will be able to”, write “you can”. Start sentence with actionable verb, for example “Tear open the package” not “You then can tear open the package”. Do not use empty adjectives such as “fun”, “easy”, “enjoyable”. Use adjectives to describe specifically the subject matter. For example, a collection of Tang vases is not “unbelievable”. Use “comprehensive”, “limited” instead. Do not use “unique” too often, since few things are really unique. Do not use “a few” “several” “some” when you can write the exact quantity. Alternate using the word “he” or “she” in the article. Spell out words like inches, percent, miles, hours, minutes in full.
2 people like this
3 responses
@nzalheart (2338)
• India
12 May 09
Hello Scheng!!! Well those were the nice guidelines. I would have felt too lazy to read those 14 pages articles, you summarized well. Though I am not a regular writer, now when I write next time, I can keep in mind some of these important things and boost up my writing. Thanks for summarizing it there Scheng.... Hey congratulations for your 10 star. It really takes time to reach from 9 stars to 10 stars. You are a nice mylottian and you deserve it. I hope I will also reach this point one day for sure... Happy mylotting...
@nzalheart (2338)
• India
13 May 09
Hello Scheng, How are you? Well my exam is still going on, that's why I am not active here in mylot more. It is so boring thing that we have pretty long exam, six subjects and that is completed in 25 days only. And still 3 exams left and one week left. The last exam is on next Thursday after 8 days. And tomorrow is the one. I hope this is the only post for today. Well about the writing long or short. I see it differently. Yes there are some of the time when I need to write short but there are also those time when I have to exaggerate what I actually know lol...How much writing, that always depends of the marks it carries in the exam. So If I know lot of points, and the marks for that is not high, then the shortening of sentence would be very much important for me for qualitative answer. But there are also the times when I don't know many points and still the marks is high. In that situation exaggeration of what I actually know is really important. If we write short to the point, then it is definite that I won't get the more marks for that. So both exaggerating and shortening is necessary at different circumstances in my opinion. We need some exaggerating in mylot...lol.... Happy mylotting...Enjoy...Good luck...
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
13 May 09
Hi Nzal, I think the system of the university is not good. Some universities have 3 semesters per year. And each semester has 4 to 6 subjects, after you passed all the subjects, next semester you learn another 4 to 6 subjects. It is more relaxing this way, you are not likely to forget something learnt just 3 months ago. When new semester opens, you can forget about those subjects taken last semester, unless fail the subject and need to re-take.
@nzalheart (2338)
• India
14 May 09
Let me take a breath of relief at first...Today's exam is also finish. And the remaining two will go on nice with the time... That means 3 university exams a year and about 15 subjects. Wouldn't that me more tough. Well here for computer engineering we have the total course of 4 years divided into 8 semester and 2 semester with 6 subjects each six months. There are lot of things to study, that is not possible in 3-4 months time I guess. I think, we will have to read very fast and eventually not understand many of the things at all... Yeah, it is very true that we go on forgetting the learnt things. But if the up coming subject is related to the previous semester, then we can remember it, as it would be repeating again and again. But if the subject is not related at all, it is totally forgotten. There are such subjects too.. Having long gap in each exam is also fine. I have the tendency of being lazy at the initial of the semester and finally catch up when the the exam comes. Though I could score the top marks in the class in 1st semester yeah. My exam went bad in 2nd semester and went second. And this time, my exam is going very well, I think I can do it this time too....wish me best of luck hehe... Have a nice time Scheng...
@mensab (4200)
• Philippines
15 May 09
these writing tips are good and simple reminders for aspiring writers on how to write effectively. i am grateful that people are willing to share these kind of tips. i have improved my writing because of these simple tips written by authors. i learned a lot from them. well, improvement is the only way forward to getting published.
@scheng1 (24650)
• Singapore
15 May 09
Hi Memsab, I think Demand Studios is very open about their requirements for both writers and editors. Most writers got the rejection slips without a single idea why the editor rejected their works. In the case of Demand Studios, they make it very clear about their expectations, so that Editors know what to look for, and Writers know how to improve their writings.
@underdogtoo (9579)
• Philippines
13 May 09
This is a good summary although I don't know how it would be useful to me because I don't write for Demand Studios. I just write for myself. Cheers!!