Not enough instruction for "write 4 paragraphs" tasks?

@maezee (41997)
United States
August 18, 2009 9:08pm CST
Do you agree with me - that we don't get enough instruction for those "write 4 paragraphs" tasks? This week I noticed that there were quite a few - that instructed us plainly to write about "Awards for..[insert sport here]". This seems simple enough, but at the same time - it seems like it's leaving too much to ambiguity here. What exactly are we supposed to write about? Just the different awards in general? Is anyone else confused by this? Do you sometimes wonder why MyLot admin (or whoever the heck SharonBucks is) don't include a little more specific instructions?
1 person likes this
9 responses
@Azaerus (820)
• Philippines
19 Aug 09
Yes I noticed that too,there were no further instructions given but just write 4 paragpaphs on the awards at given sport. I also encountered some problem with her tasks one time,we all know that part of the tasks is it should not be plagiarized so I wrote and submitted my original work about a certain topic,after few hours I got a message from her saying that it's plagiarized and the content is too close from the other contents submitted. I mean if the paragraph or article she's expecting is on certain legend,story or myth then it should be close from the other ones,right? Because if I changed the whole story,then the whole story,legend or myth will totally change. I really don't get it!!I wasted five to six hours writing the article for nothing!! I totally followed her instructions and still got rejected for having same legend and myth story..!!
• Canada
19 Aug 09
I'm sorry to learn that your task was rejected Azaerus :( You are right that you cannot change a legend or a myth from what it already is historically -- but I believe what you would have to do is read through the legend or myth, understand what it is about and then talk about it in your own way. You can't take full sentences from another source or use what someone else has written word for word, even in part. In such a task, maybe the legend or myth could be related to something in our current day or consideration could be given to how people might be impacted by such a story. You wouldn't be restricted to writing only about the content of the legend itself. I hope you won't be too discouraged to give the writing tasks another try. From time to time, there are some that are definitely more difficult but, believe me, they aren't all like that. I hope you'll find some that you will like and that you will be more encouraged when you have one (or several!) approved. I wish you the best of luck
@Azaerus (820)
• Philippines
19 Aug 09
Thank you for the encouragement..:) I won't give up trying out the other tasks, I reached my first payout and got it this month because of these tasks. I'm still very thankful that tasks that is worth it are present,without it I wouldn't reach the payout.:) I'm pretty sure I'll do my best with the other tasks and hopefully avoid getting rejected. Thanks for the message,you totally gave me a brilliant idea on my writing.:)
1 person likes this
@sandi109 (160)
• United States
19 Aug 09
Yes, I just went to the tasks section and am very confused. I understand that they don't want to give too many instructions because then everyone would be submitting similar articles. They want us to tap into our creativity, which will increase our chances of writing an interesting, quality article. But I do think a little more direction would help. Or maybe an example. I guess we are free to research the topic and take whatever angle we want. I'm just worthed it won't be what they are looking for. Maybe telling us what they absolutely don't want would be better. Despite my confusion, I am actually considering trying one of the tasks to see what happens. It certainly couldn't hurt. I'm new to this site and just trying to learn the ropes.
1 person likes this
• Canada
19 Aug 09
sandi109, if I can offer anything from my experience so far, I would tell you that what they really don't want is personal opinion. If you don't write the piece in the first person (i.e., never discuss your own personal experience with a topic, such as "When my family goes camping for our vacation each year, we use Product XYZ. We think it's terrific."), it's acceptable. These articles are not reviews, such as what is popular on some writing sites. They have to be objective and informational. Don't plagiarize or make the content too similar to any source where you do research. They do check. Also, be really careful about your spelling and grammar. Proofread carefully and then proofread again *grin* If you do exactly what you said, which is research and take whatever angle you want, you'll do great! I wish you luck with your first task!! It might seem a bit tough the first couple of times but, after you get the "rhythm" of it, I bet you'll enjoy it
@subha12 (18441)
• India
19 Aug 09
I actually liked these tasks. I wrote few and very of them got approved. After that one fine morning, I got surprise. I am no more allowed to take those tasks. I wrote PM to the owner. she said she can't allow me as My writing skill is not good,. So I am debarred.
1 person likes this
@greenline (14838)
• Canada
19 Aug 09
Yes, I agree with you. I like writing. It is my hobby, and I have been writing articles and reviews for other online writing sites. I enjoy that very much. The writing tasks here on myLot are a bit confusing, and I am not sure how to go about it. It would be better to write about more popular topics.
@mommaj (23112)
• United States
19 Aug 09
I never did any of the mylot tasks for this reason. I wonder what the person wants you to write about. Later on I hear that people did the task and they didn't get paid because there article was rejected. I can understand why it was rejected when the person asking for the article isn't even sure what they want.
1 person likes this
@khayshenz (1384)
• United States
19 Aug 09
I was gonna try some of those out - but like you, I was a tad bit confuse as to what SharonBucks want. The latest one is the tennis awards - and here I was thinking different leagues like Wimbledon and the like? Which league - men or women? Doubles - mixed doubles? .
• Canada
19 Aug 09
The Awards tasks are actually a little different than the others that SharonBucks has posted before. In the case of the "write 4 paragraphs tasks", you generally get a Topic and then Keywords. You have to stay on topic and use at least some of the keywords exactly as they appear in the instructions. You don't have to use them all but they ask that you use as many as possible. You can definitely write anything you want as long as your articles are informative and factual. You can't make them personal, don't make them opinion pieces, and you cannot write them in the first person. Think of these tasks as website content (such as what you would read if you did a search for the topic and went to a website to obtain information about it). They have to be general in the sense that anyone that reads them can relate to what you've written. I've done a few of the awards tasks today. Yes, you could write about different awards in general or you can write about the reasons for giving awards in sports, etc. You can write about anything at all to do with those sports awards so long as you meet the 500+ word count and you keep your article informative, on topic and based on some factual information. The reason that I feel they are not more specific about what to write is that if they said to write about A, B, and C and then offer multiple people the opportunity to write the same article, they would get pretty much the same content from everyone. If they are less specific and let us decide the angle we wish to write from, they probably obtain more original pieces. I wish you much luck with your writing!
@dlr297 (5409)
• United States
19 Aug 09
I did a few of them when they were the 4 paragraph and i had no problem with them they were fun to do. with each of them she gives you a list of things to search to write the 500 words, all you got to do is make sure you do not copy anything, and put everything in your own words.
1 person likes this
• India
19 Aug 09
I wanted to try writing some articles but as you said i was just too confused and unsure about what to write and what not do, which let me change my opinion about the recent article writing task offered by SharonBucks..then as i check on i found this niship2009 guy with an offer of 10 cents for an article which are not even general, but very subject specific. Its very discouraging.
1 person likes this