Recently, lhnz and I have discussed the idea that it would be helpful to all participants in this project, both editors and contributors, to have a fairly comprehensive set of suggestions, guidelines, and, in few cases, requirements to consider before preparing a submission. I would like to reiterate in advance that we are not going to point to these like Nazis or anything and strike down your article for not adhering to all of these. We are, of course, looking for diversity of views, styles, and subjects to make our publication as interesting and enjoyable as possible. That said, there are a number of topics in writing that need clarification regarding our standards, and we will attempt to fulfill that goal in this thread.
I am going to attempt to break down these guidelines into a number of categories to make it an easier read.
[u][b]Grammatical[/b][/u]
[b]1.[/b] Unless you are an absolute literary genius, nothing you ever write will be perfect the first time is done. Please [b]proofread[/b] your submissions for simple grammatical mistakes! Typos are completely unacceptable in this day and age with spell check being two clicks away. Try your best to be sure that all punctuation, capitalization, and syntax usages are correct. If you're not sure, there's no harm in consulting the internet for grammar tips. There's nothing more annoying than having to edit a submission that contains obvious grammatical mistakes that could've easily been eliminated with a little extra thoughtfulness.
[b]2.[/b] Do your best to avoid run-ons and fragments. This is best avoided by reading everything you write [b]out loud[/b]. If it doesn't make sense when it's spoken, or you find yourself gasping for air or completely baffled by what you've written, you can bet that your reader will be feeling the same way or worse. Edits for sentence structure and coherency are not always easy to detect, but with this simple method you should find your work coming out far more clear and concise than it would have otherwise been.
[b]3.[/b] Don't attempt to overextend your grammatical capacity by utilizing words you may not fully understand. There is no crime in being simple, and your readers who will either detect your misuse or completely misunderstand your intentions will thank you for it.
Most grammar points are fairly common sense, and I'm sure we can all agree that anyone who's even considering submitting an article should be familiar enough with the English language to avoid simple errors if they really expect to be published. Just be considerate of your own work! :)
[b][u]Stylistic[/u][/b]
[b]1.[/b] The main objective of writing an editorial is to shine your own light on a subject. You should do your best to make your article uniquely yours; that is, your thoughts and feelings should not read like something readily available on a Wikipedia article. There is a fine line between "fanboyism" and encyclopedia style writing, and it's important to balance the purely informative from the purely subjective. Your editorials should ring true to your own style, and people should be able to read them and say "hmm, what a cool perspective, I like this guy's writing because he's got his own voice but doesn't overly generalize and make an ass of himself through shameless promotion."
[b]2.[/b] We are very open-minded on how you choose to approach your subject of choice, so don't be afraid to stretch the boundaries a little! Usages of humor, allusions, metaphors, analogies, and the like are all part of what make good creative writing shine, and you should not be afraid to write your articles, at least to some extent, as if you were telling a story or entertaining a crowd. Show some personality!
[b]3.[/b] Articles that are too long bore people, and articles that are too short disappoint people. If you're going to make your article relatively short, be sure to get to the point and say what you want and need to say. If you're going to make your article relatively long, be aware of your reader's short attention span and do your best to fill the article with links and pictures to keep them focused. The best tactic is to send a draft of your article to a close (but honest) friend and have them read it over. They'll be able to tell you what you can improve.