Following AC Assignment Details: Helpful Tips for New Contributors

As a Community Guide, I receive many personal messages and answer loads of questions from new Contributors. Often, people express disappointment because they claimed and wrote an assignment from the desk, only to have it declined by a Content Manager (CM).

After writing for over two years at AC, based on what I have learned -- I offer you some tips to ensure those assignments meet with a CM's approval.

1. Print Out - Follow Assignment Details

*When I claim an assignment, I immediately print it. Every assignment has a print button tab on the bottom right. I note the "due date." With a highlighter, I write the date in large print at the top of the printout. I double check to see if there is a time listed on the assignment as well.

*Use the print out as a handy reference while writing your article. This is especially helpful when the assignment is overly detailed.

*I reside on the East Coast. Some of my assignments have an 11 a.m. or 7 p.m. eastern deadline. I know a few people who did not realize an assignment had an actual time listed. They wrote the article, but missed the deadline. If there is no specific time, assignments expire at midnight on the due date.

*Be sure to note and follow through with assignment details that require your article to contain your state and/or city. You may have to include this information in your title, the opening paragraph or both.

*Take advantage of any links a Content Manager provides in the assignment. It takes a minute to click on a link to guidelines or examples. By doing so, you will be sure exactly what type of article you are expected to write. That minute may save you from receiving the dreaded rejection.

*Many assignments appear cut and dried, meaning no further explanation is necessary. For instance, submit an original piece of content about the best local skateboard shops in your area. Obviously, this assignment is asking for an article about skateboard shops where you live.

*'Your area' is one of the key focuses of the assignment. If you live in Boston, do not write about the best skateboard shops in California or Hawaii. Stick to the guiding principle of the assignment. You live in Boston, so write an article about the best skateboard shops in the Boston area.

*If you happen to shop at a skateboard store 50 miles from where you live, that is OK. The assignment requests you utilize your personal experience. Do not base your article on a friend's opinion of a skateboard shop.

*Write the article based on the reasons why you frequent and recommend a particular shop as one of the best. Information snatched from the Web is not personal experience. Besides, the information may not be accurate.

2. Personal Experience Means Just That

*I cannot emphasize enough -- carefully read the citation. As straightforward as the assignment title sounds; the citation may call for specific details. The skateboard shops assignment, currently listed in my assignment desk, states that this particular content "...needs to be based on personal experience rather than Internet searches to qualify for publication."

*Personal experience is also a key factor in this assignment. If you have never stepped foot in a skateboard shop -- you have no business claiming the assignment. It clearly requires a Contributor's knowledge of and familiarity with the best, local skateboard shops.

*Use Internet links to highlight your personal knowledge. If the skateboard shops have websites, include links within the body of text or as a "source" at the bottom of your article.

*If you are the parent of children who partake in the sport of skateboarding, you most likely do skateboard equipment shopping with the kids. With this in mind, you have the personal experience necessary to write the article based on your shopping practice at local skateboard shops.

*Recently, I wrote an article in which the assignment details asked for the best beaches in my area or state. My article, "Best Beaches in Gloucester, Massachusetts," was written using first-hand knowledge of beaches I have been going to since I was a kid. Just a pointer -- to make my article stand out, I wrote about each beach from a plus side/down side perspective.

Before you write an assignment -- print and read it carefully, and mind all the details. If you desire to learn the essentials of writing for the Web or want to expand what you already know, check out the new Yahoo! Style Guide. You can also view the helpful articles, which won the recent Yahoo! Style Guide contest. The style guide is a valuable tool I use to polish my writing.

Source:

Personal Experience