Articles

A how-to guide to writing articles

Before I go through with this, I want everyone to know that this is my actual final article. With all of the years on this site that I've made posts, talked with the community in the forums, and made salutations with new members on the site, I have been moving on to bigger and better things to move my life forward. Today, I give out my own guide to new members of RetroJunk on how to write articles in the form of how they are meant to be done on this site.

1. Getting started

As obvious as it sounds, brainstorming an idea for your article is your first objective. A good way to start is by observing what articles are on the homepage. You'll often see different subjects, such as retrospectives, top ten lists, memorabilia, and childhood experiences.

2. Drafting

It's recommended by pro article writers to make drafts on their article before typing it all up in the Writer's Corner. My software of choice is Microsoft Word.

3. Building your article

Start off your article with something clean and fresh. Usually some members will start with a greeting saying something such as "hey [member name here] with another movie retrospective!"

4. Paragraphs are your friend

One of the most important aspects of writing an article is making sure it's not just a big block of text throughout. Paragraphs make your article easier to read, and take appeal to the readers. It's recommended that three to four sentences are in each paragraph, leading to...

5. Don't forget pictures!

Putting images throughout your article also adds a level of appeal to the viewer, but remember, the images that you add must be on the subject with your article. Few use them for throwing in a joke, which is fine, but you should refrain from doing that often.

6. Keep your pictures a good distance from one another

Going back to paragraphs, the pictures you slap on your article shouldn't be cluttered next to each other. Pictures are best put every one to two paragraphs so they don't end up making your article look like a big muddy mess.

7. Spell Check

This is what the draft part is all about. You want to check every nook and cranny of your words to check your spelling. If you have a misspelled word, it will most definitely be underlined in red. Highlight the word, then right click and the word you have typed should be correctly spelled from the list shown on the right-click menu, so click on it and it should fix itself.

8. Keep your grammar in good fashion!

As all sentences start, the first word is capitalized, and names of people are capitalized as they should be as well as names of merchandise and company names.

9. Be precise and make good points in your article

The meat of your article relies on how good your vocabulary is and how you describe what it is you're talking about. Just be yourself and don't be afraid to dig deep into a certain thing that you want to talk about.

10. Keep your article in good length

This is another good observation at looking at the articles on the homepage. Your articles should be a good few pages long to keep your readers entertained at a casual pace.

11. Use your vocabulary wisely

As some have gotten away with, internet memes and online slang is definitely something that you'll want to stay away from when making your article. It's unoriginal and leaves the reader unappreciated.

12. Remember that anything retro counts!

And 'anything retro' meaning something from the 70's to the 90's decades. The point of this site is to talk about retro-themed stuff that you remember.

13. Save your article when necessary

It's always best to take a five minute break from writing your article as you'll have to put much effort into it. Not only that, but it's also an option if you run into the problem of getting signed out of your account after visiting a few pages.

14. Putting the finishing touches on your article

Even with the drafting part done, it's best to proofread your article and click on the "preview article" button to see how it will look once it's submitted. Remember, once you choose to submit your article, it can't be undone.

15. The aftermath

Once you submit your article, it will take a week or two to appear on the homepage. Give it time, and in the meantime read some of the homepage articles.

16. Critiquing

Once your article is released and ready for the public to see, it's a matter of time before other members will give out their thoughts on what you've written and how your article has come out. You'll want to watch out for...

17. Grouchy critiquing

Not all people will be cheering for you from the sidelines if your article doesn't seem to stand out as you expected. Members such as RetroJerk are an example. The message they send won't be a critique at all, but rather like getting sand kicked in your face. Ignore their posts like the plague.

18. Don't give up hope!

As the saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. If your article happens to get so many thumbs downs as to appear on the back page, don't worry if it happens one or two times. You have plenty of time to work on any mistakes that other members have caught in your article that needs fixing so you know how to write your next articles.

In closing, I hope that I taught you new members a good lesson in taking care of your articles and I hope you had more fun reading this than I did writing it! Goodnight everybody!

Comments

I'm late to this party by a couple years, but I'll comment here for the sake of posterity.

While I do believe it is the right all members to express their opinions about what they like or dislike about an article, and follow that with a thumbs up or thumbs down, I have to disagree with those who claim that doing so in a fashion like RetroJerk is productive or somehow "makes the site better".

The fact of the matter is that no site like this can survive without attracting new members. The best way to do so is to create an inviting and helpful atmosphere.

Having submitted articles here before, I came to experience some of these same harsh criticisms from members like RetroJerk. Unfortunately, it did not serve to inspire or educate me, but to cause me to feel shunned and unwelcome. That type of conduct is not going to make any site better. It will only create division and a lack of desire to join.

Thanks for this article. You told me not to quit if the article is what I'd like to say "Diet Retro, just one calorie...not retro enough". And dodge DeliGuy and RetroJerk who would rip the article to pieces...retro or not.

And I've may have written better.

and simultaneously? yeesh, we'd have to go on a live webcast or something dude, haha

nah, after the aftermath that's gone on here, i'll pass

No thanks. I'll just stick to being a jerk here in the articles section.

Ben, nice article with some good basics and reminders for long time contributors as well. Nicely formatted and easy to read.

I really want to get you and RetroJerk a talk show where the two of you interview celebrity guests simultaneously. Except that you rarely focus on the celebrity guest for more than a minute, the show quickly devolves into you two debating over whatever comments the guest has made and calling each other out on lapses in logic and blatant hypocrisy. That would be some fine entertainment. Maybe you can test it out in the forums?

well, i suppose i did miss the point after all. pugnater, you really hit the nail on the head with your comment, and described it as precise as you could with your thoughts on the subject. i'll admit, i do feel like an idiot after all this, and your comment. i apologize for actually putting the thought of that huge bombshell at the end of my article, as well as the lengthly argument. i understand what i did was chosen as something as not thinking before acting. i can't promise that i'll keep making articles, however i will still comment on others in the clearest manner i have to give on it

@Benjanime - I already stated why I'm watching the comments. It's hard not to pay attention "teh internetz Drama". But more than that, I'm a fan of debate and I wanted to see how each of you handled yourselves.

You don't have to listen to anything I say; it's your prerogative to think about what's been commented on or not. I just thought I'd throw in my two cents about the situation as an outside observer. Do with it what you will.

IT is impossible not to follow this conversation it is so entertaining. I thought your article was pretty good. Retro jerk just makes such good points. I wouldn't call myself a Retro Jerk fan but he does make keen observations that are pretty spot on. I have personally had the experience of having him expand on my thoughts about another article and do a much better job of expressing what I was trying to get across. Amd he wasn't meen about it at all unless no negitive critisism is O.K. If you look at who is successful in the creative fields for the long run it is the guys who learned from rejection and continued and grew.

speaking of which, why are you following the comments if you've already read the article? what's your motivation?

well as i pointed out before, my last article means that i'm no longer dealing with him to this point. the forums are where i'm staying

Can't help but continue following these comments. It's like watching a twenty-car-pile-up.

Honestly, I went back into the article and re-read the example of RetroJerk's criticism, and I can't find anything wrong with it. Sure, the tone of his words is a bit harsh, but nowhere in there does he insult the author. He points out things that need to be fixed and then poses a challenge to the author. So from my point of view, it's constructive criticism.

Your constant replying to him in these comments, however, is weakening your article substantially. You're feeding the flames when - as I already pointed out - you, yourself, said "Ignore their posts like the plague." You ARE a hypocrite, Benjanime, and I feel bad for having to say it because I originally liked your article. But now I'm glad that I saved my vote because I'm giving this article a thumbs down based on your actions and your attitude.

Although, based on your previous comments, I'm sure you'll continue justifying your actions and my words will mean nothing. Hopefully I'm wrong on that point.

oh forget it. neither of you get my point. i'm done.

I'm calling you a hypocrite because that is how you are acting. You bash me for bashing other when you, yourself bash others (hypocrite). You also happen to be guilty of most of the things you are telling people not to do in your article (hypocrite). My comments will be as laid back as I want them to be. Why cant you just mind your own business?

Q: What is the point of writting an article?
A: To express to other people your opinions or facts.

Q: What do you expect in return?
A: Feedback and acknowledgement from people.

So if feedback is expected then you have to face that A: there are different people out there that will not agree always with your thoughts. And B, they are entitled to whatever opionion they have.

Everyone that creates something public weather it be artistic journalistic or editorial is open to these same critiques.

Bottom line Benjanime, go be a sook elsewhere. If you wanted to be the bigger man by posting this article, you failed when you made a direct attack towards someone.

i don't care if i blame you. that one little hint of your comment in my article puts it simple that you still get away with crap like that. let alone that same comment was posted on an article that recently was put on the front page. you made a decent comment for knuclear200x's "scared stupid article, why can't all of your comments just stay laid back like that?

well, just remember, you were the first to do it. you just got me aggravated on end about it thus starting the argument. oh a hypocrite. going with piercedsphynx's word are we?

Okay Benocrite, listen. In this very article you state "Not all people will be cheering for you from the sidelines if your article doesn't seem to stand out as you expected. Members such as RetroJerk are an example. The message they send won't be a critique at all, but rather like getting sand kicked in your face. Ignore their posts like the plague." Your words not mine! Since you leave "grouchy comments" (because you certainly do judging by your past comments) then should you be ignored too? Is that what you are saying? Because if that's not what you are saying then you are being a hypocrite. I assume nothing, I am making judgment based on fact, not assumptions. And yes, you blamed me, using my name and picture and comment in the article clear as day.

see, there you go again, assuming random things. i never once implied that i was being high and mighty. when did i say you were blaming people? seriously, when? this whole time i've been talking about when you would leave your sour comments on past articles that you think weren't good

NOBODY (I repeat) NOBODY, is saying I, the RetroJerk is a goody anything. Im a jerk, I fully admit that (with my name) but the problem is YOU are saying that YOU are better than ME. And YOU sir are not. Because we are one in the same, only thing is I don't go around blaming others for being "mean" while all the time leaving nasty comments myself. So what does that make you? A hypocrite.

well, just take another look at the comment that you made that i observed in my article. that's how your past posts have been, and describes perfectly at how you've taken each other post since you first came here. so cut out this "goody-two-shoes" act, because it's not changing the fact at how you've behaved with bad articles in the past

Look Benjanime, you can blow this load of crap out your ear because you are just as much of a bitter overcritical internet geek as the next guy. I usually dont pay any attention to who complains about me but since you wanted to go out of your way to point a finger at me I decided to take a look back at some of the comments you have made and guess what? You are'nt courteous and kind, you're a little jerk just like me! You might not be as good at being a jerk as me, but with the nasty negative comments i'm looking at you dont have far to go.

Nice document. However, you seem to have the same tendencies you argue against in the article.

whoops, wrong article

and hey, i didn't make you feel bad, i just said that it would have been optional to go into more detail in what games you had and the experiences you had playing them. so did i pose the same threat as retrojerk? no, because i was courteous enough to say what was wrong with it, without cracking a joke or adding insults

even so, you listed the sources of which you got your information from. if dalmatianlover or velcrohead were still here, they'd really flame you with comments. be glad i'm not walking in their shoes

So should I have taken the advice of this so well-written article and ignored you when you acted like a troll and accused me of plagiarism in my article when you don't even know the definition of the word apparently?

"no retrojerk, you fail to see why i used you as an example. you take little consideration and most of your posts are pointing at the article writer and talking them down in the process to make them feel like shit. this is another reason why i'm retiring from writing articles. once you came along, you've made the activity of writing articles a frustrating process, because they'll never know when you'll come knocking on their door to be the annoying neighbor that everyone hates. and SuperK1979, it doesn't matter who did what first. as long as i wrote it in my own words, it's my own work..."

...But then you did it to ME! What a hypocrite! At least it's your last article.

i'm surprised that you're one of the people to have the gall to take his side. sure, he has feedback, whoop dee doo, but he adds insult to injury by lashing out at how much the article sucks. do you think that makes the writer feel good? no. that pretty much adds more frustration for them. his posts are aggravating and nonetheless childish. people need more "better luck next time" rather than "write a better article or GTFO"

LOL, its a little bit like that guy on those idol shows thats always a jerk, people love to hate him, but he's entertaining never the less, it adds character to the website, adding that little bit of spice, sometimes people react better to straight to the point comments even when they can be harsh, for the one's that do get offended by it then you shouldnt be posting articles up for everyone to see and not expect to be flamed.

Using retrojerk in your article is a direct attack at him, probably because he attacked you at some point, yes he doesnt write articles himself so really he shouldnt be judging others...but...he is entitled to his own opinion just like everyone else here, and I for one like reading his comments because MOST of the time he says what we want to say but are too nice to do it.

well, he is what he is, let's leave it at that

In all honesty I think you took away from your article by using a personal attack on retro jerk. While I agree that to me there is no point in being down right mean about how you criticize people, this is the internet and it is what Al Gore created dit for. Jerk has a right to do that, whether you agree with him or not, but putting that in there makes your article less relevent as just a chance to give a big F-U in your final article.

kick to the teeth nothin', i've been on the site for two years now. i can't keep doing this forever

You won't be doing any more articles?
Well ain't that a kick in the teeth.

i aimed that comment towards him because the game he mentioned wasn't retro. and i agree with strongside, you do act like a mod, if not a bit too strict

I read all the articles here why would I skip yours? Hey doing a little research here I see a comment you left for somebody let me quote you
"i didn't forget anything... like i said, if i haven't played it, i can't review it, f*cktard"-Benjanime. Youch man! Thats a little harsh isnt it? Taking things a little too serious are we? By the way I censored that for you other readers, see I dont have to use profanity to get my point across... I guess im not THAT grouchy. Maybe I should be avoiding YOUR comments like the plague.

Why is this argument even happening? Who cares who says what? Someone says something you don't agree with (whether it's the actual words or the tone of the person's comment), don't pay them any attention. Benjanime, you said yourself in your article to avoid those posts like the plague; take your own advice, man.

For the record, it's nice to see an article on writing articles. Hopefully this will help somewhat so that more articles are articulate, well-researched, and grammatically correct.

"you most likely didn't enjoy benjanime's articles". oh wow like you read them in the first place

@pugnater, dont worry the crazy childhood guy is Nails. You most likely didnt enjoy any of Benjanime's articles.
@Strongside, Im not really sure I even understand your comment but I will try to answer to the best of my ability. I'm not sure I know what a mod is but if they act like me then I guess im alright with that. I dont think I take things overboard, I only comment on crappy articles not even the mediocre ones (and there are a TON of mediocre articles). If I was taking it overboard I would just talk smack to everybody on every article, instead I give clear criticism of articles that suck. Sure I mix in a little sting with my comments but whats the harm in it? Being a smart ass is fun! And some people find enjoyment in reading my comments. Why dont YOU lighten up? People are always telling me that, yet in the same comment you, yourself are taking my comments WAY too seriously.

crazy childhood? uhhh, wrong person dude

I enjoyed this article, but I have to agree with RetroJerk. I think he often makes insightful and helpful comments. When you go public you open yourself up to critics. If no one points out where you need improvment then you might not ever improve.

I am sad to see that this is your last article I enjoyed you crazy childhood articles a lot.

RetroJerk,

You act like your a mod or something. I mean everyone has their own opinions, but you take it overboard. You say you do it because you want them to become better at writing? Lol. Why are you suck a smartalec? I've been seeing your critical comments towards peoples articles and I must say you need to lighten up. I mean come on.

apparently it's the forums section that's really lacking. most of the great members from 2008 are slowly leaving

Not enough people take this site serious.

Someone takes this site a little too serious....(retrojerk)

oh pfft, you bash their work, same thing. and when did i say i was leaving the site? i just said it's articles that i'm no longer doing

No Banjanime, you obviously fail to read my comments and if that is the case then you are making an ignorant accusation. I take much consideration when posting my comments NOT to bash the writer with personal insults but to bash the work with specific (rude yet sometimes funny) criticism instead. Now that does'nt mean I don't get mean and nasty when people like you come crying back to me that I'm too "mean" or that I'm a jerk. But my intentions are never to make a writer feel like dirt. I want people to get better! But guess what, not everyone can get better so here I am nudging crappy writers to either get better or get lost, either way the site is better.
I do'nt comment on every article either, just the really bad ones and contrary to popular belief not everyone hates me, in fact I actually have fans! Just go check my profile. Anyhow that's my piece now good riddance, this site will continue to go on without you.

no retrojerk, you fail to see why i used you as an example. you take little consideration and most of your posts are pointing at the article writer and talking them down in the process to make them feel like shit. this is another reason why i'm retiring from writing articles. once you came along, you've made the activity of writing articles a frustrating process, because they'll never know when you'll come knocking on their door to be the annoying neighbor that everyone hates. and SuperK1979, it doesn't matter who did what first. as long as i wrote it in my own words, it's my own work. dalmatianlover tried it too, and he failed at executing it

This article was already written by Knites...

http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/2060/

Lame on many, many levels. This should be a forum post not an article considering ITS NOT RETRO (see, you break your own rule there). Using me as an example on what to ignore is just stupid. I can give you exact accounts on where my criticism have had direct positive influence on writers and the site as a whole. Who are you to judge me anyway? This stupid article is just one big "retrojerk" comment itself, just without my humor and wit. Not to mention this article has already been done before but MUCH better. http://www.retrojunk.com/details_articles/2060/

Really good article. But, I agree with CaptainLou. Criticism, even if it seems grouchy, can be helpful. Pointing out what you're doing wrong will help you learn not to do it again.

oh and good article btw. Great ideas for future R-Junkers.

I don't know if i totally agree with "ignoring grouchy critiquing". If the person is just being a d*ck, sure, just ignore it and move along.

But often times those comments that seem mean and d*ckish off the top do offer insight on how to write better for the masses. Tough love can help you get better as a writer.

and of all the stuff i listed, i forgot to mention the topic of plagiarism. remember folks, copying off of other people's work is a huge no-no

@Nails105

i know, there were many other ideas planned that i wanted to do, but i've got such a handful of daily needs these days that it's just unbearable. i have to say though, it was a great hobby while it lasted. and i'm glad i was of help to you. you could call me a fan of rock & rule after watching it. thanks for the comment

A very well done article. Thumbs up. Also, it's sad to hear that this is your last article. Fare well, Benjanime. I'll always remember you as the one who suggested Rock & Rule for my CRAZY CHILDHOOD articles.