Technical writing/grammar stuff:

9. Don't: Use dangling modifiers

Wrong:

After clearing off the dinner table, the kitchen was full of dirty plates.

"The kitchen" did not "clear off the dinner table." "After clearing off the dinner table" is a modifier that describes the next thing you see after the comma.

Correct:

After clearing off the dinner table, the kids went to play Nintendo PlayStation.

10. Don't: Use comma splices

Whenever you have two independent clauses (two phrases that are complete sentences by themselves), they can NOT be separated by just a comma or just a conjunction (although a conjunction without a comma is OK if the clauses are super short).

Wrong:

I left work early that day, I got to the game on time that night.

Wrong:

I left work early that day so I got to the game on time that night.

Correct:

I left work early that day, so I got to the game on time that night. (comma + conjunction)

Alternatively, you could use a semicolon, em dash (two hyphens with spaces on either side -- like this), or just separate them into two sentences. The main thing is, you can’t just have a comma separating two independent clauses.

11. Don't: Forget to punctuate correctly

a. If you have an independent clause after a colon, start that clause with a capital letter.

Correct:

We have many hobbies: We watch football, we snowboard, and we play video games.

We have many hobbies: watching football, snowboarding, and playing video games.

Also note we keep the serial comma: the last comma in the series.

b. Punctuation generally goes within quotes, unless it’s a question or exclamation mark that is associated with the outside sentence.

Correct:

I like it when she says, “Let’s watch the Michigan game.”

She always asks me, “Can we watch the Michigan game?” (The question mark goes with the quote.)

Those guys dressed in scarlet and gray? They're stupid drunk and don't even know what a touchdown is. Do we need to sit by those “football fans”? (The quote isn’t the question; the main sentence is.)

c. If you have a complete sentence inside of parentheses, you would treat it like a complete sentence (with a capital letter and period within the parentheses).

Correct:

I love Mighty Muggs (generally speaking).

I love Mighty Muggs. (We like toys in general, I guess.)

Technical stuff:

12. Don’t: Forget to fill out the Tags, Metadata Keywords, and Metadata Description

These things help search engines and other people find your stories. Any games mentioned in your stories should be tagged.

13. Don't: Forget to complete your hyperlinks

For links, always fill out the “title” field with what that link is (a story description or headline, website name, game name, etc.). Hint: This is the floating text that appears when you hover your mouse over a link.

Bitmob links open in the same window; outside links open in a new window.