If you're new to Bitmob and don't know what it is that we do here, read this.

(In short: We write stories about games for the front page. You write stories about games for the Mobfeed. We take your best stories, clean them up, and then promote them to the front page to sit alongside our content.)

If you're just visiting to read our stuff, stop here! The rest of this article is for those who want to write and contribute and is likely to short-circuit your noggin.

Since our community contributors are constantly looking for feedback, especially now that they have a chance to be published in a magazine, we figured we'd share some of our internal notes on writing and editing (this is literally the type of feedback we'd circulate among the editorial staff at Bitmob and old EGM). This should help you produce much cleaner copy -- easier for you to get noticed...easier on our editor eyes.

This isn't a comprehensive list by any means, but these are common enough problems that they're worth bringing up....

Stylistic writing stuff:

1. Don't: Use cute, non-descript headlines

For Internet writing, headlines must be descriptive and enticing for people to click on. Think about all the places (like our Mini-Mobfeed over to the right) where you see nothing but a headline and a link, with no story summary, description, etc., so they must do the job on their own.

2. Don't: Blow off your introductions and conclusions

Those are the two most important parts of any story. And of course, make sure the entire article is cohesive and concise (longer isn’t always better).

3. Don't: Start your stories with history lessons

Too many stories start out with old news, a recap of the last game in the series, or background on a company. Yawn. If you need to state that stuff for context, give it to your readers later. You need to grab them right away from the start!

4. Don't: Write huge blocks of text

No one wants to sift through giant walls of words -- use paragraph breaks and images.

5. Don't: Use the same key words over and over

Especially close to each other. The thesaurus or, better yet, The Synonym Finder are your friends. Find new ways to say the same things.

Ugh:

The game is one of the best games around.

6. Don't: Use clichés in your writing

If we've heard it before, we probably don't want to hear it again unless you're going to do something really clever with it.

More ughs:

Shooter fans, rejoice

X, Y, and Z...oh my!

Only time will tell

Best. Something. Ever.

7. Don't: Write in passive voice

It’s considered bland and lifeless.

Red flags that usually indicate passive voice:

• The sentence/clause/phrase doesn't have a subject (someone or something doing the action)
• The verb uses or can use “by”
• “There is/are/was/were”
• A variation of “to be” followed by a verb ending in “-ed”

Examples of passive voice:

There are a lot of games coming out this winter.

The race was finished. (The “by” is implied here: “The race was finished by the drivers” -- both ways are passive.)

8. Don't: Use Roman numerals

It’s Final Fantasy 7, not Final Fantasy VII. You can thank the concept of search engines for that.

Also, outside of game titles, with a few exceptions, the numbers “nine” and below get written out as words, while “10” and higher get written out as numerals.

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.