Writing Advice – Freedom

What we don’t like:

When writers forget to add their name or a title to their text.
When texts are unedited, illogically structured or have a lot of unnecessary phrases.
Texts that are too long or off-topic.
Fancy stuff, such as lots of underlining, cursive, bold and CAPITALS. Please use these as little as possible. Excessive use gives the text an untidy and unprofessional look.
Double spaces between words or unnecessary gaps before and after interpunctuation (no gaps are needed before exclamation marks, full stops, commas and after or before opening or ending quotation marks and brackets).
The use of symbols instead of full words, such as “&”: don’t use unless it’s the correct spelling, e.g. of a company name. Numbers are written as words up to twelve. After that you may use digits.
Alternating tenses (past/present) within the same text. Don’t do it unless it’s intended and you know exactly what you’re doing.
Tons of footnotes. Please keep footnotes at a minimum, especially hyperlinks. Remember, people are reading on paper, not on a screen.
A jumbled-up list of notes and links. If you do add footnotes, list them orderly and put in the correct hyperlinks.

What we like:

A working title and the author’s name as well as an email or address above the text. Title and author name also in the file name.
Writing that has been carefully edited with a logical structure and clear sentences that are easy to read and understand.
Clean writing that is well arranged, as if prepared for publishing.
Proper sentences (no random notes or thoughts) and continuity throughout the text.
Essays that stick to the topic and don’t exceed or fall below the required length.
Texts that are interesting, entertaining, captivating, touching, credible and understandable … altogether, a pleasure to read!