dA’s news system has become a fantastic way for giving information without the hassle of moving through the middle man, your local GD or staff. However, in doing this we also lose a benefit; many GDs would look over and edit articles for mistakes, typos, and general errors of communication in your writing. So here are some standard questions you should ask yourself before submitting your article:


Is your spelling correct?

A spell checker doesn’t necessarily cover every detail, but it’s a good place to start. Word processing programs such as Microsoft Word come with a built-in spell checker to help you find errors in your article. If you don’t have MS Word or a similar program, sites like this: [link] offer such services for free.

Even with this extra step, there are some things a spell checker won’t check – such as word misuse. There and their or your and you’re are both common examples of words that can be misused in a sentence that a spell checker won’t catch. Try letting someone look over your article before hand for any of these mistakes.


Is your point clear and concise?

Is the point of your article understandable? Is it written in a clear, knowledgeable way? These are questions you have to consider before posting an article. If someone can’t understand your article’s purpose, it won’t serve a purpose on dA either. Making a list of every point you need to cover helps. For example, if you’re posting a contest there are several essentials: general information, rules, deadlines, judges, prizes, and possibly more. Knowing exactly what you have to write ahead of time rather than winging it will make your article look more approachable and professional.


Did you cite your sources?

If you’re pulling information or whole articles from another news source, always make sure to site your sources. It’s on the same level as art theft—just as you wouldn’t claim someone else’s art as your own, you would not claim someone else’s words as your own. Provide an author and link back to the website, if there is one.


Is your article newsworthy?

One of the biggest and most talked about issues since the new system is newsworthy articles. For instance, articles about new deviations in your gallery or personal issues are not newsworthy. $lolly’s article ‘What is News’ outlines what is and isn’t news and should be the first stop for everyone who is wondering if their news is questionable: [link]

So here, for example, is a poor article and a good article:

It’s almost here…

What makes this article bad? There are no bad grammar or spelling errors, but the article doesn’t tell us anything important. It is not clear what the point is or why the article exists. Further explaining the project or how it affects us would make this a much better article and perhaps more newsworthy.

Emoticon Artists: A Call to Arms!

What makes this a good article? Its purpose is clear and it is relevant. It gets across all the points it needs to while providing a resource for more information at ¢eStunt’s journal. There are no notable errors in grammar or spelling and on top of that, it’s pretty interesting it.



Applying these practices to writing an article will not only help increase the quality of news on dA, but also help get your own articles more attention on the website as a whole.

Good luck!