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Mindconnection's Article connection

 
So, you want to be published on Mindconnection. We welcome people who have expertise in some area and can write a short, informative piece for online publication. We will link back to the URL of your choice from within the article.

An article must solve a problem for the reader. No puff pieces. A good article will draw traffic in its own right. That means good exposure for you. 

Article Guidelines

  1. Length is about 800 to 1500 words.
  2. Focus on the needs of the reader. Don’t brag on your product or service—doing so undermines the reader’s trust.
  3. Graphics are OK, if sent as separate files. But, they cannot be very large (Stahlin’s enclosure article is an exception to this).
  4. Write in the active voice, use an informal style, use standard punctuation.
  5. Formatting: No fancy fonts, tabs, or special characters—straight text; single space between sentences, left justify.
  6. Text formats should be Word, RTF, or TXT. No PDFs.
  7. Give us sufficient time to go through the editing process. Typically, this is 1 to 3 days, but can run as long as two weeks.

 Article submission

Just send it to comments@mindconnection.com.

 
What's that about active voice? Writing in the active voice rather than the passive voice gives your writing more life and more clarity. And that can affect your career prospects. Use the active voice unless doing so makes a sentence awkward. Your writing will stand out, and your readers will perceive you as more energetic than if you had used passive voice. If you are in sales or marketing, the active voice should dominate your writing style. No matter what field you are in, active voice will improve your credibility because you are talking to the reader instead of at the reader. Passive voice indicates an unwillingness or inability to communicate, because it is indirect.
  • A verb is in the active voice when it expresses an action the subject performs.
  • A verb is in the passive voice when it expresses an action performed upon the subject or when the subject is the result of the action.

 Here are examples that show, rather than tell, what active voice is:

Passive voice

Active voice

The drawing is being reviewed by Bill. Bill is reviewing the drawing.
To do this, a mandrel is inserted into the bore. To do this, insert a mandrel into the bore.
The building was struck by lightning. Lightning struck the building.
The switchgear was installed by a contractor. A contractor installed the switchgear.
A motor drive was purchased and installed by Roger. Roger purchased and installed a motor drive.
The bid was won by a company that used bidding software. A company that used bidding software won the bid.
A successful project was expected by all the staff. All the staff expected a successful project.
 
Passive voice is usually awkward and unclear. Active voice is usually clear, emphatic, and flowing. It is also direct. Thus, good writers prefer active voice because we want interesting information to flow in a clear and direct manner for our readers. Readers prefer active voice (whether they are aware of it or not), because it decreases the amount of mental work required for understanding the text. People naturally have a more positive reaction to active voice than they do to passive voice. In many circles, especially technical fields like engineering, law, and medicine, writers falsely assume passive voice makes them look more "professional." Don't fall into that trap. 

You can express some things better with passive voice, but usually it is better to use the active voice.