In their own write

How often does it happen that you want to write something you feel strongly about, but you know that there are no publications which would cater to that type of subject? There is always a likely chance that, despite a number of magazines and newspapers that cover a diverse range of topics, your choice of subject does not fall in any category, or for some other reason, cannot be published.

On the other hand, you may want to express your views on a topic which has already been extensively covered by the experts, leaving no space for amateurs. This is where Helium comes in.

Helium is a website that caters to people who would like to indulge in creative writing and share their knowledge with others. Of course, all articles are subjected to editing and peer reviews, but at the end of the day, they are published on the website. Needless to say, you will have a worldwide and obviously diverse readership.

The first thing to do when you visit the website is to set up your account. Once you have your login name and password, you can explore its various sections (or channels, as they are called here). If you want to start writing immediately, there are basically two options for you to choose from.

The first is to choose one or more of the channels that you are interested in writing for, and feel you know something about the subject. There is a wide selection of channels from education, health, humanities, food and autos to religion, politics, relationships and travel. Once you have identified your channel(s) of interest, you can read up on the articles which are already there to get the feel of the content before you begin contributing. If you like, you can also participate in one of the ‘debate’ topics, and have your say.

The second option is targeted writing. Here, you do not go straight to the channels. Instead, you access the marketplace and contests. In marketplace, the publishers put up guidelines about specific articles that they require for publication – along with a deadline. If any of the topics here suit your interest, you can write and send it in the stipulated time. Contests, of course, work along the same principle. Probably the most interesting of these contests is the ‘Pulitzer Centre’ where certain political topics are posted every week, and the best five articles are featured on the Helium as well as the Pulitzer Centre of Crisis Reporting’s website.

There are quite a few other interesting features — for instance there is an entire section of resources on citizen journalism. Moreover, if you do not feel like writing just yet, you can read and rate the work of other writers. There is a Helium Community as well, where you can interact with other users of the website.

Overall, there is really no limit to your creativity while you explore and use this website. The main thing of course is to be consistent with your writing, and there is no reason why you cannot use Helium to build up your writing portfolio, even if your profession is completely different.

In order to express your ideas in words, log onto http://www.helium.com