It's Round and It's White
Our Guide to Successful Writing
Before you even start to write an article make sure it is unique, only articles that cannot be found anywhere else on the internet will be published on the site. That means that at the time of publishing the ONLY place the article can be found is here! The reason being that It’s Round And It’s White want YOU to be successful, so we have applied for Google News coverage to really get your writing out there and seen by the masses. To adhere to the Google News requirements means that the articles on our site really do need to be unique at the time of approval. Any articles that are found elsewhere will be rejected by our editorial team and you will be notified.
So just to clarify, in order for an article to be published on It’s Round and It’s White in the first place it has to be unique.
The reason this rule exists in the first place is out of our hands, to be considered by Google News we really do need to have news. We all know that old news is no news and so does Google, if It’s Round and It’s White isn’t the original source of the news we will not meet the regulations put into place by Google.
——————————————————
1. Topic: We all know that the subject is football but it’s up to you to choose the topic. Write about something that interests you or you feel passionate about, it doesn’t have to be about the team you support or current events.
2. Headline: Use the headline to grab people’s attention, don’t rush into choosing it. It’s best to keep them short but intriguing. Make it clear, you’ve seen how the newspapers do it.
3. Size: The 400 word mark is where you should be looking to hit, anything below that will most likely not be descriptive enough, especially for a match report (*see #10). It’s not a rule but a strong guideline.
4. Anti-Plagarism: It’s important to be unique, in fact, it’s in the rules. Never duplicate any already published content or copy-righted material from anywhere. We no longer allow users to link to external sites, even if doing so supports the article you have written. If you wish to self promote with links to Twitter and your blog, fear not, we have plans to introduce a profile box at the end of articles that will include all of this information.
5. Picture: Include at least one relevant picture, it breaks up the article well and helps set the scene for the reader. There are many sites that provide royalty free images, which is a requirement. We are also in the process of building an image library of our own so feel free to use one of our stock photos. For more information please read the New Users Guide.
6. Edit: Good writing is done naturally but great writing comes from editing, never rush the submission of your article. Read your article again and again, make sure it flows well and that your grammar and spelling is all correct. This will allow your work to be published quicker.
7. Category: Make sure you tick the correct categories, we get lots of articles for publishing that are ‘uncategorized’. Include any country, league and/or team that you mention. If you like, add some relevant tags too. Easy.
8. Frequency: If you’re looking to be ‘discovered’ or you want to gain a following, the key to doing so is writing regularly. Use your free time wisely, write when you can but always have fun.
9. Pride: Take pride in what you do, use your own style. Let your friends and followers see your work by Tweeting and/or updating your Facebook status about it. You may inspire others.
10. *Match Reporting: So you’re writing a match report, it’s not that difficult. The key is to keep it interesting, factual and descriptive. Use at least two pictures from the game and use this as a template for your headline, Match Report: Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City (City Fan’s Perspective). An example of a good match report can be found here, take a look.
When it comes to match reports, we have a set format for the headlines. Every match report title should be as follows:
Match Report: Manchester United 1-6 Manchester City (City Fan’s Perspective) or Match Report: Millwall 5-0 Dagenham.
Tip: Keep an eye on the details within the title, all we want is consistency. The most common mistakes are spacing and the lack of capital letters. For example: 1 – 6 should be 1-6 and (City fans perspective) should be (City Fan’s Perspective).
For more information on any of the above please read the New Users Guide, if you have not already. If you have a question do not hesitate to ask, you can contact us via Twitter, Facebook or through the Site.
