Hi, welcome potential JWN poster. Before you enter the world of JWN please take a moment to review some basic principles of communication. So there you sit at your computer ready to start a topic. You stare at the blank screen, ask yourself a simple question. What do I want to write? Maybe you want to tell a story, make you want to post a funny picture, or maybe you want to make an argument for or against an issue. This tutorial will address the latter.
It's important to have a good introduction when making an argument. Please don't mince words or seem to wishy washy. Just come out and say it! For example if I was writing about dogs making better pets than monkeys my introduction might read like this: "I really love all animals as pets, but monkeys are just too much work. Dogs seem much better they don't rip your genitals off and bite your face in a psychotic rage. They are also loving and loyal companions. Monkeys are just too unpredictable to keep as a pet." It's important not to insult or string out your reader. Just state your position in your introduction.
After you have begun your argument now it's time to offer supporting statements or facts. The information should not be cut and paste from the work of another writer. Rather distill facts, arguments or sentiments from the other works and bring them into your work. Obviously referencing the source is important but just filling a page with qoutes or copy and paste is confusing and lazy. For example: "According to people that work with mokeys they often turn violent and aggressive as they mature. http://www.2ndchance.info/monkeysaspets.htm" This is acceptable... What is not is to simply cut and paste a bunch or data leaving the reader to sift through it and wondering what you intend for them to decipher out of it.
There is nothing like a good conclusion to wrap up a great post. For example, "I just can't handle the risk of having an unpredicatble monkey. I am going to have Shamus put down this afternoon and buy a golden retriever on the way home."
Please, a little effort to make your arguments and posts logical and coherent will go a long way. Everyone will be offended before you know it! Enjoy your time on JWN.