DiMono's Guide to Guide Making

Ever read a guide that just hurt your eyes? Or perhaps it confused you so much that you're bald now. I once saw one where every other word was something not English. And what's with this one anyway?

Having become tired with incomprehensible guides, I've written this, my Guide to Guide Making. Not following the normal format of a guide, this is simply a checklist of things to do before making your guide.

1. Know English, since that's what most people will be reading it in.
   
   
2. Make sure you're writing about something useful or otherwise interesting
   
   
3. Research what you're writing on very extensively before writing your guide. I've messed up on this one myself before, gotten caught, and had to correct myself. Trust me, it saves a lot of time to do it right the first time.
   1. If you're making a character guide, play it through the entire game several times, trying different variants, before making your guide. Nobody wants to know that a specific type of character murders Hell Cows, we want to know how to build the character through the game.
   
   
4. Include some sort of introduction; let us know what the guide is about, why you made it, and maybe something about your background in the game.
   1. Make sure your guide is organized. Color helps, having more than one paragraph is good too.
   
   
5. When writing your guide, don't use 1337-5p34|<. All you'll do is convince people not to read your guide.
   1. Use complete sentences
   
   
6. When writing your guide, don't advocate hacking, cheating, or the use of illegal items.
   
   
7. Don't tell us to put an Ohm rune in a Harlequin Crest.
   
   
8. Don't call it a Shako. A Shako is an elite Cap. A Harlequin Crest is a unique elite Cap. They're not the same thing.
   
   
9. Don't claim your guide is better than any other guides. All you can accurately claim is that it's different, assuming it is in fact different.
   
   
10. Don't include things totally unrelated to the guide. If you're writing about a PvP Sorceress, why do we care what you think of a Grandfather on Barbarians?
    
    
11. Post your guide in the appropriate forum, and accept criticism. Remember, people are commenting on your guide, not you. Unless your guide demonstrates you to be ignorant of everything you're writing about. ...I won't mention any names.
    1. Don't defend your position until you examine both sides. It could very well be that you have missed something, which you can now add.