SCP Foundation

I'd like examples of things new writers do wrong when writing a new SCP. This isn't a cliché list, it's a list of common errors to help new writers avoid pitfalls. Aside from the obvious like typos here are a few I've seen.

• SCPs made in the hopes to be added to SCP: Containment Breach

I've never played SCP: Containment Breach because I'm a coward but I've seen failed SCPs that someone made just for the game.

• Non-existent object classes.

Come guys, it's right here.

• Unprofessional tone

I confess to using this. I'm pretty new to this, too.

I just want to note that this was not made with the purpose to shame and insult people. I just want to help out others. Since I'm new as well I'm not exactly a know-it-all.

Would one of the admins mind moving this to General Advice?

I've seen a few common errors.

- Referring to SCPs in article as SCPs (e.g. The Foundation acquired several SCPs, including SCP-XXXX, in an MC&D raid. It should be The Foundation acquired several SCP objects or SCP items.)
- Referring to an SCP as simply 'the SCP' or its number designation alone. (The whole thing should be called SCP-XXXX, where XXXX is its number designation)
- Inaccuracy of what a "mutation" is (usually its changes on the DNA, so chances are no rapid changes or anything)
- Inaccuracy of what schizophrenia is (wikipedia that stuff)
- Inaccuracy of what evolution is (occurs over many generations over a long period of time, a single subject doesn't "rapidly evolve" or anything like that)

I often see formatting issues with things like test logs and addendums.

If you look at most SCP pages with test logs you'll see nice, neat, organized boxes.

With newbies I just see a mess of bullet points.

Personally, I see a lot of grammatical errors that really shouldn't be there if you are doing any kind of serious writing. There are a lot of cases where someone attempts to make a long, run-on sentence sound like serious scientific jargon, when short, terse sentences would work much better. Spelling errors! There should be no excuse for spelling errors these days. If you have problems with spelling, for pity's sake write out your entry in Word and let the spell check do it's thing!
Can this get stickied by chance? I am seeing a lot of really great advice here.

I've been looking at the lowest rated SCPs and found the ones that get the most downvotes are miserably short. I've actually seen one that has a description that was one sentence long. The description is supposed to be the meat of the SCP, when you're talking about what the SCP is.

This is a new one, I'm not sure how common it is but someone accidentally centered the image on the top of the page. It seems like a simple mistake so I'd imagine this isn't the first time.

One I constantly see are people who forget to add a rating module.