As a Halifx Citizen correspondent, you tell your own story or help people to tell theirs in a first person voice. This means that you will be doing "I witnessed," "I lived this" or "as told to" pieces and crafting them into stories with a beginning and an end, using only the subject's or your own words. Unlike in traditional journalism, where "I" is a bad word and subjectivity is suspect, HalifaxCitizen.com actually encourages the "I" and the personal perspective behind the news.

Wondering just what "news" is? Quite simply, news is information that is interesting, relevant and useful to your audience; it's an invaluable public service. It's people sharing their stories.

News is current: What's going on around you right now? Breaking news always fulfills the need for currency, but that's not the only kind of news HalifaxCitizen.com is looking for. For example, you may be able to add information or context to a news story that's current because of your own personal experience.

News is meaningful: If an event or experience means something to you, chances are other people will be interested in it, too.

If your idea meets these criteria, you've got news!

We all know that writing is easier said than done, and it's hard to offer practical suggestions to what is sort of an intuitive art. Here are a few words of advice: Write simply. Use common words and try keeping your sentences short, preferably with no more than one thought per sentence. If you write more than 2,500 words, your train of thought may wander off the track.

If doing an "as told to" piece, your subject must be aware that you are transcribing his or her conversations and that you are writing stories in his or her own words. We require writers to send us the contact information (address, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, if possible) for the main subject. Each correspondent is responsible for providing the photographs, videos and audio clips that may accompany a story.

We won't print libelous statements, nor will we accept stories we find to be fabricated or plagiarized. Check your facts, because accuracy is the key to HalifaxCitizen.com's credibility. If there are any facts that are found to be false or copyright infringements, HalifaxCitizen.com will remove the story from the site and ban the writer from the site. Please see our Terms of Use.

Don't fancy yourself a writer? HalifaxCitizen.com has a number of multi-media platforms to choose from: text, audio, video and photo essay slideshows.

HalifaxCitizen.com is breaking new ground in pioneering citizen journalism. If you're still unsure what an HalifaxCitizen.com story looks like, check out some of our sample stories listed below. These are some of the best of the best that HalifaxCitizen.com has showcased...Real citizens with extraordinary stories.

Why don't you join our community and post your own story!