Nobody cares if it was originally a nodeshell

You don't need to add any text to your writeup stating that it was a nodeshell rescue.

When I see "nodeshell rescue" in a writeup this conveys to me the feeling that the author has a lack of confidence in its quality. It says "well I know this isn't any damn good, but REMEMBER, I was working to someone else's title so you really can't expect too much". Whenever you feel tempted to share with us that you are rescuing a nodeshell ask yourself "If I had thought up the title myself would this node be worth submitting?". If the answer is no, just don't do it.

Finally, nodeshells often have bad titles. They don't really epitomise what you want to say in your writeup. For example, they may be incorrectly spelled or have inappropriate capitalisation. In which case you should simply ignore the nodeshell, create a new node with the title you actually want, and ask a god to dispose of the redundant nodeshell. Whatever you do, don't use the bad nodeshell title and then put an apology at the bottom of your writeup, that's just silly.

Don't judge writeups that identify themselves as former nodeshells too harshly. Although such declarations are the tag of a well-known E2 grafitti gang, and sometimes signal insecurity about the quality of the writeups they inhabit, they often mean that the author is not taking credit/blame for thinking the title up.

The human mind is a funny thing, and seeing a string of words without anything under it can cause sudden inspiration. Many great nodes owe their genesis to this inspiration.

But what is the first thing readers see? Not the writeup. The title will appear in New Writeups or ENN. The title is often responsible for a major slice of a node's impact on the reader.

If you didn't think up the title, you can't take credit for it. In olden days, people couldn't see who created a node title. Doing nothing was the same thing as assuming credit for thinking up the title.

However, you certainly shouldn't do it now. Ever since our fearless coder gave certain people the ability to see who created a node, it has been unnecessary, and even pointless, to mention that your writeup had previously been under a nodeshell.

Even though "lost little nodeshell" declarations have been relegated to the status of a historical curiousity, you will see them from time to time. They will never be purged entirely.