A link that is specifically placed in a writeup. This is done by putting brackets around a word or phrase, like so:
- We were playing [five-card stud] the other night
when the [credenza] exploded.
That will appear like this:
- We were playing five-card stud the other night
when the credenza exploded.
"Five-card stud" is linked to the node named "five-card stud", and "credenza" is linked to the "credenza" node. It's quite easy.
Of course, that means you can't use square brackets, right? Right: They'll just turn into links. You can make square brackets in your text using the following symbols:
- [ makes [
- ] makes ]
You should never hardlink a plural, unless it's some kind of proper name: Rolling Stones, for example, is okay, but if you hardlink radishes, that's a problem. It's a problem because we have a radish node, but we do not have a radishes node. It's better to link to the one we have. If you create a plural one, the editors will surely delete it as soon as they spot it. They'll do that because it's redundant and it confuses the issue: You don't have to guess whether radish information is under "radish" or "radishes". You already know, because they've gone to the trouble of enforcing a standard. Now, if somebody writes a novel called Radishes, of course that would be noded by its correct name. That's different: The novel is not the vegetable.
It is highly recommended that every writeup include some hard links, to foster node integration, and avoid having someone tell you "learn how to link". Don't link stupid stuff. Link stuff that's important.
Links appear specially marked in the writeup, like this: This is a link.
See: soft link | 
