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How to Write an Article About AnythingBy Annie C BetteridgeTo get started, I want to discuss research and outlining for an article. Why these two things? Because too many people skip them entirely. They go straight to the writing part, either rewriting other content or making up information as it is necessary. There are a dozen things wrong with those two scenarios, not the least of which is the fact that you risk infringing someone's copyright if you decide to do rewrites. Researching Your Articles To start with, if you're not already an expert about a topic, become one. This is a pretty easy task. Just get some books and read some popular websites. In fact, I recommend you spend a bit of time generating a boatload of notes too. A lot of people think that this is a time consuming process and it will sink their business. I disagree. First off, by researching everything ahead of time, you probably save time. You can absorb all that information and use it to write about everything you may need for your site. Secondly, you will write better, more informative articles. This is huge when you're trying to develop a solid knowledge base that people will recognize as an authority resource. Another great tool to keep on hand is OneNote - part of the Microsoft Office suite. You can print pages directly to OneNote or just write your notes there directly. This way, you can collect all your research in one easy to access place. Outlining After you've read enough content to get a good feel for the topic, it's time to start outlining some content. You don't need to outline the entire article or to put together a five paragraph structure, but it does help to have a basic runthrough of what will be in each article. Say I want to write an article about choosing an MP3 player. That's a pretty general topic, so I should outline it and choose something more specific. Here's what I might come up with: - Choosing an MP3 Player for a Young Child o Features for Children o The Right Price Range o How Durable Is it? As you can see, I chose a more specific topic, then got even more specific with details that matter to the audience of this article. I could have written a very general article about MP3 players, but this one has a better targeted audience - a huge plus for any article marketing or blogging. When you start writing an article, don't set unrealistic expectations for yourself. Ignore things like word counts and time frames for now. Eventually, you'll want to write faster and keep it to a certain length, but early on, just getting words down is a good task. Writing Your Article Step one, put away any resources you were using. I know they're tempting, but writing an article while looking at an existing resource can cause you problems. To start with, it's tempting to start rewriting parts of it. And even if you don't try to rewrite it, you may end up doing so accidentally. So, use your notes and your memory. If you need a specific fact, go back into your resources and find it, then make sure you source it with a citation. This will ensure nothing gets swiped unintentionally. Next, keep your paragraphs short. If you take a look at my articles, you'll see none of my paragraphs get much longer than five or six lines. This does two things. First, it keeps the article easily scannable for people who read quickly on the Internet. Second, it makes it easier to write the content. You'll quickly get better at making a complete point in under five lines. Don't worry about getting your article perfect the first time through. Just write. Writing is a learned skill - the more you do it, the better you'll get, so don't expect yourself to be amazing at it right off the bat. When You're Done Once you've finished writing your article, read back through it to make sure it sounds okay. A trick I like to use is to read it out loud. It will take a bit of training to get to where you can recognize things that sound funny while reading silently. For now, read it out loud and you'll hear those goofy segues or grammar issues that you might otherwise miss. Once you're satisfied with your article, guess what - you can rewrite it. You own the rights to that original piece of work and can rewrite it in as many ways as you want. One thing to keep in mind though is that your articles still need to look original to Google. To help with that, use a tool called Copyscape. It costs $0.05 for every article you run through it, but you can make sure everything you write is original, even the rewrites. Finally, if you're reeling right now and really don't want to write your own content, don't forget the outsourcing options. Sites like Elance or Odesk have tons of writers with good feedback who can help you out - the only difference is that it will cost you a bit of money. About the Author: When it comes time to write your articles, you want the best possible resources on hand. Annie Betteridge can help you create content that will jump out at your readers and draw endless streams of traffic to your site. Stop wasting hours plodding through content writing and learn how to write an article today. |
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