Writing - Checklist for Writing Effective Articles

There is little more intimidating - or mind numbing - than a blank page before you when you are trying to write an article and you have absolutely nothing in mind regarding how to proceed.

These tips should help you get your article going and help to ward off some common article writing problems.

1. Have a Focus in Mind for Your Article.

You should have a purpose or focus for your article before you even set pen to paper. Make sure that you are absolutely clear on what you want your article to accomplish. What do you want your article to do? Do you want it to impart information to you customers, attract potential customers, or improve the link popularity for your site?

2. Understand Your Target Audience.

Before you begin, writing an article you need to figure out whom are you talking to and do some research on your target audience. What are their interests, their wants and needs in a chosen topic and experiences? What problem or pain do they try to avoid?

3. Create an Outline with Emphasis on Benefits.

Once you have established your purpose and identified your target audience and their needs, it is time to organize your article. This will provide a roadmap of your article and your reader can do a quick scan of it and determine how they will most benefit from the information. It will also help to identify the most important points.

4. Create an Engaging Headline.

Your title, or headline, should engage the reader, grabbing their attention, compelling them to read the first paragraph and beyond. Placing your most important benefit in it often works well.

5. Place Your Most Important Information at the Beginning of the Article.

Do not save your most vital information for the end of your article. You want to use it right away to engage the reader, and then you will use the following paragraphs to develop the thought.

6. Don't Overdo it with Jargon.

Prejudices, insinuations, jargon, and good, old-fashioned mud slinging are not acceptable. Keep your article simple, to the point and avoid bashing another product or service. If you must make negative statements regarding a person or product, use objectivity otherwise your article will appear slanted.

7. Keep Your Article Warm and Personal.

Sometimes you will want an article that is like a newspaper article or an entry in an encyclopedia. For sales, however, you will want to speak directly to the reader. When you are finished, read your article. It should make your reader feel empathy, warmth, and they should feel that you connect with them.

8. Avoid Long, Complex Sentences.

Stick to a simple structure for your article. Keep you sentences short and easy to read. This will help to keep your reader from becoming bored. Subheadings also help to keep the reading easy.

9. Get a Second Pair of Eyes on Your Article Before You Go Public.

Find someone who is in the same target audience and have them read and critique your article. This will help you to know that you are addressing the needs and desires adequately.

10. Edit for that Final Spit and Polish.

In addition to formatting your article to make it easier to read and make it look more attractive, make sure that you use an external editor and proofread your work for spelling and grammatical errors.

The more you write the better writer you will become. Once you are in the habit of writing, article writing will not be so difficult. Keep at is and keep these tips in mind; soon you will be turning out top quality articles on a regular basis.

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Writing - Checklist for Writing Effective Articles

The Importance of Outline Writing

Whatever kind of writing you are doing, it is always best to have an outline first. Outline writing is to help you gather your thoughts and think of a logical way from going from point A to point B then point C and finishing with point D. Whether you are writing an article, writing a news letter, writing a thesis or doing some other kind of writing, your writing outline format will be similar.

The first thing to think about is your topic. If it is a broad topic, such as "Canada," you might want to write about "Vacations in Canada" or "Canadian People" because the topic is too broad otherwise and there is far too much information to fit in one article or essay.

Next, you can write other points you want to mention. If you are writing about vacations in Canada, you can make a list of the top five vacation spots. After each one, write the three most exciting things to do at each one and a few words about the place itself. When you come to writing the article or paper, you can write one paragraph about each vacation spot because you already have your research and information in front of you.

If you are doing creative writing, it might help to use writing prompts. If you want to write a horror story, try writing for two minutes. Don't think about it; just write a scary description of a frightening place. This gets your creative juices flowing. This is actually the opposite of writing an outline but is a useful writing exercise nonetheless.

When writing fiction, outline writing is useful. You can begin with basic ideas and add more as they come to you. You can add more facts about each character in the story and each location. Then, when you come to writing the actual story, you already have the skeleton and just need to add the body.

Of course, outline writing is optional but many people feel that it really helps with planning their piece of writing and also making sure, they do not accidentally omit anything when they are writing it.