Category Archives: Writing

Writing About Writing

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Lately it seems like I keep getting asked, “How do you write?” by people who don’t think they are good at it. So I decided to put down in – what else – writing, about writing. I hope you enjoy this little trip behind the scenes!

Let’s start by agreeing that everyone has a different writing style – professional, relaxed, goofy, etc. I also think a lot of people have a different style of writing. By this I mean the processes by which they compose their content. Here I am sharing the methods I employ and hopefully you will recognize how highly customizable writing can be.

Determine the Topic: I prefer to write about something that is significant or important in my life at the moment. Because my thoughts are already consumed by this subject, I am motivated to conduct research and excited to share what I am learning. I also believe that my passion for the topic comes across in my writing and readers find it motivational.

Contemplation: Once I’ve narrowed town a topic, I usually let it bounce around in my head for a few days. I take this time to think about the points I want to cover or different angles. Yes, sometimes this leads me to a totally different topic to write about and that’s okay!

Conduct Research: Because I don’t want my articles to strictly be my opinion, my next step is to research the topic. I want facts or the opinions of other people to back up or disprove my reasoning. I take notes of everything I find useful.

Composition: Research usually gets the ideas flowing, so I just record as many of them as possible in whatever order they arrive. It’s like brainstorming at this point. I always go back later to clean it up and make sense of it all. The beauty of a computer is being able to literally move sentences and paragraphs around until they flow in the right order.

Article Structure: I always start my article with an introduction to and a reason for the topic. By utilizing bolding, bullet points or numbers in the body of the article, my readers can at a glance determine if the content intrigues them. Then I end it with an upbeat or positive summary.

Writing Style: I want my articles to appeal to everyone so I try to intertwine common occurrences or examples that most people can relate to. Also, I write my articles as if I am speaking to a friend because I personally prefer the relaxed tone it encourages.

More Contemplation: My articles are rarely written and finalized in one sitting… well, never. I like to write the first draft and leave it for at least a few hours, preferably a day or two, and then come back for the second draft.

Second Draft: This is when I remove information that doesn’t fit well with the overall theme. I also try to keep my articles to one page in length. I read it out loud to myself several times to find phrases that make me stumble, because if I stumble my readers will, too.

Proofreading: I firmly believe you cannot adequately proof read your own work because your brain knows what it wants to see, not necessarily what is actually there. So I always like to have a friend proof read my article for typos, missing words, and other things I might overlook.

Publish It: Now it’s finally time to share it with everyone! First I share it with my subscribers through my e-newsletter broadcast, then after a few days I post it on my blog, social media sites and EzineArticles. Then lastly I schedule the article for a few more rounds on my social media sites to make sure it gets a lot of exposure at different times.

Writing does not have to be a boring or intimidating chore. Find what process works best for you. Maybe you can crank out a wonderful article in one sitting, but know that it’s okay to spread it out over the course of a few days in order to get what you feel is the best material. But however you do it, relax! You’ll discover that once you find your groove, it can be a very rewarding and gratifying experience.

How To Write Articles – 3 Easy Steps

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For millions of people writing is a way of life. Learning how to write articles is not something that just a few people in life do, there are a literally millions of people that are learning the trade and starting to post up information on a variety of directories, blogs, and so much more. If you or someone you know is looking to figure out how to move forward with this type of innovation, consider the following ways to get more out of your words:

  • Everyday Writing – When you wake up and you do your normal routine, make sure that it includes some sort of writing. You’re not going to find a lot of time throughout your day to sit and write, so get it done in the morning. The first things you write don’t have to be long winded, or very good, they just have to be informational. Make sure that you spend some time writing daily, so that you build on the skill.
  • Emulation – The second thing that you can do in regards to writing is to look into what others are writing. You need to emulate the style of many writers, and not just copy their content. If you can successfully write the way many other writers do, you’ll be on the fast track to success. Writing is a difficult thing to master, but if your purpose is to learn how to write articles; you need to emulate other article scribes.
  • Blog – Start a blog, start writing posts daily and continually keep it up. This might seem like a rudimentary type of idea, however, if you are careful with your thoughts and talk about something you love, you’ll find that when it comes down to writing “paid” work, you’ll find it far easier than once thought. You’ll enjoy the greater good that is involved with blogs because it can be a revenue source in the long term, and for some bloggers, six figure blogging is possible.

If you’re interested in figuring out how to write articles, one last note might be important to consider. Think about writing in the form of scholastics. When in high school and college, writing essays becomes a standard. If you can take what you learned then, and apply it into today’s manner, you’ll find that you can create a wealth of writing in essay format. The essay format can make you stand out ahead of many people around the world.

For those that aren’t really good at writing, don’t worry. You can become a paid scribe by simply doing it on a daily basis. It’s important to understand that while many have natural talent, the people that succeed the most are scribes that do it daily in a variety of different formats. If you want to join them, you simply have to start doing this daily. The aforementioned tips are just 3 things that you can remember when moving forward with article writing and much more. Remember, you can’t become successful if you don’t try.