Five Things You Need to Know about Writing Articles
So you’ve decided to get into the world of journalism — or maybe you already are! Your goal is simple — become a successful journalist — but what exactly do you mean by that? How do I write an article? When should I publish something? After all, editing and publishing don’t come easy. There’s so much more involved than just putting down your pen and paper. Learning every nitty-gritty will not only change how you look at writing articles but also make you more knowledgeable about other kinds of writing. In this post, we’re breaking down some of those things into five key points that can help aspiring writers learn everything they need to know about writing articles.
1) Start With A Title That Fits The Content
So let’s start with the very basics. What does it mean to write an article? Well, the first step is to ask yourself: What problems am I trying to solve? Answering these questions can give you a good, solid foundation for thinking about how you’re going to present your ideas to readers. It helps to identify who might be reading the piece, what their agenda is, and what’s important to them. Once you know what those things are, then you can think through your approach. The steps you take during this stage will determine how well your article stands out from the pack so you want to ensure yours doesn‘t fall off the cliff if you don’t do something to draw attention to it or engage the reader. This is the most vital part of the process because, without great content, no one will ever read it.
2) Come Up With A Strong Introduction
Next up is deciding how you‘re going to introduce your idea before diving right in. Do you have multiple ideas in mind? Is there something else you’ve been working on? If you have numerous ideas, it‘s definitely a recipe for disaster because each of these ideas has its own unique set of merits and demerits. For example, consider the following headlines: “The Best Advice Ever Given to Someone Who Has Survived Sexually Transmitted Infection” and “The Secret Technique of Making Sure All Strangers Have One Drink.” While both of these pieces could be written in different ways, one would likely appeal to someone who knows a bit more about the subject matter (i.e., they‘re better informed about STI prevention and/or transmission). At the same time, the second would reach a wider audience since it addresses sexual health in general. Keep track of which ideas seem like the better ones and keep adding new ideas as you find them. Remember, this is when you want to show your readers that you‘re genuinely interested in learning about this topic and actually care enough to put aside your ego and write a quality article based on research and experience.
3) Write The Body Paragraph(s) First
In our previous section, we did talk a little about why you need a strong introduction (because otherwise, nothing will happen!) but now it‘s time to talk about where your body paragraphs fit in. Now, the best way to learn about the structure of an essay is to go back to school and study college core classes when you‘re younger — ideally, when you’re a sophomore or junior — because they will give you insights into the structure and layout of a typical college paper. Most professors will assign 100–150 words per paragraph based on class readings and the assignment itself. But they also give you notes while you read and often use them during revision when it comes time to proofread for grammar and punctuation mistakes. Basically, remember that an article needs to be a cohesive unit to stand on its own. Think about your introduction, your body paragraphs, and/or conclusion before starting the actual drafting of your story. Use the lessons you learned during high school when revising as a guide to what you need to include in the final product. Sometimes the entire thing will be perfect — other times it won‘t be. Learn from these small details throughout the whole process of becoming a better writer and make sure you‘re always making adjustments along the way to add to the overall quality of your work. It never hurts anything to revisit, but once you get past the rough draft to final proofreading, you may find yourself rewording certain sections and taking liberties with others.
4) Include Links That Lead Readers Towards Their Own Website
So now you‘ve given us a solid grounding for thinking about the article‘s topic and format, let‘s talk about how to add links that lead directly to other sites. Before you start adding links to other publications, you need to keep in mind that this isn‘t the place to reference sources, such as books or articles. Instead, focus on pointing readers toward the websites where your articles can be found, with some type of call-to-action that encourages them to visit your site. Some examples of blog articles that link to other websites might include:
“Learn Everything About Breast Cancer.”
“How Can We Support Women Affected By Ovarian Cystosis?”
“How Effective Are Sports Medicine Supplements?”
“How Often Should People Be Doing Skincare Exercises?” etc.
Once you‘re done building links, check to see if your website appears in search results. Google gives preference to sites with authority or credibility. More importantly, you want to ensure your name, site URL, or business is visible to the searchers — meaning people who are searching for information about or services related to your industry. Also, ensure your pages are mobile-optimized to provide proper navigation across desktop and mobile devices.
5) Proofread And Edit Your Work Now that you‘ve got all of your bases covered and know which stories need further edits, it‘s time for polishing up your text and getting it ready to share with your editor. If you don‘t already have a copyedited version of your page, now’s the time to go ahead and create one and share your edited copy. Editing usually takes between 15–30 minutes, depending on the length of your document. Again, you‘re looking for the bare minimum, and the longer you wait, the harder it will become. You might still end up doing minor corrections along the way, or perhaps some significant revisions. Always remind yourself that everyone is reviewing your work. Even if you think you have it spot on, it‘s okay if another person thinks otherwise. Look at your old copy and do some quick rounds of an edit where necessary. Just don‘t forget to reread any sections several times as you go. Don‘t worry if the word count is a little low at the beginning or middle of your project. Focus on catching typos, sentences, or grammatical issues early on and fixing them as soon as possible. As long as your paragraphs are coherent and organized, chances are someone will pick up on your mistake. Additionally, try using a spellchecker online or a built-in app on your computer. These tools can quickly catch many common errors including misspelled names and misspellings. Read more about these tools and their pros and cons here.
Conclusion
If you‘re looking to become a professional writer, the truth is that finding success in writing does take skill and patient
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