How To Write a "Good" Article Better!

I'm sure, every single person who has taken pen to paper, typed a comment, or even labeled a picture for a photo album has, at one time or another, looked at the page in front of them and thought... "...now what do I write?" Having been newly inducted into the writing community, I found myself asking that same question, so I decided to find the answer.

The popular concencus is to write about something you know; dogs, cats, cooking, entertaining, music, etc. On the surface, this looks easy enough, but it isn't until you are faced with that blank slate that you begin to question what it is you truly know.

In order to write a good article, you have to do some digging. Once you decide on the subject matter, it doesn't hurt to do a little research. See how many books have been written about it, check online for websites pertaining to your 'specialty', find out how you can utilize the information...much like you would a thesaurus. Most times you will find some relevant piece of knowledge that you knew and had forgotten until seeing it in print.

I'm not saying here that you should plagiarize their work, so no copying and pasting. Take notes, if there are facts that you didn't know, you can use them so long as you include your source. With that step done, you are ready to begin writing.

The first you need is to find a title for your work. You want the reader to see at a glance exactly what you want to convey, meaning you don't have a title like "The Pro's and Con's of Being a Pet Owner" and then write about keeping bees. The experts agree that the catchier and more unique your headline is, the more people are going to want to read it.

Once you have that established, you need to organise your thoughts on paper so that when it comes time to present the finished product, it all fits together or 'flows'. You can accomplish this by jotting down related phrases, or keywords and expanding on them.

For an example, I'll use cats as a subject. After you have done your 'digging', make a list of everything pertaining to cats...like types of food, breeds, long hair, short hair, grooming, personalities, etc. Then you can take each mini topic and broaden that...types of food...wet, dry, treats...you get the idea.

Keep a thesaurus handy. One of the traps writers fall into is repeating the same words over and over. Not only does it make the piece repetitious, it's boring to read. Here's an example..."Dick and Jane went hiking and fishing, and then they sat down and ate."

Let's see if we can make that sentence more interesting without so many 'and's'. "Dick, together with Jane, spent the day hiking and fishing, after which, they sat down to a good, outdoor style dinner." You can see how much better that reads than the first sentence, also, there is only one 'and' in it! The bonus of restructuring that sentence can be seen by the image it brings to mind of cooking over a fire after spending an enjoyable day in the outdoors.

You want to keep the readers attention, not only for the facts, but for the enjoyment of reading. Don't be afraid to add some humour to your pages as well, but stay away from adding the printed version of 'laugh tracks'...let me explain.

As most people are aware, laugh tracks were added to television sit coms when the stations switched from live shows to taped ones. The tracks were added where the listeners would normally have laughed at the jokes, giving the illusion of a live audience.

Written 'laugh tracks' consist of things like CAPITALIZED WORDS, extra question marks?? and exclamation points!! to convey a feeling, whether it be fear, surprise, anger, and yes, laughter. However, it's best to let the reader put their own connotation to the piece. If you feel the need to stress anything, use italics to indicate the differences.

Using 'chat' vernacular is also something to stay away from if you want to be taken seriously. Abbreviations like 'lol', '*wink*', '*silly grin*', 'lmao', or using smiley faces, are great when you are chatting with your friends online, but are not really applicable when writing an article for publication. You can still get your point across without distracting the reader.

Something else to remember is, if you are going to use abbreviations, you should first spell out the words, then switch to the shortened version, or at least have the full rendition immediately next to the abridged text.

The format of your piece should be easy to follow; one thought leading into the next, rather like a cronological date line. Too much jumping around tends to be very confusing, and the reader loses interest quickly. That's not to say you have to start actually writing at the beginning of your story..."Au contraire"...you can begin in the middle, or the end...whatever works for you, just so long as you organise the various sections so that each segment leads into the next.

Break up the information into small, easy to handle segments. Not only does this enable the browsers to scan for the material they are looking for, it keeps the piece neat, organized, it reads smoother, takes less time, and is visually pleasing.

Now we come to the 'information' section. Ideally, you want to share a lot of interesting news with your readers. Don't worry that the data isn't necessarily original, after all, somewhere, at sometime, someone, has made a record of it. What you can do is breathe new life into the previous account by adding your own thoughts and viewpoint.

This can be done as 'ideas' or 'tips' that enhance the overall feel of your story. Unless you are writing a medical journal, or relaying accounting details, the addition of humour or related personal views is important. The last thing you want is to sound like your grade 10 science teacher explaining the properties of quantum physics. (I don't know about you, but after listening to him drone on about chemicals for half an hour I was falling asleep.) And that is the point I am making here. 'Nuff said.

The addition of pictures that relate to your story is also an excellent idea. This gives your audience a great visual to enhance the written explanations. Pictures can also grab the interest of a 'prospective' reader. Many times I've been browsing through websites or books and had my attention piqued by an intreguing photograph.

After you have finally gotten all your information put together the way you want it and it's ready to publish, make sure you remember to chekc your spleling! (notice the italics...) and your punctuation. This has to be one of the most important steps in writing but you rarely, if ever, hear anyone mention it. (I hope I have taken my own advise and found all my spelling errors!) Lastly, proof read it one final time to make sure the article states everything exactly the way you want.

Above all, enjoy yourself! Believe it or not, enjoyment for what you are doing will show through your work regardless of what your subject material is. Writing isn't always easy, but it should always be fun!