Creating excellent articles/copies and to escape the content mediocrity we see around us is a tough nut to crack.
And even when you can string together words to turn sentences into paragraphs, can you confidently say that you can write persuasive articles with little difficulty?
It feels like that insurmountable task you don’t want to start, right?
Well, it doesn’t have to be that difficult.
Writing compelling articles is a process. You have to start from somewhere; in this case, learning the little steps that make up the entire process.
You have to know when and where to place an adjective, when to spice it, and when to stop.
Here’s what we mean:
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1. Start by writing good sentences
Ever read a book or quote, and you cannot get over it: so you re-read every word again, slowly, savoring the meaning in each word and comma?
How about the books that get you so engrossed you don’t hear the doorbell or your phone ring?
Wonder why that is? The secret, often, lies in good sentence structure.
For people to read most of the words in your article in this fast-paced and task-oriented culture where people skim through emails and articles, you need to write value-packed sentences.
How? Be specific with facts and focus on the reader. You should also throw in emotion-grabbing words or words that paint a picture. Also, be concise.
The other important thing in sentence structure is to keep your sentences to a minimum of 14 words.
2. Know your facts
As mentioned above, you can only write articles worth reading if you are specific.
As you sit down to write an article, you need to communicate accurate information.
Avoid the old sites and publications because some of the facts in there might be obsolete. Official sites run by the government, well-established brands, or educational organizations are credible sources of information.
And, if you choose to cite information from a report or a study, use the original report then interpret the data.
On that note, be as detailed as possible from the beginning. You want to give your readers all the information when you publish the article ensuring that you don’t create a back-and-forth situation.
3. Use online tools
Regardless of your level of expertise and experience in writing, never trust your eyes and brain 100 percent. You can miss a few things that damage the quality of your writing.
A tool like Grammarly will keep your spelling and grammar perfect.
The best bit is that you could use the extension so that your articles, emails, and social media posts are grammatically correct and well-punctuated.
4. Look for areas that could be misunderstood
If you want to create an excellent article, go back to what you’ve written and evaluate the things that could be misunderstood; from an audience’s point of view.
If you come across words with multiple meanings, replace them with precise words.
And, when explaining process, your audience can follow along easily if you use sequencing or transition words such as first, next, and finally.
Avoiding misunderstanding also means watching your tone. Your tone could be screaming rude, entitled, or unfriendly when you mean nothing of the sort.
To be the best article or professional writer, use a friendly tone.
5. Read More
The best writers are readers. Reading regularly will boost your writing skills. While reading blogs is a good way to improve your writing, it isn’t the best or the most effective strategy.
You want to read challenging materials and books writing in styles you don’t see every day.
Expanding your reading horizons improves your word choices, sentence structure, and flow of content.
Reading more means, you note and avoid writing mistakes, and you also develop an eye for content and ingredients that make writing effective.
6. Join a writing workshop
The best part about this is that you don’t have to leave your house to meet people.
LinkedIn, for example, has several online communities and you can learn from people in the Article and content marketing communities.
7. Imitate writers you admire
If you write, you admire some other writer, and you’d love to write like them. But, as you try to imitate, do not plagiarize their work.
By imitation, we mean identifying what you admire about their writing, then use their uniqueness to improve your writing.
8. Show No Mercy When Editing
Editing is tough if you are a beginner. It requires a lot of effort, and even more dedication. Be patient with the process, and eliminate the unnecessary bits from your work.
You might want to hire a professional editor first, then learn from them.
For writing habits that stick, hold yourself accountable by setting targets and always have a structured writing process.
To write smoothly, research extensively before you start writing.
Don’t forget to borrow from authority sites and authors by adding statistics, case studies, and quotes. And, don’t stop writing.
9. Research as you jot down some notes
Every professional blogger or writer has to conduct some research before they can sit down and start writing.
Part of the research should be taking related notes that can help you build a case on a certain topic.
Take note of some eye-catchy sentences that can help your work captivate your readers.
Note-taking also helps you grasp the main idea and write it in your own words for you to come up with a unique article.
It can help you improve your writing skills tremendously.
10. Engage the audience
The purpose of writing articles is to relay certain information to a target audience. You must make your article engaging by showing empathy and being persuasive.
This helps you resonate with the audience and influence their opinion. Feel free to include practical examples and vivid details that make your content memorable.
11. Be simple
The problem with some writers is that they assume using complex words in every sentence can attract more readers.
On the contrary, the excess use of jargons in an article can quickly put off a lot of readers.
Stick to a simple style of writing because not all readers have the time to keep on looking up all the vocabularies you use.
Try to express your points using simple words so that your readers can follow the information that you are trying to relay easily.
12. Use a distraction-free location
Getting distracted by all the social networking sites available is easy. Article writing requires concentration since you have to brainstorm ideas and share them with your audience.
To achieve this, you must choose a distraction-free location.
If you keep on checking your Facebook account when you should be writing an article, use tools such as Windows live writer and avoid using your mobile phone.
The lack of being easily distracted keeps you motivated to focus on article writing. Also, make sure that your physical surrounding is free from distractions such as noise for you to focus on the task at hand.
13. Go smoothly
For you to come up with good content, you should try to let your thoughts flow smoothly.
Focus on your points and write without thinking of the grammatical mistakes you may be making in the process.
You need first to create the content before you think about editing. Do not do both at the same time because this can slow you down and interfere with the flow of ideas in your work.
14. Set a specific time frame
If you have been in the industry, you may have heard people saying that article writing is time-consuming.
While this may be true, proper planning can help you manage your time well and finish articles within a specific period.
You need to know how long it will take for you to research a certain topic, how fast you can be when it comes to typing and editing the content.
Allocate specific hours during the day to work on your articles without feeling pressured to avoid frustrations such as not hitting deadlines.
