Every student knows how it is difficult, almost impossible to write and organize the first writing assignment. It is more difficult, if the student writes it alone for the first time. Lack of experience, lack of time, and undoubtedly lack of knowledge on the process of the completion of the essay-contribute to this uncertainty. How it can be overcome?! Certainly, the more students knew about the process of the writing of the essay, the less they would fear it. Let us explain some of the differences and similarities between several types of the essays. For most of us, even for those, who have already graduated from the Universities, any writing assignment means something formal, something academic that should correspond to some universal standards. In most of the times that is true.

A tutor would like you to produce well written and well organized paper and to evaluate your ability to research thoroughly and write according to some rules. However, there is a type of an essay where all these requirements may be jettisoned. This is an informal essay. Here, in this type of writing assignment you are able to reveal your personality by talking directly with your reader intimately and frequently humorously. Nevertheless, you should have a good plan of the essay; however-informal style is the most important point. There is not any universal rule on how this essay should be completed, try to imagine the conversation between you and your friend, where you will be able to discuss the topic or event you care for or some person that has impressed you. Your opinion, in form of monologue, but informal even with humor should be clearly stated.

But certainly, not all types of the essays can be completed this way. Informal style is certainly an exception from the rule. In many types of the essays you have to stick to some definite structures and even some rigid rules. Let us examine compare/contrast essay. It is undoubtedly, one of the most difficult types of the essay, yet it is one of the most important and useful ones. It allows you to develop compare and contrast skills, to improve your ability to see and evaluate similarities and differences in objects, things, personalities and events. Several useful tips for this type of an essay: 1)First, you should evaluate similarities, then you must find an evaluate differences. 2)If you compare some facts, evaluate one fact at a time; do not try to jumble them together. 3)Do not try to compare and contrast incomparable features (for example the taste of the lemon and the toughness of the ball’s cover.)Many students also experience some difficulties in the writing of the literature essay better.

It is not possible to provide the reader with universal guide to this type of an essay. However, every literature essay comprises some indispensable elements: 1)It should be succinct and must be written in lucid and understandable style. 2)You should develop well-organized plan of your essay. 3)Try to be more argumentative and more creative. Your tutor would like to see and evaluate your ability to analyze and understand the meaning of the text your have read. Certainly it is not possible to reveal al elements of several types of the essays that the students are assigned with. You need to study guides and instructions more thoroughly to understand the requirements and purposes of your essay better.

Every student knows how it is difficult, almost impossible to write and organize the first writing assignment. It is more difficult, if the student writes it alone for the first time. Lack of experience, lack of time, and undoubtedly lack of knowledge on the process of the completion of the essay-contribute to this uncertainty. How it can be overcome?! Certainly, the more students knew about the process of the writing of the essay, the less they would fear it. Let us explain some of the differences and similarities between several types of the essays. For most of us, even for those, who have already graduated from the Universities, any writing assignment means something formal, something academic that should correspond to some universal standards. In most of the times that is true.

A tutor would like you to produce well written and well organized paper and to evaluate your ability to research thoroughly and write according to some rules. However, there is a type of an essay where all these requirements may be jettisoned. This is an informal essay. Here, in this type of writing assignment you are able to reveal your personality by talking directly with your reader intimately and frequently humorously. Nevertheless, you should have a good plan of the essay; however-informal style is the most important point. There is not any universal rule on how this essay should be completed, try to imagine the conversation between you and your friend, where you will be able to discuss the topic or event you care for or some person that has impressed you. Your opinion, in form of monologue, but informal even with humor should be clearly stated.

But certainly, not all types of the essays can be completed this way. Informal style is certainly an exception from the rule. In many types of the essays you have to stick to some definite structures and even some rigid rules. Let us examine compare/contrast essay. It is undoubtedly, one of the most difficult types of the essay, yet it is one of the most important and useful ones. It allows you to develop compare and contrast skills, to improve your ability to see and evaluate similarities and differences in objects, things, personalities and events. Several useful tips for this type of an essay: 1)First, you should evaluate similarities, then you must find an evaluate differences. 2)If you compare some facts, evaluate one fact at a time; do not try to jumble them together. 3)Do not try to compare and contrast incomparable features (for example the taste of the lemon and the toughness of the ball’s cover.)Many students also experience some difficulties in the writing of the literature essay better.

It is not possible to provide the reader with universal guide to this type of an essay. However, every literature essay comprises some indispensable elements: 1)It should be succinct and must be written in lucid and understandable style. 2)You should develop well-organized plan of your essay. 3)Try to be more argumentative and more creative. Your tutor would like to see and evaluate your ability to analyze and understand the meaning of the text your have read. Certainly it is not possible to reveal al elements of several types of the essays that the students are assigned with. You need to study guides and instructions more thoroughly to understand the requirements and purposes of your essay better.

People have found new technique of marketing online business, “Publishing Articles” on various sites and directories. It is the rapid and effortless methods to come up there. It also helps to build your own credibility as an industry veteran.

At the base of each article you are provided a chance to expand publicity for your online business.

The Internet is surged with the articles, due to growing awareness of advantages of publishing articles. There are ample of article sources to pick from. But, it is also growing harder to get yours noticed.

However, getting noticed for your article is not only way to gain success, it also requires to hold reader’s interest with high-quality content.

This article will show the key essentials of writing a triumphant article. Here is some tips, you should consider prior and while writing the articles.

Explore before picking a subject: The most effectual way to write an article is to write on a topic in which the mass is interested. You should always do the research for your article should visit different forums that cover your targeted mass. Check out on what topic they are talking about or even searching for.

Select Article Title: Selecting the title of the article is the most significant judgment you have to make. Take sufficient time, while making up your mind on an article title. Try to find out whether it will be appropriate to haul your targeted market’s attraction.

Introductory paragraph: Construct an introductory paragraph that indicates what is covered in the article. The introductory Paragraph should be of three or four line containing the summary of subject matter included in the article.

Content: Many of the articles seems like an advertorial or an abstracted marketing pitch that doesn’t provides any kind of vital information for the reader, it is hopeless. Make sure that your article contains some information that is useful to your targeted mass.

If you create an inadequate article, then people will not find it interesting. This could affect worse on upcoming articles.

Briefness: Make your article short and to the point. Readers are looking for concrete and useful information on well accepted targeted topics. To keep the verbage low and interest upbeat, make your article in only few paragraphs.

Use simple language: Excluding some countable English speaking countries, rest are have their own mother tongue. Be sure that you use simple and usual words if you are targeting international mass, so that they can understand you well.

Concluding paragraph: Include list any recommendations and added links essential to relate with the main subject matter. Include each element that is related and required to a focused topic.

Include your contact info: At last, include your contact info in a last paragraph at the bottom of the article. So that readers could contact and reach to you or your desired target.

Prepare for publication and re-edit your article: Even you feel that you have done a great job to your article it’s a suggestion to leave your article for a day or two and then read it back so you can come know the missing element.

Promote: Submit your articles to various directories that provides free submission of the article to their article to their sites. There are many sites out there, which allow writers and author to submit their articles, for example .1888Articles.com ezinearticles.com, goarticles.com and .shvoong.com and many more. You can search for directories on search engines by using keyword like “free article submission”.

So buddy, get prepared to be noticed, show the world you are the best. Wish you all the best.

People have found new technique of marketing online business, “Publishing Articles” on various sites and directories. It is the rapid and effortless methods to come up there. It also helps to build your own credibility as an industry veteran.

At the base of each article you are provided a chance to expand publicity for your online business.

The Internet is surged with the articles, due to growing awareness of advantages of publishing articles. There are ample of article sources to pick from. But, it is also growing harder to get yours noticed.

However, getting noticed for your article is not only way to gain success, it also requires to hold reader’s interest with high-quality content.

This article will show the key essentials of writing a triumphant article. Here is some tips, you should consider prior and while writing the articles.

Explore before picking a subject: The most effectual way to write an article is to write on a topic in which the mass is interested. You should always do the research for your article should visit different forums that cover your targeted mass. Check out on what topic they are talking about or even searching for.

Select Article Title: Selecting the title of the article is the most significant judgment you have to make. Take sufficient time, while making up your mind on an article title. Try to find out whether it will be appropriate to haul your targeted market’s attraction.

Introductory paragraph: Construct an introductory paragraph that indicates what is covered in the article. The introductory Paragraph should be of three or four line containing the summary of subject matter included in the article.

Content: Many of the articles seems like an advertorial or an abstracted marketing pitch that doesn’t provides any kind of vital information for the reader, it is hopeless. Make sure that your article contains some information that is useful to your targeted mass.

If you create an inadequate article, then people will not find it interesting. This could affect worse on upcoming articles.

Briefness: Make your article short and to the point. Readers are looking for concrete and useful information on well accepted targeted topics. To keep the verbage low and interest upbeat, make your article in only few paragraphs.

Use simple language: Excluding some countable English speaking countries, rest are have their own mother tongue. Be sure that you use simple and usual words if you are targeting international mass, so that they can understand you well.

Concluding paragraph: Include list any recommendations and added links essential to relate with the main subject matter. Include each element that is related and required to a focused topic.

Include your contact info: At last, include your contact info in a last paragraph at the bottom of the article. So that readers could contact and reach to you or your desired target.

Prepare for publication and re-edit your article: Even you feel that you have done a great job to your article it’s a suggestion to leave your article for a day or two and then read it back so you can come know the missing element.

Promote: Submit your articles to various directories that provides free submission of the article to their article to their sites. There are many sites out there, which allow writers and author to submit their articles, for example .1888Articles.com ezinearticles.com, goarticles.com and .shvoong.com and many more. You can search for directories on search engines by using keyword like “free article submission”.

So buddy, get prepared to be noticed, show the world you are the best. Wish you all the best.

I’m sure you’re reading all over the Internet that content is one of the most important components of building your business, and in my opinion I agree that writing an article and posting it throughout the Internet is an essential way to finding your desired targeted traffic.

If you have never written business articles before, you have to remember key things to make sure your article is a success, and attracts the readers searching for your information. Take the approach of writing one article at a time, and don’t worry about how many you need to create to get the exposure. Just like developing a business plan, you want to ensure that you do all your necessary research, compile it in an easy to read format that you know will allow your readers to follow without losing the message half way through!

I read so many business articles that lose me by the second paragraph, because I notice their intentions are to promote their business, and not offer any valuable information that I’m seeking to help me. This may be done intentionally, but sometimes I truly feel these writers are trying to do too much in such little time, and they want to produce and send out as much as they can at one time, not realizing that they are compromising the quality of their article and the message they want to get out to the readers.

If you’re in business for a short-term, that’s fine, you can produce useless content and spread it throughout the Internet. However, in my opinion, I would rather take the time and create an article that when someone reads it, they will say that it helped them in some way.

Your expertise, and if you’re promoting a web site business can be jeopardized very quickly, so don’t ever underestimate the people reading your article. They have vast knowledge already, they do their research, but sometimes they need that little bit of information to get them back on track, and if you can provide them the information they’re looking for, your one article will be on its way to being very successful!

Once you’ve finally developed that keyword rich, informative article explaining how your business products can help make people’s lives so much better, you will also notice that your well-written business articles will be quickly picked up by some of the top ezine and content publishers.

This is important, because you want to get your message out to as many people as you can, and this is achieved by sending them to top directories that distribute your content for you. If you create a poorly written article, chances are these content directories will not touch it. This is a very good indication that your company has to go back to the drawing board and start revamping your article!

When you take the time to create an article that many readers will take your information and use it to help them better their lives, you will have achieved something that many bad article writers don’t, and that’s business authority, and respect. In the long run if you stick to developing more value-based articles rather than a large volume of badly written articles, you will surely build a successful foundation for your business for many years to come!

I’m sure you’re reading all over the Internet that content is one of the most important components of building your business, and in my opinion I agree that writing an article and posting it throughout the Internet is an essential way to finding your desired targeted traffic.

If you have never written business articles before, you have to remember key things to make sure your article is a success, and attracts the readers searching for your information. Take the approach of writing one article at a time, and don’t worry about how many you need to create to get the exposure. Just like developing a business plan, you want to ensure that you do all your necessary research, compile it in an easy to read format that you know will allow your readers to follow without losing the message half way through!

I read so many business articles that lose me by the second paragraph, because I notice their intentions are to promote their business, and not offer any valuable information that I’m seeking to help me. This may be done intentionally, but sometimes I truly feel these writers are trying to do too much in such little time, and they want to produce and send out as much as they can at one time, not realizing that they are compromising the quality of their article and the message they want to get out to the readers.

If you’re in business for a short-term, that’s fine, you can produce useless content and spread it throughout the Internet. However, in my opinion, I would rather take the time and create an article that when someone reads it, they will say that it helped them in some way.

Your expertise, and if you’re promoting a web site business can be jeopardized very quickly, so don’t ever underestimate the people reading your article. They have vast knowledge already, they do their research, but sometimes they need that little bit of information to get them back on track, and if you can provide them the information they’re looking for, your one article will be on its way to being very successful!

Once you’ve finally developed that keyword rich, informative article explaining how your business products can help make people’s lives so much better, you will also notice that your well-written business articles will be quickly picked up by some of the top ezine and content publishers.

This is important, because you want to get your message out to as many people as you can, and this is achieved by sending them to top directories that distribute your content for you. If you create a poorly written article, chances are these content directories will not touch it. This is a very good indication that your company has to go back to the drawing board and start revamping your article!

When you take the time to create an article that many readers will take your information and use it to help them better their lives, you will have achieved something that many bad article writers don’t, and that’s business authority, and respect. In the long run if you stick to developing more value-based articles rather than a large volume of badly written articles, you will surely build a successful foundation for your business for many years to come!

You’ve built a website and are very proud to be counted among the ranks. Now you’re expecting people to come for a visit. In fact if this is your first website you’re probably thinking maybe I’ll get a few visitors or maybe a thousand visitors. Would it surprise you if I told you that you are going to get very few visitors?

Remember the movie Field of Dreams, 1989? Kevin Costner plays an Iowa farmer whose dream is to be a baseball player, something his father wanted for his own life. In the movie he hears voices from players that have passed on. What he hears becomes an aphorism still used today, if you build it he (they) will come. Meaning if he built the ball field his father, shoeless Joe and other baseball players from Chicago would come and he would get his chance. However this is not the case with building a website. Unfortunately know one knows you’re there and you won’t hear any voices telling where to go from here. Eventually the search engines will pick it up and you will get a few visitors that will trickle in but how to get the thousands to come is the question.

Building is just the beginning. You had your fun and now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. It’s called Website promotion. One of the secrets to tons of traffic to your website is to create one way back links. Writing articles is a way to get these back links. The proof is in the article you are reading right now that it works. Any questions?

Yes it’s time to get out the paper and pen like you did in school. People want information. They want to learn something new. They want to feel they have some inside information that no one else has. This is the information age, are you going to give them what they want?

If you have studied website promotion you probably have heard that content is king and if you haven’t then that’s probably good because it is slowly becoming obscure replaced with unique content is king. There are several things you can do to get started. You can buy private label content, (previously written articles) a big no no in my opinion since it indeed has been used everywhere else. You can purchase article generator software that puts a few filler words into your private label content, thus a new article. However I would not go this route as filler words are not usually unique. Another way would be to write the articles yourself.

What am I going to write you ask. If you sell wedding dresses your readers are going to want to know about weddings, picking out dresses and maybe advice about the important day. If you sell travel packages your audience is going to want to know about the best places to see. If you’re a breeder and someone is looking to buy a puppy, you might want to write an article on how to choose one. If you are a guitar salesman your readers might want to know which one is the best. The world is ready for uniqueness and information so here’s your chance.

How does an article help my site and what does it do? Most sites that accept articles for submission allow you a generous author’s bio at the bottom of your article. This is where you are going to give a brief description of yourself as well as the links of two or three sites you may be promoting. Over time you will create thousands of back links to your site that will send google into a tizzy. Back links is how the google determines what websites are worthy enough to have their robots roam upon. Roaming on your site is what you want.

I can’t write anything you say. I feel empathy for you but do not despair, you can hire a ghostwriter. Give the writer your ideas, pay the fee and let them put the pen to the paper. These days to be politically correct it would be fingers to the keyboard. Unfortunately be careful of who you have write the articles. There are some sneaky people out there that will buy these software generators themselves and try to sell you the same articles that I just told you to stay away from. What is worse is at some point you will run across one that has plagiarized someone else’s work and copied it right from the website next door.

Are the wheels turning yet? Now you ask where do I find these wonderful writers. If you will take the time to type in your google search type in freelance writer or other keywords, you will find plenty of people looking for work. The cost doesn’t have to be real high either.

I know you have one final question and that is where the rubber meets the road. What is the cost? You can hire a ghostwriter for pennies per word or sometimes you can pay per article. Some freelancers charge ten dollars or more per article depending on the experience of the writer.

This wasn’t your last question? Ok I have time for one more. What if I can’t afford to pay for these articles; I have a budget that looks like a shoestring. Well you still can write them yourself. There are plenty of free online courses that will teach you what you need to know.

There is another benefit besides the back links you create by writing articles. Once you get a few hundred articles out there relating to your service or product you become the source of information. You become a recognized expert in your field. Folks begin to see your name in your author’s bio and say hey I’ve heard about this guy before. He must know something. Folks turn to you at the source and expert in your industry. This is the time right now to jump on the article bandwagon.

I read somewhere that only fifty percent of Americans are internet connected. This leaves the field for playing wide open. This statistic does not even include foreign lands. Yes you can even market to them as they read and buy too. So only one decision needs to be made and I ask are you going to hire a ghostwriter or do it yourself? Either way is good if you are careful with the articles you buy and making sure if what you have is unique. Are you going to give your customers what they want? If you don’t someone else will. Potential customers want information and remember if you write it, they will read.

You’ve built a website and are very proud to be counted among the ranks. Now you’re expecting people to come for a visit. In fact if this is your first website you’re probably thinking maybe I’ll get a few visitors or maybe a thousand visitors. Would it surprise you if I told you that you are going to get very few visitors?

Remember the movie Field of Dreams, 1989? Kevin Costner plays an Iowa farmer whose dream is to be a baseball player, something his father wanted for his own life. In the movie he hears voices from players that have passed on. What he hears becomes an aphorism still used today, if you build it he (they) will come. Meaning if he built the ball field his father, shoeless Joe and other baseball players from Chicago would come and he would get his chance. However this is not the case with building a website. Unfortunately know one knows you’re there and you won’t hear any voices telling where to go from here. Eventually the search engines will pick it up and you will get a few visitors that will trickle in but how to get the thousands to come is the question.

Building is just the beginning. You had your fun and now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty. It’s called Website promotion. One of the secrets to tons of traffic to your website is to create one way back links. Writing articles is a way to get these back links. The proof is in the article you are reading right now that it works. Any questions?

Yes it’s time to get out the paper and pen like you did in school. People want information. They want to learn something new. They want to feel they have some inside information that no one else has. This is the information age, are you going to give them what they want?

If you have studied website promotion you probably have heard that content is king and if you haven’t then that’s probably good because it is slowly becoming obscure replaced with unique content is king. There are several things you can do to get started. You can buy private label content, (previously written articles) a big no no in my opinion since it indeed has been used everywhere else. You can purchase article generator software that puts a few filler words into your private label content, thus a new article. However I would not go this route as filler words are not usually unique. Another way would be to write the articles yourself.

What am I going to write you ask. If you sell wedding dresses your readers are going to want to know about weddings, picking out dresses and maybe advice about the important day. If you sell travel packages your audience is going to want to know about the best places to see. If you’re a breeder and someone is looking to buy a puppy, you might want to write an article on how to choose one. If you are a guitar salesman your readers might want to know which one is the best. The world is ready for uniqueness and information so here’s your chance.

How does an article help my site and what does it do? Most sites that accept articles for submission allow you a generous author’s bio at the bottom of your article. This is where you are going to give a brief description of yourself as well as the links of two or three sites you may be promoting. Over time you will create thousands of back links to your site that will send google into a tizzy. Back links is how the google determines what websites are worthy enough to have their robots roam upon. Roaming on your site is what you want.

I can’t write anything you say. I feel empathy for you but do not despair, you can hire a ghostwriter. Give the writer your ideas, pay the fee and let them put the pen to the paper. These days to be politically correct it would be fingers to the keyboard. Unfortunately be careful of who you have write the articles. There are some sneaky people out there that will buy these software generators themselves and try to sell you the same articles that I just told you to stay away from. What is worse is at some point you will run across one that has plagiarized someone else’s work and copied it right from the website next door.

Are the wheels turning yet? Now you ask where do I find these wonderful writers. If you will take the time to type in your google search type in freelance writer or other keywords, you will find plenty of people looking for work. The cost doesn’t have to be real high either.

I know you have one final question and that is where the rubber meets the road. What is the cost? You can hire a ghostwriter for pennies per word or sometimes you can pay per article. Some freelancers charge ten dollars or more per article depending on the experience of the writer.

This wasn’t your last question? Ok I have time for one more. What if I can’t afford to pay for these articles; I have a budget that looks like a shoestring. Well you still can write them yourself. There are plenty of free online courses that will teach you what you need to know.

There is another benefit besides the back links you create by writing articles. Once you get a few hundred articles out there relating to your service or product you become the source of information. You become a recognized expert in your field. Folks begin to see your name in your author’s bio and say hey I’ve heard about this guy before. He must know something. Folks turn to you at the source and expert in your industry. This is the time right now to jump on the article bandwagon.

I read somewhere that only fifty percent of Americans are internet connected. This leaves the field for playing wide open. This statistic does not even include foreign lands. Yes you can even market to them as they read and buy too. So only one decision needs to be made and I ask are you going to hire a ghostwriter or do it yourself? Either way is good if you are careful with the articles you buy and making sure if what you have is unique. Are you going to give your customers what they want? If you don’t someone else will. Potential customers want information and remember if you write it, they will read.

Basically, an article is a body of text that imparts information. Whether this is done in a scientific language, with an informal voice or in a more serious manner, is usually decided by the subject and type of article, and to whom it is aimed.

A scientific or medical article aimed at professionals will use the first example, i.e. scientific language. The same article aimed at the general population must be written in layman’s language that everyone can understand. An article written on a serious subject should have a similar tone of writing, while something aimed at teens or young adults about entertainment, clothing or sport eg, will take on a bright and more breezy note.

To get a human face on the issue being discussed in an article, many editors require two anecdotal pieces to be included. These will come from interviews with people who have first hand experience of the topic. In an article about home-schooling for instance, you can interview people whose children are home schooled. If you don’t know of anyone, support organizations can help by supplying names and phone numbers. They are willing to do this because your article will help to spread the word about their work.

An article usually has five sections:

• Headline - Yes, this is important, as it will inform the reader what the article is about. If it is catchy, or has a hook of some kind, so much the better. The reader will be curious to find out what it is all about and read on. Look through a paper or magazine and note some of the headlines.

• Introduction - One paragraph is usually enough for the introduction. It should build on the headline and explain the content of the article without giving it all away.

• Main body - This will contain all information that is required about the topic along with anecdotes if any.

• Conclusion - The conclusion need only be one or two paragraphs to sum up and round off the information presented. In the case of how-to articles, it should give the reader a pat on the back for all the hard work that has been done and point out the benefits. Eg, “Now you have the most unique gizmo on the block and your friends will be envious.”

• Bibliography - This is not always necessary. Some editors like to see a list of your information sources, but don’t necessarily publish them. A longer article that contains specific important information on say, health issues or scientific topics may require a bibliography.

The how-to article is a little different than other types of articles. It should be written in imperative voice, eg, “Grasp the leaf and pull down.” Not, “You should grasp the leaf and pull down.” Warning on safety, if necessary, should be presented early in the body of the text and unusual terms and names explained clearly. Let the reader know what the project entails in the introduction &ndash they might not want to paint 200 copies of that flower after all. A list of tools and materials will be required, but it is a good idea to leave writing this list until the last, even though it should appear at the beginning. This is so no mistake can be made in the type of tools and materials used.

In general, the how-to article will be written in steps. It is important that these appear in the proper order of doing, so the reader will not be confused. Do a quick summary of what the project should look like at various stages so the reader will know whether the job is going right. Visualize each step carefully as you write. The how-to article is one of the easiest types of articles to write. If sketches are required and you cannot supply them, just do a rough job to give the general idea. Magazines usually have their own artists who will work from what you supply.

Articles about VIP’s have been done to “death”, so try and find an unusual angle to slant the information from. One writer who had tried to interview a celebrity, but failed due to the man’s ‘sniffles’, still wrote the article, but based it on his failure. Another wrote about a golfing personality and interspersed the article with golfing jokes. Editors and readers alike love a touch of humor.

One of the easiest articles to write is the “10 tips to a great (whatever)” type. The ten tips form the body of course, while the introduction explains why you need this information. The brief summary recaps the information and gives a call to action, eg, “Now you know the best way to catch that fish, go out there and do it.”

You should always keep the ‘writer’s voice’ out of your articles. People want to know what’s in it for them, not why you thought you should write it, or how you got the idea for it. And if you are writing about a topic that is so unusual that few people know about it, try to use an analogy that is familiar to them. In general, you don’t need hooks or gimmicks to start an article, simply find the point where the useful information starts and go from there.

Basically, an article is a body of text that imparts information. Whether this is done in a scientific language, with an informal voice or in a more serious manner, is usually decided by the subject and type of article, and to whom it is aimed.

A scientific or medical article aimed at professionals will use the first example, i.e. scientific language. The same article aimed at the general population must be written in layman’s language that everyone can understand. An article written on a serious subject should have a similar tone of writing, while something aimed at teens or young adults about entertainment, clothing or sport eg, will take on a bright and more breezy note.

To get a human face on the issue being discussed in an article, many editors require two anecdotal pieces to be included. These will come from interviews with people who have first hand experience of the topic. In an article about home-schooling for instance, you can interview people whose children are home schooled. If you don’t know of anyone, support organizations can help by supplying names and phone numbers. They are willing to do this because your article will help to spread the word about their work.

An article usually has five sections:

• Headline - Yes, this is important, as it will inform the reader what the article is about. If it is catchy, or has a hook of some kind, so much the better. The reader will be curious to find out what it is all about and read on. Look through a paper or magazine and note some of the headlines.

• Introduction - One paragraph is usually enough for the introduction. It should build on the headline and explain the content of the article without giving it all away.

• Main body - This will contain all information that is required about the topic along with anecdotes if any.

• Conclusion - The conclusion need only be one or two paragraphs to sum up and round off the information presented. In the case of how-to articles, it should give the reader a pat on the back for all the hard work that has been done and point out the benefits. Eg, “Now you have the most unique gizmo on the block and your friends will be envious.”

• Bibliography - This is not always necessary. Some editors like to see a list of your information sources, but don’t necessarily publish them. A longer article that contains specific important information on say, health issues or scientific topics may require a bibliography.

The how-to article is a little different than other types of articles. It should be written in imperative voice, eg, “Grasp the leaf and pull down.” Not, “You should grasp the leaf and pull down.” Warning on safety, if necessary, should be presented early in the body of the text and unusual terms and names explained clearly. Let the reader know what the project entails in the introduction &ndash they might not want to paint 200 copies of that flower after all. A list of tools and materials will be required, but it is a good idea to leave writing this list until the last, even though it should appear at the beginning. This is so no mistake can be made in the type of tools and materials used.

In general, the how-to article will be written in steps. It is important that these appear in the proper order of doing, so the reader will not be confused. Do a quick summary of what the project should look like at various stages so the reader will know whether the job is going right. Visualize each step carefully as you write. The how-to article is one of the easiest types of articles to write. If sketches are required and you cannot supply them, just do a rough job to give the general idea. Magazines usually have their own artists who will work from what you supply.

Articles about VIP’s have been done to “death”, so try and find an unusual angle to slant the information from. One writer who had tried to interview a celebrity, but failed due to the man’s ‘sniffles’, still wrote the article, but based it on his failure. Another wrote about a golfing personality and interspersed the article with golfing jokes. Editors and readers alike love a touch of humor.

One of the easiest articles to write is the “10 tips to a great (whatever)” type. The ten tips form the body of course, while the introduction explains why you need this information. The brief summary recaps the information and gives a call to action, eg, “Now you know the best way to catch that fish, go out there and do it.”

You should always keep the ‘writer’s voice’ out of your articles. People want to know what’s in it for them, not why you thought you should write it, or how you got the idea for it. And if you are writing about a topic that is so unusual that few people know about it, try to use an analogy that is familiar to them. In general, you don’t need hooks or gimmicks to start an article, simply find the point where the useful information starts and go from there.