What was once reserved for serious journalists has now become a medium for the masses. Blogs are here to stay. Whether you are a purist who is still getting used to the casual style and the over-usage of exclamation marks or a budding blog writer, you will have a hard time denying the growing relevance of writing.
From engaging in heated social media feuds to WhatsApping a distant friend, we write more words per day than ever before.
You probably already know how to frame a sentence. So, how do you build on that and write your first article?
First, get the right mindset.
Stop Pretending and Start Expressing
There are probably millions of people expressing their feelings, thoughts, and opinions about things at this very moment. The ones that are likely to get noticed are ones that are honest.
Stop trying to impress others with your writing skill, instead, woo them with your concept or perspective. In other words, keeps the words simple whilst expressing a complex topic.
That way, your writing becomes relatable, and people respond and resonate with your content much better.
Fix Your Grammar and Improve Your Core Skill
If you are not confident about your grammar or want to improve your core skill as a writer, then don’t shy away from seeking help from a professional tutor.
If you are writing an article to complete an assignment, be sure to use online tools to get article writing homework help from services online.
Remember, articles for assignments and schoolwork are often judged and scored on different parameters. While the thought and the concept matter, so do grammar and writing skills.
Considering the fact that improving your skill as a writer is a continuous process, these online homework tools and eLearning services can really give you an edge. They grant you access to language experts and tutors who can guide you and assess your work.
The Title is the True King, Remember That
If the content is king, the title is the emperor. Why? Because most people wouldn’t care to read an article that has an uninteresting title.
This post could have been titled, “Tips to Keep in Mind When Writing Your First Article.” It essentially would have conveyed the same message. However, it wouldn’t have had the same impact.
Simply put, create a complex title that excites. There are more than a few free online tools you can use to check if the title of your article is interesting enough. These tools not only score your current title but also give you tips on how to make it more engaging.
Make it Look Pretty
You get a very short amount of time to impress your readers. This is especially true if it’s an online article where readers are constantly looking for the next best thing.
Therefore if you are still reading this article, congratulations! Your attention span and patience is probably more than most people.
That said, making your article visually appealing is critical. Break up your article into chunks of small paragraphs.
These bite-sized pieces of text make things simpler and boost readability. Make sure to select a large font size and a font style that’s easy on the eyes. Merriweather, Georgia, and Calibri are all good examples.
Lastly, add images, videos, and infographics wherever it makes sense. Free stock image sites like Unsplash.com and Pixabay.com are great for getting professional-quality images for free. These are royalty-free images, which means you are not going to get a legal notice for using them in your article.
Gather Facts, But Keep Your Thoughts Original
There is nothing wrong with reading a few articles written about the same topic. As Mark Twain said, “There is no such thing as a new idea.”
Therefore, it’s absolutely necessary to gather points written by experts and other writers.
However, taking large paragraphs and then rewriting it is when things get murky. Unfortunately, a lot of online writers are guilty of doing this. That’s why there are so many articles out there that keep on giving you the same set of tips. They are just rephrased and reworded to fool the plagiarism checkers.
Most online plagiarism checkers like Copyscape don’t do a good job in detecting these. However, you end up with an article that sounds like every other article on the same topic.
As an exercise, try and gather the core information to form the skeleton of your article. Try and collect these pointers from several sources. Don’t just restrict yourself to other articles. Watch a YouTube video, read a newspaper report, or dig up a research paper.
Now that you have all the info bring them all together. Use your original ideas and thoughts to bridge the gaps between those snippets of information.
Keep these pointers in mind, and don’t be afraid to just start typing away. Imagine you are having a friendly conversation or a YouTuber making a tutorial video. This should help you get the thoughts flowing. Once they do, type them into existence without any inhibition or fear. All the best!
