Showing posts with label how to write article. Show all posts
Showing posts with label how to write article. Show all posts

Monday, November 16, 2009

5 Ways to Break Grammar Rules and Write Stellar Articles


By Jan Verhoeff


Everyone wants to know how to write articles that command attention and get noticed by the readers. Few are willing to go the distance and learn the secret of breaking grammar rules that will help them attain their goals. You will have those secrets if you follow these five simple methods of skipping over Grammar Rules and just write.

1. Don't write like a professional writer.

This is really awesome! Once you know how to write like you talk and make people listen, you'll understand the simple basic of writing to be heard. No matter how many professional papers I write, I'm astounded by the number of times my readers go back to my casual documents and comment on the ease of reading. I've left out the big words, wrote in common language and had a blast sharing knowledge. Write like you talk.

2. Use some slang.

Slang is like the current dialect. It's that wholesome, I gotcha kind of thing that tells people you're on their level. When you come down to what's being said today, you'll use language people understand. The kind of words you use determine your audience.

3. Punctuate for tone.

Because you're writing for the reader, rather than the topic, you'll want to pause for effect now and then. A comma works well for a pause, as does an ellipse... On rare occasions when you want the reader to take note of something - important - a variation of the old 'dash' works well. Grab a quote and "identify" difference.

4. Startle your reader with conjunctions.

And they'll be more aware of what's being said. Normally, you'd never start a sentence with the words 'and' or 'but' - however, if you want to grab the reader's attention, dare to do something different. Arrest their thought process by eliminating commonalities. But use them only if you can make the word sound natural and comfortable in the flow of your articles.

5. Know your reader and speak directly.

This is important! Listen to me, because I don't want you to miss any of this. If you're going to write to an audience of one (and there's only one reader at a time reading) then you need to write to that one person. Write as if you know their name, get into their lives and let them know you recognize them, from the first word.

Are you ready to write articles that grab attention and compel the reader to click on your links?

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Stop Struggling and Write Your Article - Part II


By David Roddis


Don’t let overwhelm hold you back— follow this expert advice and start writing your promotional article today.

In Part 1, I talked about the importance of planning and structuring your article. Here are three more essential steps to help you make sure your article is ready to go.

4. Avoid clichés (like the plague). As in, clichéd language, clichéd advice, and clichéd topics. To refresh your memory, a cliché is anything that's over-used, banal, or tired. It's anything we've all heard 1,000 times before and hoped we'd never hear again.

Some typical examples of overworked expressions (and there are thousands):

... bring you up to speed, at the end of the day, since time immemorial, chilled to the bone, a gleam in his eye, her heart leapt into her mouth, a level playing field, when all is said and done, on the same page ...

Clichéd language can be fixed with a good edit. First, determine whether you really need that phrase. If you do, express the concepts in ordinary terms. So, for "see if we’re on the same page", substitute "see if we all agree".

Clichéd advice and topics might include:

"Achieve your goals" "Build the life you want" "Don't worry, be happy" "Empower yourself" and, my personal fave, sent to me in an e-mail newsletter: "Take a bubble bath".

I include in this category any concept that's corny and sentimental, or writing that attempts to express the inexpressible: all those fluttering leaves, vibrant sunsets, and yearning sighs.

It's really tough to write about intense emotions or universal experiences in a way that's original and subtle. Great novelists and poets spend their lives struggling to do this. If you’re not careful, it's easy to end up sounding like a 50-cent greeting card.

Fixing clichéd ideas is more challenging than fixing clichéd language. You need to ask tough questions:

"What does this phrase mean? What am I really saying here? What situations illustrate this? What do I want people to get? What value am I adding here?"

Remember that people are looking for straight talk and solutions to problems. Your solutions. They want your ideas, expressed with your urgency and importance.

So don't give your readers hackneyed ideas expressed in stale language. Don't fob them off with a bubble bath, try shoving them into a brisk, eye-opening cold shower instead.

5. Proofread Your article has to be 100% perfect in grammar, spelling and punctuation before the public gets to see it. The public means anyone visiting your Web site, and anyone you submit your article to for feedback or possible publication.

I confess, I did work as a professional proofreader for a time. And when you spend your life looking for missing periods and dots over i's, you tend to get a little demanding. But there's a reason for my concern.

Your article isn't like a casual e-mail that you zap off without reviewing or editing: It's more permanent and public. Your article is you, and people are going to assess your value by how you present it.

Think of it this way. If you're fortunate, hundreds, even thousands of people may read your piece. You're probably hoping to get lots of new clients from this exposure. Posting or submitting your article is, in a sense, like going for a job interview.

Dot your i's, cross your t's. Make sure there are periods at the end of sentences. Make sure you know how to use commas correctly, that you haven't made any common errors (for example, it's instead of its; there instead of their; your instead of you're). Check for missing words; check the spelling of any unusual words.

If you have even the slightest doubt about your English skills, have a professional proofreader or editor review your article. At the very least, give it to a friend to read. Mistakes are very hard to catch in your own work.

6. Be brilliantly unoriginal. Your promotional article is almost guaranteed to fall into one of these five categories:

Sex


Love Health Finance Career

What I want you to understand is that you don't have to have the greatest, most never-thought-of-before idea in the history of the universe before you write your article. In fact, you can't. It's all been done.

That's the unoriginal part.

Yet people are always itching to read, again and again, how they can improve in one of these areas (or about what a terrible time someone else is having in these areas, and thank heaven it's not them this time).

So please, just get over your fear and give us your unique take on the eternal topics. Your unique take - that's the brilliant part.

Brilliant doesn't have to be big. It can be:

* a new system for filing papers
* the absolute best way to make espresso
* the surefire way to find your G-spot or your Z-spot
* a strategy for saving money that only an accountant like you would know

We're talking soft innovations that flaunt your particular expertise.

Your brilliance could be in how you package your experiences. Have you been through a messy relationship, learned how to talk better to your teenaged kids, survived a life-threatening illness, started up a successful small business? Chances are, there are people out there just waiting to hear how you did it. This information is gold.

There is brilliance in your own communication style. Are you kind and patient, buzzy and edgy, witty and ironic? Are you more like a kindly grandfather or more like a visionary CEO? Whatever your qualities, be utterly yourself.

Your brilliance can be the simplicity and clarity with which you give your advice—the way you get your idea across so well, it's like we're hearing it for the first time. The way you inspire. The passion with which you speak.

So don't worry that they've heard it all before. Of course they have. But they've never heard it all from you.