Ten Tips in Article Writing for Newbies
August 9th, 2009
This post on the 10 (no, 11… yes, 11) tips for aspiring writers is not composed from the catbird seat point of view of the article publisher or database manager. Rather it is by and from the point of view of an author who thinks the early misgivings. It is composed especially for the beginning article writer. I have written and submitted hundreds of compositions for publication to numerous of article servers and database managers and still feels article writing my nemesis.
1. Needs vs Wants:
Writings and Blogs are essential in present day scheme of search engine indexing. Not what the newbie wants to hear. Just think of what the Bible states, “there has nothing over taken you that is not common to man”. That’s right! All of us hate article and blog writing at times, and some of us dread the journey to pen and paper (or keyboard as the case may be) all the time. Many a webmaster would call them “a unavoidable evil” as they are not broadly speaking anyone’s best liked house keeping chores.
2. Just Start, It Gets Easier:
First it is often tough to get a thought or idea and to get the first couple of lines scribbled down. We know writers who actually get sick thinking about the process. Lighten up. There are a lot to write about, name it: alternative medicine, cancer diseases, true religion, life insurance, playing online poker, cheap insurance. Others may think of even more unusual topics such as penis enlargement and cheap viagra. Once an writer has a starting point and gets passed the introductory thoughts, blogging and article usually works fairly smooth.
The great thing is that you get moving. Choose a subject you are familiar with and know something about and just start. You will be pleasantly amazed at just how easily ideas flow. Don’t take everyone knows what you know. They don’t. Will Rogers once said, “all men are ignorant, just on different subjects”. And this is a fact!
3. Good vs Perfection:
Your old English writing teacher is not looking over your shoulder. Your composition need not to be perfect. It doesn’t mean it should not get a point or to say that it does not have to be correct. At least it does or it should be. But, our goal is not perfection and is, in fact, seldom possible. Too much detail and you run the risk of losing your reader on various levels. Too long and
most readers simply don’t have the time or interest to read the material regardless of how important it is.
4. Blog Length vs Length of Article:
Most web publishers want a minimum of six hundred (600) words per article - some will let you slide with four hundred (400) words. Blogs can be much smaller. Blogs can and maybe should support appropriate photos and embedded links.
Don’t over do it though. Too gaudy or too slow to load and you have wasted your time, ticked off a potential reader, and probably upset a host who can ban you from their publications. writings, on the other hand, typically cannot carry these extra touches according to the prerequisites of most publishers.
5. Format:
Prepare your article in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. There are many tools from which to choose to get the job done. A search the web for “free ASCII editor” will give you a lot of tools to choose from. WordPress is a standard option. If all else fails Notepad is enough for you to use.
6. Grammar and Spelling:
Once you have your article or blog run it through a good spell checker and a good grammar checker. Microsoft Word has a built-in tool for this. Just don’t use the MS Word copy for writing of your article. Rather use its suggestions to make any unavoidable corrections to your plain text copy. The MS Word copy will work for blogs although other editors are preferred.
Like the good old days when you were pushed by professsor, you will find article and blog authoring skills become easier with time and practice.
7. Publish and Announce:
Once your article is ready you may want to use some automatic tools to publish and announce it. First do a search for Blog directories and select those which best suit your needs. Register in one or more and publish your blog there. Then search for blog announcers and RSS announcers and utilize them to get your blog known.
Now that you have that out of the way find an article wizard that will post your compositions to free publishers. You can post them one at a time by hand if you are really bored and have absolutely nothing else in life to do. Using an automatic poster you can publish to hundreds of servers in an hour or so. The only way to go.
8. Patience:
Now, have some forbearance. Here is where you lose control. Many of those who host writings are timely and your compositions will be reviewed in a span of 1 to 2 days. Others may take days and weeks therefore never date an article - a sure way to get rejected.
9. Rejection - “sorry your article has been declined”:
Be prepared for most directories to reject your articles. Do not take it personally. It usually has something to do with your submission and with you as the author.
Some sites instantly reject writings for spelling errors when there are none or where there is more than way to spell a word. And, just as in any other endeavor some directories are simply too slow-moving and get so far behind, the best and quickest thing to do (and perhaps the only alternative) is to reject everything. You will know who do this over time.
There are also people who review your articles through the sausage grinder and if they find certain words, regardless of how they are used, your article gets no farther. These are those who can’t even publish the Bile because it contains words that offend them or their readers. These are people who are narrow-minded and doesn’t deserve a place in article writing.
Remember the rule: In every rule, there is an exemption.
10. Always believe, and keep cranking out compositions:
Since most authors, particularly starters, prepare only one copy of an article against the advice of most seasoned authors it is important that the newbie keep his chin up - keep the faith. That will be easier as more and more of your compositions are accepted and published driving visitors to your website while making those all important back links.
It is not essential that every publisher to accept everything submitted to them. After one or two directories publish your article on any given subject, the search engines tend to penalize you anyway by ignoring additional postings. This is close to spamming and while it could help someone find you, it probably won’t. It is not necessarily, the more the merrier. The additional listings will not increase your page rankings or links reported by the search engines. It is more important to get your article published by servers with the highest Google PageRank possible.
Now, one BONUS TIP for you: Together with “the rejection slip” will usually come a suggestion on how to “edit” your article and a asking that you resubmit it. Do not waste your time. While trying comply with one database manager’s request you could have composed a new one where you can get more punch. Enough article publishers will pick your article up so move on and save yourself some time and heartburn.
Everybody has an idea or thought at least once a day usually at the most inopportune time. How many good ideas have you lost because of waiting? Don’t procrastinate! Go! Capture that thought before it is gone forever.
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