There are a lot of articles written by writers who haven’t done what they call “write-and-read.” They don’t see the big picture and need more to tell their story from someone else’s perspective than just read it in front of their peers. This article is about five things that will help you start writing articles, and if you need some extra pointers you want to check this piece.
There are plenty of ways to learn how to write an article but I feel like there are certain aspects of the process that should be learned before you get into great depth with your work. Here they are.
Read widely before you start.
It might sound obvious but one of the most useful parts of learning how to write article is figuring out how to make sure you can convey a powerful message without going too much deeper into technicality or details. A good rule of thumb is to use at least 10% of your paper for the key ideas that make up the title or introduction and then 50% towards the body of the paper where you take all the key points out. The remaining 50% should be your thesis statement, and the rest should be focused on describing the central idea behind the main point (or just explaining generalities). It’s not enough for a strong argument that comes out of your article. Your goal is to create meaning from the information that you give to the reader and that means making sure it is easy to understand and remember, even if you have to go into a deeper explanation later on.
Be well organized.
When you can imagine something about a particular place or time, something people who live there know will feel very familiar. Some examples of how to organize articles are using categories and sub-categories, using specific dates by which they were published, using names and addresses to help readers find the article more easily on Google, as well as different kinds of other elements such as colors, symbols, phrases, etc. If you can think of ways to structure your thoughts, you will get closer to doing what you can to improve them. It also might seem trivial but knowing when to do things makes a huge difference as well as having some knowledge about the subject you are currently working on. Remember also that an article might be as thin as paper of paper and it will only become thinner the more you write because of lots of revisions. So start thinking about these small details now and see whether they make sense or not.
Use citation tools.
This may sound pretty simple but so many times people neglect this part of the writing process because they aren’t interested in making it as long as the writer likes it. In fact, some writers simply ignore the whole process. Even when you are trying to make your own topic clear and original you want to make sure your sources are in order and not overused. When you cite sources you are basically saying that others have done it somewhere else and you are pointing them to use. Be careful in citing and make sure you include those citations in your text. These are always helpful in case someone wants to look up everything there is to know. As for research, try using these resources. Use them properly and write your paper properly. And don’t forget to cite any source that you use in your works (except academic ones, of course, just remember that these are paid-for academic papers so make sure you have proper sources!). Finally, try avoiding plagiarism!
Keep writing.
It can happen at any point in time when you write something and you want to stop there, or when you have finished writing and don’t remember what you wrote. Write until you have finished enough that you can no longer stop. Keep writing and keep writing and keep writing until you finish, especially when you are stuck. It doesn’t help to delete the words already written because chances are you still have lots of topics to cover and you might end up having lots of pieces left to write. Instead, write again later on and come back to the ones that need to be changed (that’s why you are writing first. Don’t worry about anything else. Just remember what is left and focus on one thing at a time!). And don’t just stay with one genre. Take inspiration from various types of writing and make sure you don’t copy other authors’ works. Look for new perspectives and find new ways to develop this single idea. Or change it and experiment with it until it becomes interesting for you to write about the original topic. Then you know what is better for your project. As far as I am concerned, I will always favor the original idea without copying or changing it (just don’t get discouraged if you don’t get it right immediately).
Keep experimenting and breaking yourself.
I have heard it lots of times from students and even teachers that “I need to spend a year or two or so finding my niche.” That’s not always true. Sometimes you can break into multiple niches (as you did reading), so that’s really just your choice. However, sometimes this advice sounds a little bit vague like what you think will work best for your project and goals. That’s okay. The only thing I do to figure this kind of stuff out is to start writing and working hard on improving the one to one. Yes, that might sound strange but it helps me get my work done even though it is difficult and requires quite a lot of energy and time. Try thinking outside of the box and ask yourself whatever questions come to mind to push ahead with. We all have goals and we have to set certain objectives for ourselves and if you set any goals, they won’t be impossible to achieve.
You never know what will work for writing.
That might seem weird but let me explain it with the example above. Not everyone has goals in mind. Maybe someone just wants to have fun and enjoy writing in his/her free time or maybe if they have friends or family who want to write and are into creative writing. Whatever the reason it is totally possible, and it should be treated as such. But don’t just stick with the same type of story or idea you have been using for years. You are going to make some changes to it and it will become less exciting for readers in a week or so. Make small changes and move forward. If you get to the end of something and you think it is worth it, change it and move on. At the end of writing, you will have time and energy to go back to writing stories that excite or interest your audience in some way.
Finally, follow your dreams and believe in yourself if you decide you want to write an article as I did. Believe in what you want to write about. Trust your decisions and keep working hard and doing what you want to in life. Eventually, success won’t come to you through luck, but through hard work and dedication. Give it your own style and see after getting everything you have been feeling you can continue to write. Just keep going until you reach your destination and you will probably find a job that can match what you were looking for.
