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Business Writing Skills II - A Web Writing Primer
Whatever you would write on paper, cut it in half. The web was designed for quick reading. Studies show that people do not read long blocks of text while surfing the web; reading from the screen is often slower than reading on paper. Therefore, be...
Power Writing 101: Tips and Tricks to Get You Taken Seriously!
In my ten years as an advertiser, I’ve encountered plenty of folks with a flair for writing. They were born having some idea of where to put the words within the sentence, and the sentences within the paragraph. They usually know what words to use –...
So you want to go into ghostwriting?
So you want to go into ghostwriting? A good way to get writing experience is by ghostwriting, that is writing for individuals and companies under their bylines rather than your own. With ghostwriting, you can test out writing for different genres...
Top Seven Tips for Writing Articles on the Internet
Top Seven Tips for Writing Articles on the Internet Judy Cullins © 2003 All Rights Reserved. Online readers love information, but be sure your information is crisp, clean, clear and concise. 1. Keep your paragraphs short, even a line or two....
Writing Web Copy That SELLS - How It Compares With Offline Copy
Whoever said "long copy" doesn't work on the web obviously doesn't know how to sell online. In fact, online marketers are making an absolute fortune with web pages spanning 1200 or more words used to sell their software and manual products. There's...
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4 Major Mistakes to Avoid when Writing an Article
By avoiding these common mistakes, you will greatly improve your article. The Internet has an overabundance of disregarded content that was written in the same rambling way that the author normally speaks in. Many of these articles would never have been neglected by the general public had the author simply looked for these common mistakes prior to publishing.
Number One: Poor Title
The title, or headline, must grab the reader’s attention and reel him or her into the story. It should not be extremely long. The title can be fun and does not necessarily need to be a verbatim description of the article. Sometimes a title is best written last. Keep in mind that we are talking about titles for articles and not books. This is an important distinction because longer titles and sub titles that might be appropriate for books will not work for articles.
Bad Title: Website Promotion Ideas: 8 Simple But Effective Tips To Get People To Visit Your Web Site Again And Again
Why? This long and clumsy title does not work for an article. The title has unneeded words and does not take the intended audience into consideration. The theme was correct and the title could be salvaged by properly rewriting it.
Better Title: 4 Major Mistakes to Avoid when Writing an Article
Why? This title is short, informs the reader what the article is about, and is worded to walk the reader into the article. It is properly targeted for the intended audience.
Number Two: Poor Opening
The opening paragraph, especially the introductory line, must be strong and present the topic. The title should flow nicely into the opening paragraph. If the title is “Saving Money at the General Store” and the article leads with “I really don’t understand why more stores don’t supply coupons”—it is time to rewrite. In this example, the reader will become confused quickly. It is important to maintain a logical flow.
Additionally, never write the following:
- In this article, I will show… (Just show it)
- This article will cover… (Articles do not need a table of contents or an outline)
- By the end of this article… (Don’t talk to your readers like they are in grade school—unless the audience really is in grade school)
Number Three: Poor Flow
Poor flow destroys writing in general. Many writers would benefit from creating an outline and rearranging their writing based on it. Writing that does not follow logical flow is completely doomed. Many article authors seem to simply write in the same order as thoughts occur in and then call the job complete. Meanwhile, the writing is a complete mess and a potentially great article remains nothing more than amateur fodder.
This mistake can be avoided by printing out the work, reading it over, and labeling the main theme for each sentence. In the “poor opening” example, the introductory sentence belonged later on in the article—perhaps the conclusion. Reading the article draft aloud is a professional technique for discovering sentence structure errors.
Number Four: Poor Conclusion
It is poor form to label your conclusion as such in an article. There is no need to type the word “Conclusion” or state “In conclusion”. A conclusion should not be a summary of what was already written. It must include fresh writing, illustrate the main point of the article, and bring the article to a logical closing. Moreover, it can’t leave the reader with the sense of incompletion. An ideal conclusion will drive the point home and give the reader the satisfaction of having read the article. The closing of the article must be communicated well or the reader will come away unsatisfied—even if the article was great up until that point.
Writing great articles takes practice and adhering to some basic principles. To eliminate poorly written articles, share them with your friends and family. Write down their questions and comments as they read your article. With newfound information in hand, proceed to rewrite your work. Never be afraid to delete and rearrange—every writer must do this. In the end, your readers will thank you by continuing to read your improved work.
©2005 Jason Andrew Martin LLC
About the Author
Jason A. Martin has been conducting business on the Internet for 11 years. He is a freelance writer on many topics and is currently working on obtaining a degree in Journalism and Law.
His official web site, which contains articles you can use for your web site, can be viewed at: Jason A. Martin
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| www.nanowrimo.org |
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