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Dreading the Writing Assignment? Outlines to the Rescue
Writing technical articles is a challenge. There you sit, surrounded by reams of research, notes and interviews. Where do you start?
Remember 5th grade English? You start with an outline.
Outlining has fallen on hard times lately. Mind...
How To Pluck Fresh New Ideas For Writing Killer Sales Copy...Straight Out Of Thin Air!
If you want to improve your writing, you probably spend a fair amount of time reading a variety of "How To Write Good Sales Copy" kinds of information. True? You probably subscribe to a handful of newsletters like mine... you've read a few of...
How to Use This Unique Writing Site To Make Money From Your Writing
There is absolutely no doubt that the future belongs to online writers. The rapidly growing number of sites and blogs being set up every day will increasingly require writers. So how does a writer use this information to make money now and in the...
Sales Headline Copywriting - Two Quick Steps to Success
Get a Good Start for Sales Success
The headline to a sales letter is like the doorway to a store. The purpose of both is to draw people in. To get people in the store, a doorway has to be both attractive and inviting. To get people to read...
Writing Good Dialogue.
Theres nothing that kills a scene like hackneyed dialogue. Just stop and think about the average B-Grade Hollywood Movie. Sure, at times the plot is bad and the characterisation woeful but most of the time, what stops it from being a good...
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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 as
brief and to the point as you can be, or risk losing your
readers' attention.
Write for scanning. Since web surfers often skim web copy, avoid
using long blocks of text. Use lots of white space, bulleted and
numbered lists, and short paragraphs (1 or 2 sentence paragraphs
are not out of the question).
Also, begin with a short conclusion. This way, the reader will
know right away if your topic is one s/he is interested in.
Keep your copy simple. No need for elevated language on the web.
Once, I read that you should pretend you're writing a TV
commercial: Keep your copy short and succinct.
Write conversationally. Think of your readers as individual
people rather than as a faceless "audience." Reading your piece
out loud easily tests this. Or, have a friend read it to you. If
it doesn't flow smoothly, it is time to rework your copy.
Use nested headings. In addition to using short paragraphs,
break up your copy into two or three levels of headlines and sub
heads. This way, the reader can more easily scan to a topic she
is interested in.
Use emphasis and hypertext. If using long text where appropriate
(say, in an in- depth article or report), it helps to break up
your text into several pages connected by links.
The beauty of the web is that your interested readers will
follow you to the detailed information if they want; otherwise,
they can scan the general information that is nicely laid out on
the first page of your article.
Remember to use bold and italics to emphasize important
pieces
of information. Avoid underlining, though, so your readers don't
confuse underlined words with linked text.
Use the inverted pyramid. Journalists have long been aware of
the need to catch readers' attention immediately. Like newspaper
readers, web surfers are also pressed for time and want to get
the story right away.
The first paragraph should contain the most important
information and tell what the rest of the site/page/story is
about. That way, readers can scan the beginning to get the gist
of the story.
Start with a short conclusion; gradually get into the full story
and provide more details below or on another page.
Proofread. There is no better way to make your company look
incompetent than to have mistakes all over your site. I've seen
it over and over and over again. Proof read time and time again,
and then let someone else take a look at it too. Your
spell-checker is not enough! It helps to print out all the pages
and edit the hard copy, since reading off the screen is tedious.
Don't be afraid to be entertaining. Fortunately, we've gotten
smarter over the last several years since plopping your company
brochure onto the screen went out of style. Nowadays, web
surfers want to be entertained. Use humor. Use personality. Use
a conversational style. The web is no place for flat, boring,
unenergetic cure-for-insomnia stuff. Be enthusiastic about your
product -- if you're into it, your customers will be, too!
Confidence shows!
About the Author
Linda Elizabeth Alexander is a business writer and marketing
consultant based in Longmont, Colorado, USA. Improve your
writing skills at work! Subscribe to her FREE ezine. Write to
the Point at lalexander@write2thepointcom.com or visit
http://www.write2thepointcom.com/articles.html.
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| Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction ... |
| An online community dedicated to fostering writing skills. With a free membership anyone may read, write, rate, and review works. |
| www.writing.com |
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| Welcome to Writing-World.com! |
| Writing articles and resources. Tips about how to become a better writer, get published and find writing markets. From Moira Allen. |
| www.writing-world.com |
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| Guide to Grammar and Writing |
| The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on ... |
| grammar.ccc.commnet.edu |
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| Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - The OWL Family of Sites |
| Writing lab and resources. Email newsletter available. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
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| OWL at Purdue University: General Writing Concerns Handouts |
| This page contains important links to the writing: planning/writing/revising aspects of the OWL website. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
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| Writing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The original Mesopotamian writing system was initially derived from a system of ... If it is deemed to be a written language, writing in China will predate ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Writing.org - Advice for Freelance Writers |
| Articles to help you launch a freelance writing career, from a former literary agent and PLAYBOY editor. |
| www.writing.org |
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| Writing HTML |
| More than just an HTML reference, this is a structured approach for learning how to create web pages, designed by specialists in learning at the Maricopa ... |
| www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu |
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| National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month |
| NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. |
| www.nanowrimo.org |
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| Poynter Online |
| Apply by Dec. 11 Reporting and Writing the Untold Stories Apply by Dec. 11 ... Reporting & Writing for Multi-Platform Newsrooms. Apply by Jan. 10 ... |
| www.poynter.org |
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| Pages tagged with "writing" on del.icio.us |
| This short online course provides a practical introduction to writing fiction. During the course you will be expected to write two short pieces for ... |
| del.icio.us |
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| BBC Get Writing |
| The BBC's online resource for writing drama and comedy for television, radio and film. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
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| TOC About Writing |
| Menu of articles on writing written by professional SF/F writers. |
| www.sfwa.org |
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| 11 Rules of Writing -- a concise guide to important grammar ... |
| A concise guide to some of the most frequently violated rules of writing, punctuation, and grammar. |
| www.junketstudies.com |
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| NAEP Writing Subject Area |
| NAEP assesses student performance in writing periodically in grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation, and in grades 4 and 8 for the states. |
| nces.ed.gov |
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| Writing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with writing on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
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| IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing |
| Includes step-by-step instructions on researching and writing, how to find information online and offline, as well as links to useful resources. |
| www.ipl.org |
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| Dictionary.com: Writing Resources |
| Free online English dictionary and reference guide. List of sites writers can use. |
| dictionary.reference.com |
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| WritingFix: Home of Interactive Writing Prompts and 6 Trait ... |
| Daily and interactive writing prompts. |
| www.writingfix.com |
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| Advice on Academic Writing |
| Includes articles on critical reading, planning, researching, style and editing, grammar and punctuation. |
| www.utoronto.ca |
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