Writing an Article

An article is an expression of ideas supported by facts, events, figures and data. Realize that writing is a process, not a short burst of activity. It is common for people to write an article over a period of time.

The common aspects of in writing an article are steps are planning, research, writing a rough draft, editing and then, writing a final draft. Choosing a title for an article is the first step. A title written in the initial phase can be altered after you have finished the final draft. After you have chosen the title, you need to write down the main purpose of your article. And then, you can collect all the relevant matter related to the title. Use sources like google, college library, magazines covering the particular industry.

Planning an article involves discussing why it is important and what you want to include. If you decide about length, scope and focus in advance, it will save you time and effort later. For instance, for this article, I decided to have around one and half page length of matter. The scope was very clear : as many points I could logically include within one and half page. My objective was to convey to young students, how to learn and start writing articles. Practice writing articles on various articles, and you will find that your articles are good. Good articles are descriptive. If you are writing an article on a topic with which you are familiar draw with your own experience and talk to those who have more experience or different experience than you.

If you are writing on a technical topic - which is new to you, refer many books and websites, and note down important points - which you feel are relevant to readers of your article.

The best articles help readers solve problems, save time, avoid mishaps and do their jobs more effectively. You can't assume that the reader share your perception of a problem; you may have to sell them the problem before you sell them a solution.

To write well, imagine you are telling your friend a story or about this topic. Naturally, you would like to make many points and make it easy to understand. It should be informal and clear. Short words and short sentences are fine.

An article written by an experienced person, should be about things they can actually control and problems they can solve. For instance, how to invest in mutual funds or how to conduct a training session, or how to succeed in your career. Writing an article about a huge problem that is too large or too expensive merely raises the reader's anxiety. One way to make an impact with your article is to tell real stories. Use actual examples. Readers want to hear about things that happened. They aren't interested in platitudes, cliches, lectures, or slogans. Readers want reality, not theory.

Most articles are like somewhere in between the way things are and the way they should be. Ideally, everyone follows all the rules all the time, and no mishaps ever happen. In reality, people cut corners, take chances, stop paying attention, fall asleep in class, drive drunk, ignore their supervisor, take the easy way out, get in a hurry, resist learning, and on and on. So a good article, should not repeat official procedures or rules. Readers have plenty of those things already. Simply repeating the procedures avoids the real problem. Readers want interesting solutions to the problems prevailing in the society or in the field your article is about. 'Why' is more interesting than 'what'.

Many articles defining a problem or a hazard as the starting point and then go and solve the problem or suggest ways to solve them. Start your article with a concise lead section or introduction defining the topic at hand and mentioning the most important points. The reader should be able to get a good overview by only reading the lead, which should be between one and four paragraphs long, depending on the length of the article. The importance of building up the context is crucial in writing an article. Remember that, although you will be familiar with the subject you are writing about, readers may not be, so it is important to establish the context of your article's subject early on. For instance, if you are writing an article about a sports event you should mention the sport and, if relevant, any national details or recent developments or future upcoming events.

Writing well is an art each of us has to develop on our own. As I said at the beginning, article writing is a sustained activity. Make your sentences clear. Long widing sentences can put of your reader and you may loose him.

A technical article often has to detail how a concept has to be implmented. A reader will be happy to read a step by step explanation of how to implement or adopt a concept.

It's often a good idea to separate the major sections of your articles with section headlines. For many topics, a history section is very appropriate, outlining how thinking about the concept evolved over time.

The summary is an important part of your article. You should summarize your article, by stating the most important points, in a most concise manner, without loosing the meaning. A clear objective, an apt title, short and clear sentences, and logical presentation of points make up a good article.