Turbo charge your articles 6 ways to make them easy to read and hard to resist

A few years back, I found that the process of writing articles really isn't a process at all – it's an art, and it's a very elegant one.

There are so many ways to make an article easy to read for your audience it's mind-boggling.

While a debate rages on about whether articles should be dense and conversational or sparse and easy-to-read, I find myself in the middle, happy to write conversational articles with loads of impact.

The fact remains: People aren't going to read something that looks like it might take a long time to read. I'm a professional writer and I don't even like to read long articles. (To me, long ezine articles it shows a lack of discipline on the part of the writer.)

Here are a few maxims I've discovered and they've served me well in the past:

● Keep articles to anywhere between 400 and 700 words – anything more than that and you're asking for your article to have single-digit page views. Who wants that?

● Use sub-heds. Short for subheadings, these breaks in the content are mini-paragraphs that move the reader along in the story. I only employ these when I'm writing case studies or articles that approach the 700 word mark.

Note: I only write these after I have written the entire article. I take a good look at the text and then I try to insert a sub-hed every two or three paragraphs. This technique works wonders in making an article appear more readable.

● Use bullets, numbered lists, and bold sentences whenever you're writing the advice portion of your articles.

Quick Tutorial on Adding Status Boosting Advice to Your Articles

It's a must to have advice in your articles. This sets you apart as an expert in your field and makes you likable because you're helping to solve the problems of your prospects.

Here how I used advice in my articles:

● Make sure the advice is actionable – something to reader can do right now to reach a goal, eliminate a problem or become more efficient.

● Include the most important items at the top of the list and the least important ones at the very end.

● Finish strong with a final piece of advice that is not in the numbered list, bulleted list, or bold sentence category. I usually structure the sentence like this one: “Bottom line: Follow a set format to make writing articles easier.”

This allows the reader to leave your article with the one nugget of information that he can finally use to solve whatever problem may be hanging over him at the moment.

Now article writing can be fun because you have the right tools to ensure readers will want to read your articles.

Bonus! How to Put This Concept to Work in Your Articles

Write your articles out without thinking about these tips I just mentioned. Just empty your brain of all the information you have about a particular problem facing your audience and how they can solve that problem.

Then walk away from the article. Don't look at or think about it for at least three hours or so. Next, insert sub-heds to break up the paragraphs into bite-sized pieces. Format your advice into bullets, numbered lists or bolded first sentences.

You'll be surprised at how well your articles will look to someone who's first viewing it.

Doing this, in combination with a phenomenal headline, will send your article views through the roof. People will clamor for your articles and publish them both online, and in ezines.

Your first steps to becoming a writer

What's the first step to becoming a writer? You'd think it would be "write", but it's not. In speaking to other writers and from what I know of my own journey to becoming a writer, I've come to realize that the biggest obstacle for new writers is that they don't think of themselves as writers. They have trouble developing the belief that they are writers and yet it's something you have to do. When you haven't developed that belief, that conviction, it becomes a source of sabotage--you don't value your work enough to give it the time and the space it needs. How do you come to think of yourself as a writer, especially when you're not earning a paycheck as a writer? Here are a few tips:

What Happens When You Write?

If you want to be a writer, I'm assuming you feel you have something to say and a strong desire to say it. You may not know how you're going to say it or in what form (poetry, novel, essay, etc.) but you know something is there. Okay, you pick up your pencil or pen or you sit down to your computer or typewriter. Write something. Whatever you write, just make sure your heart is in it. It doesn't have to be perfect, it doesn't have to be neat. It does have to be expressive.

Next, as painful as it may be, you have to show this writing to someone. It can be a friend, it can be a family member. Then, pay attention to what happens. Did the person reading your work cry, laugh or get angry? If so, you did that! It means you can have an effect with your writing. It's worth something. You have to keep going!

A teenager recently wrote to me concerned because she's writing fiction and she's worried her mother will read it and get upset because she thinks it's stuff the teenager really did. On the one hand, that is a bummer to have to explain yourself to your mother, but on the other hand--wow, that means the young lady's work is believeable and effective. That kind of feedback is hard to ignore. It's powerful motivation to keep you going--if you take the time to notice and honor that it's happening. I once had a writer say to me, "I don't know if my stuff is any good. I just know that when people read it, they cry." I told her you can't get a message any clearer than that kind of response. Now she just has to listen to it.

Cultivate Silence

If you're having trouble thinking about what it is you have to say, it may help you to spend some time each day in silence. Some writers pray. Some meditate. The idea is to get used to clearing your brain space and tuning in to your inner voice. You'll also be more aware of those little scraps of possibility floating around in your head that can later grow into big ideas.

What Do You Want to Write? Experiment!

It's okay if you don't know what you want to write about. It may take a long time journaling for you to see what keeps coming up for you. And it may take longer to find the form that fits you best. I went from poetry to essays to long-form letter writing before I settled on fiction. It took me years to do that. It doesn't mean I won't do anything else in those genres, but what I'm doing right now just fits. I encourage you to experiment until you find the form that suits your writing best.

Continually Remind Yourself You Are a Writer

As you develop your belief that you're a writer, it's helpful to set up reminders that will jog you back to that brain space that you need to be in to write. When you sit down to write it's easy to get distracted and starting thinking about doing laundry or what's for dinner. You'll want to have something either on your desk or on the wall in front of you that reminds you to get back to work and that you are a writer.

It might be your list of values that remind you that writing is a part of who you are. It may be simple words such as CREATE or INSPIRE. Isabel Allende, who writes beautiful, historical novels will sit in her office with photos around her, old photos of people who essentially represent her characters so she’s surrounded by them. That puts her back into the brain space of her book because she is sitting in their world; these people are all around her.

What world do you need to be in? The journey you take to get there will be one of many you'll take as a writer. I hope these ideas will help you take those first steps. What you write--and where you go from here--is entirely up to you. Bon Voyage.

© 2006 Sophfronia Scott