18 Feb 2008 04:37:51 | Jason A. Martin
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
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