Welcome to the prep boot camp for writing your first-ever article! We are feeling excited, are you?
This quick guide covers everything from creating a captivating headline, fueling your creative powers, SEO article writing, even outlines most common article types. Let’s dive right into!
How To Start Writing an Article [For the First Time]
Psst.
There’s an amazing secret life hack that always works for writing your first article. Are you ready to finally learn it? Here it goes…
Open your laptop (or take a sheet of paper, doesn’t matter), create an empty text document and type your first word. Boo-yah!
No, this is not a joke. The hardest part is to start. But once you set the ball rolling – it gets easier to focus, concentrate, and write your future masterpiece. After all, every great novel begins with the first word.
Anyways, to help you start on your article writing journey, we put down some techniques pro writers use for crafting their stories.
- Keep a list of fresh ideas
Creative ideas wait for you at every turn. Be prepared. A list of topics in your phone or notebook will serve you well. Jot down an idea whenever you have a lightbulb moment.
- Create a writing routine
Research, write, edit, proofread. This is the most basic, short formula you can use. You can make it even more personalized & detailed by breaking down every point.
- Learn best SEO practices
SEO is essential for any digital writer nowadays. When executed well, it helps to attract tons of visitors to your page. As a beginner, you can also try SEO article writing tools like hemingwayapp.com or Keyword WordStream that even experienced writers use.
- Write about your passions
This may sound pretentious, but this is the proven, time tested ultimate truth. It’s always easier to write about something you enjoy. So pick the niche you like and jump right in.
The truth is – everyone is scared to start a new piece, novel, article. This even has a professional term among copywriters ‘the fear of the blank page’ or a ‘writer’s block’. But fear not, it can be handled easily just by starting to write the first line.
‘The blank page’ is the personal ‘pet peeve’ for writers all over the world. But when you write non-fiction – the best recipe is just to write. You can revise, edit, perfect it later.
How to do research for article writing [Bullet Points]
Research can make your article shine. Before you jot down the first few phrases – take the pains and do the research first. It can change your entire perspective. And it doesn’t matter what topic you are working on. Research can give you some unique insights, relevant data, so don’t be lazy to do it!
1. Just google it
Nowadays, you don’t have to go to the library to research your topic (unless you want to!). Even if you just google the subject of your article online, it will give you tons of ideas. This is very simple advice, but few people follow it.
If you are working on a scientific or academic paper, go ahead and use Google Academia or other scientific websites like JSTOR (digital library of academic journals and documents).
2. Interview the experts
Your article will always win if you include some expert opinions. It’s not easy to catch their attention…but they will probably love some exposure that you can give them. Drop them an email, tweet, or even shoot a quick FB message. Explain the problem and why their opinions matter. Many of them will be happy to help!
3. Include stats!
Unique data and stats help your article stand out. What’s more, your item will look so much more legit and trustworthy. But if you can conduct your own survey or an experiment – that's even better! For example, you can poll your website visitors or create a survey among your Facebook friends. It takes little time, but it can greatly impact your future article.
4. Don’t be a copycat
You will probably come across some brilliant article writing examples on your topic. This doesn’t mean you should copy their structure, style, ideas. After all, ’Research is creating new knowledge’ (the famous quote of Neil Armstrong), it’s not stealing.
Your goal here is to create a better article than your competitors. Thorough quality research will give you tons of new ideas that you can experiment with. Use them but don’t copy completely.
Every time you write an article, you just have to do good quality research before. Nowadays, there are many articles on the web that are just ‘noise’. They repeat each other, they don’t have anything exclusive in them. But a good, quality, unique research can make your article stand out. Even if you are not into academic writing, seeing what others wrote about this topic can help you enhance your item.
How to improve article writing skills: Tips and Tricks
1. Practice makes perfect.
If you write consistently, on a day-to-day basis, you will notice your writing getting smarter, sharper, more intricate than before. However, any amateur or a pro writer has many tips and treats up his or her sleeve to make the copy shine bright like a diamond.
- Start boldly!
Your intro and headline can make all the difference. People, these days, have an attention span shorter than a goldfish. You need to entice them – starting from the very first sentence. You can begin with a quote, a bold statement, a provocative question, a paradox (aka ‘If I am so smart, why I am not successful yet’ – a famous headline here). But mind you, don’t turn into a yellow press because clickbait headlines can give you a bad rap.
2. Keep it simple
Wanna step up your writing? Whenever possible, – use short sentences. This technique is just perfect for any beginner. After you start writing in simple, brief sentences, your copy becomes natural. They are easy to read and follow. They create ‘rhythm’ for your text. And who likes reading old-school, long and boring passages? Exactly.
3. The more you read – the better you write
This should go without saying. You are what you read. Follow your favorite writers and read every line they have ever produced. Not only you will learn a lot of new instrumental info, see many interesting article writing formats, but you will understand how you can ‘shape’ your content. Eventually, by imitating, you will create your own style.
4. Edit ruthlessly
Create a writing routine that works for you. Spend some time on editing. After reading your text two, three times – you will often find passages that don’t fit. Erase them without any doubts. Kill your darlings, as they say. Your article will thank you!
5. Use powerful gear
There are tons of excellent tools to help you write better. Of course, you can use standard programs like Microsoft Word, or Apple Pages on macOS. But if you are looking for the best article writing software, you can turn to advanced editors like Grammarly, Scrivener or Ulysses. Besides correcting your grammar mistakes, some of them can even provide you with the needed article writing format sample. All in all, if you need to have an article right here right now, consider using the best SEO article writing services available in your region.
Different Types of Article Writing Explained
There are more article genres than we can count on the fingers of both hands. Just below, we will outline the types of article writing that are pretty common online. You will not find ‘an article writing template’ as such, but hopefully, you will get some fresh ideas too!
News Story
News pieces are everywhere. They are extremely popular. But! You should be careful when writing a news article. First off – be sure to include facts and facts only. Stay unbiased and never give any personal opinions. Always (and I mean always) include all the sources of your information. Don’t forget that you can find a ton of news article writing examples online if you want to learn more about this genre.
Research papers
There are many requirements for writing an academic article. In short, your essay should always be on-point, well-rounded, unbiased, supported by evidence and reputable sources. All in all, you should always follow a strict article writing format in academic discourse. Start with a strong statement and outline your subject, use formal style using scholarly lexicon exclusively, etc.
Writing a review article
Reviews are always trendy. During a day, we come across tons of reviews on every topic. Movies, books, high-end tech gadgets, and software – you name it! When writing a review article, you should always express your personal attitude but also give solid reasons behind your thinking. As always, if you need an article writing format sample for reviews – you can find millions of results just by going on Google.
How-to Guides
We read tons of how-tos on a daily basis (without even noticing this!). They are simple do-it-yourself instructions about any topic in the world. (Btw, you’re reading the perfect example right now!). The typical how-to article writing template is a step-by-step guide. In essence, your task is to outline the main stages needed for achieving any goal.
SEO article writing
What is SEO article writing? The primary goal of any SEO article is to attract traffic from search engines. Basically, you can write an essay on any topic and then optimize it for Google, Bing, etc. SEO experts recommend writing longer copy (1000 + words), always add keywords, optimize title tags, images, polish metadata, etc.
If this sounds like a challenge, you can always hire a professional company providing SEO article writing services.
Conclusion
Writing is hard work. It takes time. But it’s rewarding, fun, and challenging. It can bring the exposure you have never dreamed of. It doesn’t matter if you are writing a news article or a tech review – the key here is to be consistent and stand out from the vast crowd.
Many marketers simply hire a company to provide SEO article writing services, but in truth – you can do all of this on your own. Hopefully, the tricks outlined in this article will help you start a writing career and find your personal style and voice.
