Reduce your subject to a single core
word and then brainstorm around it. For example, if you're
trying to write about "Study Skills", expand your thinking to
"School". Now jot down everything that comes to mind when you
think about School, and when you run out of ideas start asking
yourself open questions around the subject and noting your
answers.
Examples:
What did I enjoy about school?
What
scared me?
What did I wish I'd known from Day 1?
This will
help you get back into the mindset of someone struggling with
school issues of all kinds and you'll start to get a feel for
their concerns and worries.
2 Restore your focus
Once you've
started to understand the general feelings of your readers,
allow your mind to focus back on your original topic of Study
Skills. From your new perspective, what questions would you ask?
What would you want to know? Is this really a "Studying" issue
or is it more about Time Management or being able to work
without distractions or being paralyzed by the fear of not doing
well?
3 Be your audience
Write each question on a separate
sheet of paper; don't stop until you have at least ten and
preferably more. Stay in the mindset of your readers until you
feel you've asked every major question that concerns them.
4
Take a step back
Put your pile of question aside for a few
hours, overnight if possible. Don't consciously think about
them; just go about your day as usual. Give your subconscious
time to process them without any further prompting from you. If
new questions come to mind jot them down somewhere safe and then
forget about them.
5 Get out your pen and write
When you're
ready, sit down with your pages of questions and simply start to
answer them. Writing your answers by hand can give you access to
ideas that might be missed if you type them. Don't edit yourself
at this stage. Using Speech to Text software or a digital
recorder can also be helpful in bypassing the internal editor.
Imagine someone sitting in front of you asking for advice and
just talk to them. Keep your tone natural and conversational and
stay with the question-and-answer format.
6 Edit lightly
Trust your first instincts. Proof-read and correct any obvious
errors, but don't do any major editing until your piece has had
time to "sit" for a while. Again, leaving it overnight will give
you a fresh perspective the next time you look at it, but even
if your deadline doesn't allow for that it's important to give
yourself a break from it.
When you're pushed for time, writing
several articles at one sitting can create enough change of
focus to make you "forget" the one you've just written.
7
Polish it up
Short articles are unlikely to need major editing
if you've written them as described here. They will flow easily
and naturally already and having each Q & A on a separate sheet
makes it easier to select only the ones you want. Your job now
is to put them in a reasonably logical sequence and make sure
they're understandable and that the reader is led smoothly from
one question and answer to the next.
8 Top and tail it
Write
a brief introductory paragraph as a "teaser" for the main
article. Many article directories now put the first paragraph of
each piece into RSS feeds which are picked up by other websites,
so you'll want to make sure that your two or three major
keywords appear at least once in that first paragraph.
Write
another short paragraph to summarize the major points of the
article and provide some ideas for the reader to explore the
subject further. Don't of course forget your own resource box:
use the format
9 Submit it!
Paul Kellum has a new article directory,The Article Shopper. You
can submit your articles for free, and also get free content for your
website,ezine or newsletter. http://www.thearticleshopper.biz
Submit Your Articles For Free
Lose The Weight You Deserve
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