How to write effective articles?

 How to write effective articles?                              

                                                 

Articles are pervasive. Writing articles has reached a point in the evolution of human understanding where it has today become the order of the day. Almost all the aspects of our lives require reading and writing, and thus in today’s era, the demand for article writing skills to somewhere, somehow advance in our careers is very high. The widespread presence of articles as a medium of information can be understood by the fact that website owners write articles, and newspapers, magazines, marketers, businessmen, financial analysts, and many others need articles to be written on a daily basis.

At first, glance, writing articles may seem quite an easy task, but it is something that requires significant skill if one is to deliver engaging articles to readers. Writing a good article requires two things: good content and good technique. A weak article falls flat whereas a strong article changes minds, carries weight, demands respect. It’s a worthy and valuable pursuit.

 Following some points will have you writing articles like a professional. Everyone from a student to the whole clan of social marketers wanting to get better can improve their article writing skills by following these tips-

• Selecting the topic to be explored, carefully-

The first and most important thing to do before doing any writing is to choose a focused topic. It should be something upon which you feel that a substantial lot of things can be addressed, quite seamlessly.  If you have no direction, you will have no destination.

• Drafting ideas that are your own and putting a substance into them-

It is very important to draft an outline of your ideas. After a particular idea for a topic is chosen, an outline that to be kept in mind while writing an article must be decided, to bring about an understandably big level of improvement is the final output.  It will give you a clear direction and also an insight into what you want to communicate to your readers. This makes you sharpen your ideas before writing the article.

• Thorough research-

This is very important for any creative medium to be pursued. And thus it becomes even more important for students as well because at times it can be very hard to seek or search for academic works or papers. Thorough and extensive research is very vital. It shows the reader that your facts are reliable when you include high-quality sources in your article and also makes your articles impactful and even more attractive.

• Assuming beforehand that the target readers, towards which the article is aimed at to have a practically non-existent level of knowledge about the topic-

It is also very important to assume zero knowledge for your readers.  If you do assume your readers already have some prior knowledge, you may jump to conclusions and miss some key points. Using a relatively simpler set of terminologies always goes a long way in making the piece of content more accessible. So whenever you are writing an article, never believe that your audience has prior knowledge of the topic that you have.

• Never deviate from your topic- 

Another important thing to remember is not deviating from the topic at hand. One of the mistakes many writers commit is deviating from their topic. It is very important to keep your topic in mind so that it prevents you from losing focus and direction. Sticking to one topic forces you to fully flesh out your ideas and double do on the effort to make the article more effective.

• Cutting unnecessary words and making them visually appealing-

Always make sure to cut away all the unnecessary words. Long sentences with too many words can be frustrating for readers to go through. Thus the prime goal also hs to be working on the visual appeal of the article.

• Avoiding the distractions while writing-

If you allow yourself to go distracted while writing, you can lose the impact that you have aspired to deliver with your article. You may have a good topic to start with, but it is important to avoid any sort of distractions.

The final and unstated rule of good writing is practice. Practice, practice, practice. As the saying goes- Practice makes a man perfect!

 You should practice well enough to be able to internalize the whole process of writing an effective article. Staying true to your conviction and bringing forward the ideas within, with complete honesty, is the key.

Article by: Avi Sharma

Edited by: Aastha Soni