HOW TO WRITE A CAPTIVATING ARTICLE

Yes, millions of articles are published every day; on the web, in national dailies, journals, newsletters; you name it. but many of these articles are never read or read through, not even by one person, except may be, by the author. This means, there are things about an article that attracts people to start reading and read through.

If you are an article writer or wants to be, learn and master ways to command high readership for whatever article you write.

Here are a few tips.

A catchy title

This is the first contact a reader has with your writing. So make it alluring. Some say, the shorter the better. I agree, but the length of your title is not as important as the magnetism. It can be a sentence as long as it catches interest.

If the title attracts them, they move on to the first paragraph. If the first paragraph excites them, they continue on the ride with you. Keep them interested from the beginning to the end.

Use an outline.

This is like a guide, a structure you can follow to give your article the proper shape. An outline is a rough plan that concentrates on the main features of your articles, not the details. It keeps you focused, helps you to eliminate irrelevancies and makes your writing complete and proportional.

A simple article outline consists of a beginning, middle and end, all separated by paragraphs.

The beginning is the opening paragraph. A well-written article of about 650 words needs an opening paragraph that introduces the topic in an exciting manner.

The middle should consist of about five to six paragraphs that explicate your topic. Here is where you give facts and explain your point of view. You can give instances or share experiences to throw more light.

The last paragraph, which concludes the article ties together your points and summarizes it interestingly. 

Say more with less

Keep your sentences and paragraphs short. Sentences make up paragraphs. The easiest way to have short paragraphs is to use short sentences. They not only give your article a fast pace, they make it easy to read and understand. Long, winding sentences can be confusing and boring. A paragraph can be a single, succinct sentence. 

Use Sub-headings

Web writing is mostly fast-paced and people appreciate it when the information you are serving is not lumped together.

Sub headings divide your article into sections and make it easier for your reader to move smoothly from one point to the other. Your article may look like a block of words without sub-headings. Like the title, make your sub-headings attractive but short. It gives your article a breezy outlook. 

Use numbers or bullets

These also help to avoid the single block look if they are formatted with indentations. Itemize your point with numbers or bullets. It not only emphasizes your key points, it makes them easy to read, digest and remember.

Write about what you know.

Nothing kills your motivation faster than writing about unfamiliar subjects. Nothing stimulates your creativity faster than writing about subjects you know and enjoy. So, write about what you are familiar with; your profession, a particular sport or hobby you enjoy or an experience that strikes you.

Start small

If you are a beginner, write short articles first, about 500-600 words. The shorter, the easier; the easier, the more you want to write more. You can write several short articles on a topic and later merge them together to make a comprehensive article.

For example, if you are writing an article on Binging, start with describing what it is and what causes it. Do that with 400 to 450 words and get it published. Next, do the Dangers of Binging, giving an example of someone you know who suffered from it. Publish that too. Then do another one on how to overcome the disorder.

You can then merge the three articles in about 650 t0 700 words to publish in another forum, with a captivating title like “The Dangers of Binging” or “Overcoming Binging.”

Make it succinct

Web articles especially, should be between 450 and 650 in length; long enough to make a coherent piece and short enough to hold your reader’s attention to the end. In addition, if you have to churn out articles every day, then it is better to make it short and to the point, or you wear yourself out.

Captivating articles sell especially if you are into article marketing on the web. You can use them to build links to your website and attract other webmasters who will want to put your articles on their sites.

You can print these articles on your website and in your e-newsletters free of charge, provided you don’t change the article in anyway and you include the link to our website.

©2012 PenParables

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WRITING CHRISTIAN ARTICLES   3

Grace Olumayowa Aideloje

Some Christian writers, in their zeal to pass on the gospel message, ignore the acceptable rules of writing. That’s why you find many Christian works done haphazardly with little attention paid to structure, style  and grammar. If you must be an accomplished Christian writer, you cannot rule out acquiring the necessary skills.

In the next few weeks, I will focus on ways you can improve on your article writing skills to communicate more effectively.

Generally, an article consists of three main parts –the beginning, middle and end, not necessarily in that order. The most important thing is for your article to be well structured, meaningful, with quality content and of course, conforming to the accepted rules of grammar.

This piece focuses on the beginning, which consists of the title and the introduction.

 CAPTIVATING TITLE

The first thing that grabs the attention of readers is the title. It is a descriptive heading that gives a hint of the content of your article. Your title must be catchy and interesting. It should arouse curiosity to the point of compelling your readers, to at least, start reading.

Some say titles should be short. I think length is not important, as long as it is remarkable, creative, witty, fascinating or noteworthy.

Here are examples of titles for an article that prescribes ways to enjoy life.