Article Writing – A Chore or a bit of a doddle?

Does this scenario sound familiar to you?  You get to the computer/notepad or whatever your writing medium is and BLANK.  An empty page stares at you.  The ideas will not come.  
A few suggestions.

1. Remove the sleeping cat from the desk/your lap or wherever.  Cats tend to do big stretches just as you are lifting your coffee cup/beer glass to your mouth.
2. Take the chocolate biscuits/crackers back to the kitchen.
3. If you smoke put that cigarette out.  You can't be distracted.
4. No having a quick game of Free Cell or Solitaire while you wait for the ideas.
5. No sneaking a quick look at your emails.
6. Turn off your mobile and shut the door.
7. Now just sit down and write SOMETHING.  ANYTHING!  The best was to get started writing is to get started.

That works for me.  Well, it works for me when I have to do an assignment for Uni.  Not all the time mind you, but often enough to be successful.  So it just may work for you.  I know that the process and the end product of writing a 2000 word assignment are radically different to writing a 500 word article, but the preparation is the same.

Now that you have started, keep it flowing.  Don't stop for anything.  Don't worry too much if it seems like a lot of bosh.  You can refine it easily enough later – just for now keep the flow. You will be amazed at the ideas that pop into your head.  Well, hopefully they will. It is really satisfying when this happens.

A few little tips.  Don't ramble.  (Yawn)  Short sharp informative sentences are far superior to a long rambling dissertation that does not inform but merely annoys.  Spell check by all means but don't take every spell check as gospel.  I have seen some weird suggestions come from spell check!

Please, please read through your work and make sure that it makes sense.  A miss–spelled word can sometimes ruin an otherwise well written sentence.  Watch out for these little clangers.  Alot instead of a lot.  Your instead of you're and vice versa.  Its where it should be it's and vice versa.  These mistakes are anathema (well, maybe not that strong) to some readers and detract from the article.  English is a lovely language (you may not agree of course).  Don't abuse it!!

Another point to be considered.  Although writing an article is primarily a marketing tactic, it doesn't mean that the article has to be boring.  An article needs to inform but doesn't need to read like a textbook.  Who wants to read a textbook!  Well, I do, but I am studying at the moment.

But seriously, if an article bored you would you keep reading?  No, you probably would not. The resource box wouldn't get a second glance and there would go a potential click.  What a waste.  A dollop of humour or the odd little aside now and then could be the determining factor in your reader staying long enough to see the all–important resource box.

There you have it.  Articles, of course, are just one method of traffic generation.  If you are new or not so new to this internet marketing game and would like the benefit of hands–on instruction from an internet marketer whose membership site was voted No 1 Internet Marketing Service by IMReportCard.com, please feel free to visit my website at http://www.create-website-today.com, scroll right to the bottom and click on Click here to go to the Chris Farrell Membership Site

Cheers,

Lovinia