Writing comes in a lot of types and forms. Different types of writing are also targeted for different types of audiences. You can find articles in a lot of publications such as research papers, newspapers, magazines, websites, and more.
Since there are different types of articles, each has unique qualities to it but they still have common qualities and characteristics to them. In general, the approach to writing an article falls under the common qualities and characteristics of different kinds of article. You may also see book writing samples.
In this article, we would like to share with you the most common and efficient way of writing articles—whatever type they may be. Plus, we would also like to share a few free writing samples and guidelines for writing your articles. Just make sure that you keep reading this article to find out more about our topic today. Let’s go!
Article Writing Process
Research Article Writing
Review Article Writing
Magazine Article Writing
Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!
This is where it all starts. When ideas start pouring, the content of your article becomes more and more interesting. So here are ways on how we can come up with ideas and how we can organize these ideas to form an article that is worth reading. You may also see job application writing samples.
1. Know What Article You Will Be Writing
It would be a great idea to familiarize yourself with what type of article you will be writing. The type of article you will be writing will all depend on your preference or the requirement needed. What are the common types of articles?
- News articles are the types of articles that are based on recent events or events that are about to happen.
- Feature articles are written in an approach that is creative and focuses on people, events, or other subjects that are deemed to be creative. A ton of times, blogs are written in this manner.
- Editorial articles are usually found in sample newspapers. They typically present the opinion of the newspaper on a certain trending issue. These are usually paired with editorial cartoons that best represent the article.
- How-to articles, from the name itself, are articles that are instructional in nature. These articles give you detailed information about how you can do certain tasks.
2. List Down Potential Topics
Make a checklist of topics that you would like to tackle. This will help you narrow down your topic to make it more condensed yet packs a lot of information with every sentence that the reader is reading. By narrowing down your topics, you will remain more focused and be able to avoid being redundant. Plus, it will help you make your sentences as coherent as possible. You can check out List Samples in Excel to get list templates that can help you make a list of topics to discuss.
You have to make sure that when you are writing your article that you are interested in your topic and that you put your heart into it as well. An article written half-heartedly will end up being dull and will also end up not being interesting to the reader as well.
3. Passion
As we have mentioned, it would be great if you are interested in your topic. It will even be better if you are passionate about it as your passion will surely resonate to your articles and make your articles very interesting. You may also see letter writing samples.
If you are passionate about what you are writing, you will surely be able to discuss it efficiently and be able to write a lot of details about it. Your passion will show in the way you write your topic and your audience will definitely be more engaged with what they are reading. You want to give your article the aura that is worth reading about.
4. Research
You may not always be given the chance to write about a topic that you are passionate about. This is especially true if you are asked to write college essays, which is a requirement for certain subjects you may have. However, it does not mean that just because you are not passionate or interested in the topic you are required to write, your writing should also fall short. What you can do to help you gain more knowledge and ideas about what you are going to write about, you should definitely do your research. Even if you are interested in the topic you are writing, doing preliminary research will be of great help especially if there are recent news about the topic chosen. You can conduct research in your local library and through the Internet.
5. Make Your Article Stand Out
Once you have done your research and have listed down the points that you will be focusing on, it is now time to think about how you can approach your article in a way that will make it stand out from the other articles and topics that are similar to yours. You may also like report writing formats.
6. The Argument
A ton of times, you will find an argument in an article which is what makes the article solid. If you are developing an argument for your article, make sure that you base your arguments on facts. Remember that your article will stand out better if you are able to make a good quality argument. To ensure that you stay focused on your argument, you can highlight it or change the font color while you are writing your article to ensure that you will always be reminded of your argument. You may also like summary writing samples.
Do Your Research
Researching your topic can help to make your arguments and topics more solid. It can even take it to a whole new level and open possibilities for more arguments. This is how you can do your research on your topic.
1. Know More about Your Topic
In-depth research about your topic will be a good way of ensuring that you will be able to get all of your facts straight. You can make a simple SWOT analysis about your topic and discuss each item.
You can make use of journals, hearing documentation, sample certificates, and other archives for your primary sources. These can be found in your local library and even in scholarly websites on the Internet. You can also gather some useful information from abstracts, dissertation, reference books and you may even conduct some interviews.
2. Cite Examples
Citing examples to support your argument can help to support your argument and make it more reliable. Make sure that you prioritize which ones are strongest examples.
You should also make sure that you are getting information from reliable sources. You can refer to the reference list to ensure that you have a backup for whatever claims you make in your article.
3. Take Note of Your Sources
You should always make sure that you jot down the sources you have used for your article as you will include these in the annotated bibliography of your article. Take note of the following:
- Title of the source
- Name of author/s
- Year published
- Page number
- Publisher
You can cite these according to your preference or the requirement. It can either be in MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles.
4. Do Not Plagiarize
Never copy phrases and sentences word for word. Instead, understand the information you have gathered and phrase it in your own words. Take note of how you compose your sample statements and phrases. If in any case there is a need for you to copy everything word by word, place these in quotation marks or paraphrase and make sure to properly cite your source.
Outline
Making an outline before you start writing your letter can actually help you organize your thoughts. Here are a few tips that we would like to share with you regarding making an essay outline.
1. How Long Will Your Article Be?
Think about whether you have to reach a certain amount of word count or a certain number of pages. Different types of articles have different requirements, so always make sure that you refer to the type of article that you are writing. You also have to think about how much you would need to write in order to cover your topic and argument appropriately. You may also like summary writing samples.
2. Get to Know Who Will Read Your Article
Take into account who is going to read your article. Think about the interests, expectations, as well as the reading level of your audience. Always match your tone with that of your audience’s as well as the writing style. Remember that for different types of article, you will have different types of approach.
3. Create an Outline
Make sure that you make a simple outline. This will help you have a good breakdown of the sequence of the details that you will be discussing in your article. It will also help to give you an idea whether or not you need to insert a few more subtopics or details in certain parts of your article.
Start Writing Your Article
Now that you have done all the necessary steps in preparing what you will write, it is now time for you to start writing your article. Here are the steps that you need to undertake once you start writing your article.
1. Catchy Introduction
Writing a catchy introduction letter will help to assure that you will be able to catch your audience’s attention and get them hooked on your article. Your introduction will be used by the audience to gauge whether your write-up is worth the read or otherwise.
In order to make your introductions catchy, you can do the following:
- Start with interesting facts about the topic.
- Insert quotes or anecdotes that are related to your topic.
- Make use of statistics.
2. Follow the Outline
Following what you have drafted in your essay outline can help you stay more focused and you will know what you will need to prioritize. This way, your statements or sentences will make more sense and will end up being coherent with each other as your outline will remind you regarding how each subtopic is connected with each other.
However, you may find that while you are writing your article, you write in a way that does not seem to follow the outline. That is okay. Sometimes, there will come a time where you might need to be flexible and change a few aspects of your article.
3. Give Details
Not everyone who will be reading your article will know what your topic is all about. You have to make sure that you explain everything in detail and provide a description of words that may be considered as jargon.
4. Language, Style, Structure, and Tone
When writing your article, you have to be mindful of the tone you are using when constructing your sentences. You have to make sure that you match it with the audience or target readers. Make sure that you have a good idea of who will be reading your article in order to properly match your writing style, structure, and tone with the audience.
The language that you should use should preferably be one that would be easy to understand but is still formal. It should be able to properly give a good idea of what your article is about as a whole. Make sure that every paragraph gets more and more interesting to ensure that the audience will stay hooked. You may also see resume writing samples.
If you find that your sentences tend to be a bit longer, make sure that you chop it into shorter ones to make it easier to read. This way, you will avoid boring your audience.
5. Use Graphs and Illustrations
There will surely be subtopics that are best represented by graphical illustrations. These will serve as supplemental information that will help the reader to understand your main point better. Plus, it would be great to have these in between texts as it is a good break for your eyes. You may include the following in your article:
- Photographs
- Charts
- Graphs
- Infographics
6. Transition Phrases
Using transition phrases will aid the audience read your article in a smooth manner. This means that the start of each paragraph should contain the transition phrases especially if you are highlighting another point.
7. End Strong
When you start strong, you also have to end strong. This will be the part of the article that will be embedded in the minds of your reader. This is where you reiterate the most important points of your topic and argument. Your conclusion is meant to give a new insight into the topic and encourage the reader to find out more about the topic. You can find out more about writing good conclusions by reading How to Write in an Academic Style.
Final Touches
The final touches will be the one that will help make your article ready for publishing or submission. Here are some of the ways of ensuring that your write-ups are in top-notch form.
- Edit. Editing your work can be such a tiring task but you will definitely thank yourself for doing so. By going through your work, you will be able to determine if your topic and what you have written all make sense and are all relevant. Make sure to eliminate any paragraphs that are unrelated or do not seem to be a good fit for the central argument. Eliminate any information that is also contradictory to your main points. Rewrite any sections if you see it to be necessary. You may also like printable writing paper templates.
- Avoid grammatical errors. Ensuring that your article is free from grammatical errors makes it more polished and professional.
- Read your article. Reading your article aloud will help give you the feels as to how your readers will also read it. By reading it aloud, you will also be able to determine which sections or parts will need a few more edits or rearranging. Reading aloud also helps you determine if your arguments make sense and if your statements are coherent with each other.
- Ask someone else to read the article. Show your article to someone else. By someone else, we mean someone who can definitely help you make appropriate improvements to your article. It can be a friend or a teacher who has experience when it comes to the type of article you have written. Print them a copy and ask them to write a few notes and constructive criticism that can help make the article more solid. You may also like speech writing samples.
Scientific Article Writing
Academic Article Writing
Informational Article Writing
How-To Article Writing
We hope that you learned a lot about writing your own article. Basically, when you write an article and whatever type of article it may be, you are able to develop your writing and researching skills more. These developments can also help you have better communication skills. As time passes by, you will find yourself getting better and better at writing. you articles will become more aggressive, persuasive, and unique.
Interested in writing news articles? Check out our article about Newspaper Article Samples.
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