Most article writers produce content for the Internet, and Internet readers are notoriously hurried. If your writing fails to grab and retain their attention, you lose your readership within the count of five. Really! The following are six simple rules that help a writer engage their audience and keep them reading.
Expert Writers are Always Avid Readers
Writing is an art. Just imagine being a painter who sees only your own work, or a musician that never listens to others. The talent fades away, or at best, never improves. The same principle of thriving on exposure to other’s work is also true when writing. Reading a wide variety of works, from poetry to articles about article writing, enriches your own skills.
Logical Flow
After grabbing your readers’ attention with a short introductory sentence or two, it is time to get to the meat of the article. Using a logical flow of ideas, you guide your readers carefully from point to point. Use transition words to ensure your readers are following along. Articles should not waste words and go meandering aimlessly from thought to thought. Your readers will abandon the article if they lose sight of the meaning.
Avoid Passive Voice
To keep the article as interesting and meaningful as possible, use active rather than passive voice. Much better to relate how the politician lost the election than tell how the election was lost by the politician.
Your Audience is the Star, Not You
Sometimes an author’s voice is so powerful, it overwhelms the reader with its overbearing presence. The ultimate result is the reader loses sight of the message of the article, the essential information it contained. Instead, they can’t help but hear the author’s “loud” voice in their ear. Don’t be that annoyingly boisterous voice on the TV advertisements. Instead, make your reader become absorbed in your message. Focus on attracting and holding the reader’s attention with a gripping piece of information.
Appropriate Use of Vocabulary
Don’t get tangled up in your vocabulary. Sometimes a flamboyantly turned phrase ends up being a confusing phrase for your reader. I once read an article on article writing that was so filled with metaphors, similes, odd vocabulary and allusions, the information the article meant to convey was entirely lost in its maze of language. Certainly, use a rich vocabulary, but if it sounds incredibly awkward when read aloud, it may not be an effective use of language! Words in articles are meant to convey meaning, not act as puzzles. Save that for your poetry and other creative writing.
Proofread, and then Proofread Again!
Finally, it is time to proofread and edit. It is unusually difficult for many writers to proofread their own work. You know what you meant to say, but your brain has a way of skipping right over mistakes, reading what you intended to say instead. Some people proofread and edit by reading an article from the bottom to the top, sentence by sentence. This helps prevent you from reading solely for the meaning, focusing your thoughts instead on the individual words. Although you know how tricky it is editing your own work, to others, it simply looks like you lack commitment to your writing if you don’t edit to perfection. Use every grammar and spellchecker you have access to in order to facilitate your job.
By Guest Author –Grace Pamer is a work from home mom and the author of www.RomanticFrugalMom.com, one woman’s on going quest to keep romance alive despite modern day time pressures. Check out her love letters for her section if you need help writing a love letter to your nearest and dearest because of a hectic schedule.
