How To Write A How-To Article Like A Boss

With so much great and necessary writing advice across the internet, you have realized that the only way to get noticed is to join the horde. But, what kind of how-to articles are left to write? Every angle seems to have been covered, from how to write to how to be human, and everything in between.

Then lightning strikes, not directly on you, because then you wouldn’t be able to write your how-to article. It strikes next to you — a much safer alternative when you’re trying to have an epiphany.

You will write a how-to about something you know how to do. By George, it’s one of the missing ingredients in the oversaturated market of how-to’s. Except, of course, just a Google search will show you it’s just as eagerly written about as any other how-to article out there. But, you don’t care, you’re going to give your spin on it because it’s a subject near and dear to you. Ish.

What Is A How-To Article, Anyway?

Seriously? You don’t know what a how-to article is? Well, these are guides created by thought leaders or industry professionals that share a step-by-step process to success in whatever subject matter they’re industry professionals or thought leaders in. For real, though. Some of the best out there write how-to articles. Many are helpful, while others are helpful-ish, keeping the actual secret sauce from the recipe, and inevitably leaving the reader wondering how they can reclaim those lost 10 minutes of their life.

When I first started reading stuff on Medium, my entire front page was made up of how-to articles. How to be a better human, how to be a better writer, how to be a better fill in the blank. To the point that I realized I’m just a huge failure, and I need these guides in basically every little nook and cranny of my life.

How-to articles are intended to help the reader solve a problem. That is all.

For Real, What Are The Benefits of Writing A How-To Article?

These articles are meant to be helpful. Period. The trouble is, they can quickly become a black hole and, instead of actually working on the thing we’re reading the how-to articles for, we just end up reading more and more how-to articles until we forgot what it was we wanted to write about in the first place. I don’t know about you but, I get an idea to write something, and forget to write down what my idea was. We all know what happens to those ideas that never get written down. Sigh.

Oh wait, the H2 here is about the benefits of writing a how-to article, not about my memory issues.

There are many benefits to writing a how-to article. The biggest one being that you may actually help some people who are having issues with that subject. You can become their superhero. If you write the article correctly, and in depth, even throwing a few of your secrets into that bullet pointed list.

It also seems as though how-to articles benefit the writer of the how-to article by receiving accolades in the form of claps, comments, and social shares. It’s always nice to feel appreciated. I mean, as much as I love writing for Medium, and other types of platforms, I happen to live for the comments and applause. (No, I don’t get a ton of comments or applause, so I’m only about ? of the way alive).

What Makes Me Think I Can Write A How-To on How-To’s?

I’m a writer. I write a lot of articles all over the internet. Many of them even end up on page one of Google. I get paid to write; it’s my full time job. I also get paid to write on the side, so I’m also a professional freelance writer. I suppose that makes me an industry leader. I just don’t think I’ve ever written about it anywhere, not that I can remember.

Also, I write stuff over on Medium. I think I've made about $26 there in my lifetime.

I know.

Thank you.

How To Do Great How-To’s

The good news is, how-to’s are pretty easy to write. Especially if it’s a subject you know inside and out. Depending on how detailed you want to get, it should only take you 10–15 minutes from start to finish. Not including editing. That could take a few days.

To write one hell of a how-to article, you need to:

• Choose a topic. Preferably write about something you are really knowledgeable in, because readers can sniff out a smelly rat. Bonus if there is a lot that turns up on the topic when you do a Google search, because that’s just more info you can pillage and rewrite. Yes, that does happen. This topic should be a problem someone could potentially face, and your how-to is the best advice EVER to solve said problem.
• Break down the topic into subtopics, and you’ll have how-to articles for days. Or, you can combine all the information into one giant how-to article.
• Before you start writing your article, come up with a killer headline, which could be as simple as The Top X Ways To Wash Your Hair, or I Don’t Start Doing X Without These X Things. Etc. You get the point, I’m sure.
• List out your solution to the problem, step by step. Use bullet points, or numbers. Either way, make these points easily understandable to every type of reader looking to you for advice. My dad always said that when you’re writing, pretend everyone on the planet isn’t real bright, and it’s your job to make them as smart as you on that subject. Or something like that. Anyway, that’s what you want to do with the bullet-pointed part of your list. Explain in detail how to get from point A, not knowing how to do something, to point B, doing that something your reader couldn’t do before reading your article.
• Don’t use confusing language like I do. You want someone to understand what you’re trying to say, not be more confused than when they started researching the subject you’ve written about.
• Maybe, for your how-to article, it will be necessary for you to do the steps yourself. Be prepared: You may have to take pictures to document it to include in your article. I don’t know, that’s up to you.
• Or, you could do some research. Take the advice of other thought leaders and industry professionals, and rewrite all that shit into your own words. Because, you were going to say the same thing anyway, so why fix what ain’t broke? Just don’t plagiarize, because that’s just lazy, rude, and basically illegal.
• Write an intro paragraph. You want to talk about what the problem is and why you’re just the person to come to for advice on the matter. Like I did, up above this list. Underneath all the other rambling I did.
• Edit your words. You could use a site like Hemingway or Grammarly. Or, maybe one of your coworkers is an editor, and she’ll look it over and make it look like a professional thought leader wrote it. Because, we all know the first draft of anything is shit.
• Pick a pretty picture. Well, it doesn’t have to be pretty. But, have a picture, and make sure to include the necessary metadata so Google will know what the picture and article is about. That’s a little SEO trick. You’re welcome.
• Once you’ve gotten your work back from the editor, and your picture is perfect, it’s time to publish to your platform of choice.
• Amplify your how-to article. Tweet it, Instagram it, throw it up on Facebook. And, hopefully, your how-to article will not only help people, but will go viral and picked up by other online outlets. Because hey, that would be cool.

And that’s all you need to do to write a how-to article about anything. I’ve never written a how-to article before. Since I hand-wrote it on a notepad first, and didn’t really do much research to back up any of my bullet-points, I hope I didn’t miss anything. I mean, I am a writer, and I’m pretty sure this is advice I would want if I were researching how to write a how-to article.

But, on the very good chance that I did miss an important point, won’t you please leave your best how-to advice in the comment section?