Writing: An Art - 5 Tips for Article Writing

Some of our followers on LinkedIn and young readers want to learn and understand the process of writing articles. Here we shall run through some of the basics of writing.  In the age of the internet, article writers who can generate good content in a short time period are in increasingly high demand. However, writing articles or blogging under tight deadlines should not come at the expense of good writing.

Writing a good article requires three basics: 

1. Good language Skill
2. Good content
3. Good technique 

Remember that the language skill is extremely important. One cannot write an essay or an article or a book in broken English or Urdu or in any language of the world for that matter. Writing is an art of playing with words.

What is Article Writing?

Precisely, an article is a written work published in a print/electronic medium. It may be for the purpose of delivering news, researching results, academic analysis, or for teaching others. Usually, an article is a piece of writing that is published in a newspaper or Magazine for guiding a large audience on a particular subject. In this age, we have electronic mediums i.e. Blogs, LinkedIn, Medium etc. The main objective to write an article is to make some changes to the world by presenting facts, stats, or views.

Our suggested key tips for writing a good article are:

1. Let your reader to draw in 

A large opening paragraph at the start of an article is a huge barrier to entry. Your reader has to wade through a large wall of text before determining if the article is really interesting and worth reading. This requires a large effort. Most people won’t bother.

Keep your opening short and punchy. A sentence or two- leading paragraph is an easy buy-in. You can skim it and read it in barely more time than it would take to scroll past.

Start with something short and easy to engage with. Prove to your reader that you’re providing value, then ask them to expend effort.

2. Keep it precise and visually appealing  

In general, shorten everything. How many times have you seen rows and rows of dense paragraphs and lost interest? Be honest. Even after you’ve sold a reader on committing, you can lose them if consumption becomes too much work.

Short paragraphs, on the other hand, are tantalizing. They’re easy. They feel like an accomplishment. You always want to read just one more — your eye gets drawn down the page. So, break your text up. Keep your reader chasing the words from paragraph to paragraph. Pace them. Give them space between ideas.

Balance words with empty spaces — like the breaths between spoken sentences.

Short means strong and precise. When you’re brief, your words aren’t simple and cheapened. They’re potent. Also make your article colorful. Add beautiful and color images. 

3. Stick to the point 

As the old adage says, Kill your darlings. This is a continuation from tip 2, but it deserves its own rule, because it’s important. Just get to the point. Cut out all unnecessary words in a sentence. If a complete sentence doesn’t take you another step closer to making your point, scrap it completely. 

Remember, you have mentally prepared your readers to read your article on a particular subject, not everything in this world can become part of this very article. 

4. Don’t lose the substance  

One of the worst things on any news feed is an article that says nothing. They’re shockingly common. So often people just write fluff. They’re made of words, but there’s no point and no meaning. 

Don’t write content for the sake of writing content. Write content for the sake of conveying meaning and understanding. Tell your reader something. Imagine they ask “why?” in response, and then answer that question.

The world does not need more surface-level going-through-the-motions content. It needs content designed to teach, convey meaning, make people understand.

5. Storytelling  

People love stories. It’s one of the basic truths of humanity — we always respond to a compelling story. Keep this knowledge in your toolbox!

One of the best ways to draw a reader into an article is to bring it to life with human interest. Capture their attention with a recounting of an event, the setting of a stage, the unfolding of a plot.

Stories are a brilliant way to open articles. They’re equally brilliant ways to illustrate a point. Short, simple, to the point, but suddenly your article is human. Avoid dry writing. In the content-oversaturated age of the internet, nobody’s going to read something bland.

Final Message

The final and unstated tip for good writing is practice. Practice, practice, practice. Practicing one’s craft is how one perfects it. Practice until you internalize the form and structure of a good article, and producing them becomes second nature.

Everyone has something interesting to say. You have more to share than you realize — and the world is always in need of meaningful, compelling content that conveys knowledge and helps people understand. Go create some!

Happy Writing!

Learn how sometimes smaller things in our lives make huge impact and you can take some learnings on a personal and professional level by following me on LinkedIn and on our official website. Also follow us on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Medium, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Muhammad Sajwani is the Founder, Managing Director and Principal Consultant at Evolve HR which aims at transforming, enriching and evolving Human Capital of Pakistan. At Evolve HR, him and his team thrives in challenging assumptions that hinder organisational aspirations, by creating innovative solutions that yield maximum impact, scalability & benefit to a wider base of stakeholders. As a Business Coach and Organisational Consultant, Sajwani knows how to combine business insights with people insights to transform organisations and put them on the path to growth.