Home
>
Article Writing
>
Stop Struggling and Write Your Article - Part II

Stop Struggling and Write Your Article - Part II

Don't let overwhelm hold you back- follow this expert advice and start writing your promotional article today.

In Part 1, I talked about the importance of planning and structuring your article. Here are three more essential steps to help you make sure your article is ready to go.

4. Avoid clich?s (like the plague). As in, clich?d language, clich?d advice, and clich?d topics. To refresh your memory, a clich? is anything that's over-used, banal, or tired. It's anything we've all heard 1,000 times before and hoped we'd never hear again.

Some typical examples of overworked expressions (and there are thousands):

... bring you up to speed, at the end of the day, since time immemorial, chilled to the bone, a gleam in his eye, her heart leapt into her mouth, a level playing field, when all is said and done, on the same page ...

Clich?d language can be fixed with a good edit. First, determine whether you really need that phrase. If you do, express the concepts in ordinary terms. So, for "see if we're on the same page", substitute "see if we all agree".

Clich?d advice and topics might include:

"Achieve your goals"
"Build the life you want"
"Don't worry, be happy"
"Empower yourself"
and, my personal fave, sent to me in an e-mail newsletter: "Take a bubble bath".

I include in this category any concept that's corny and sentimental, or writing that attempts to express the inexpressible: all those fluttering leaves, vibrant sunsets, and yearning sighs.

It's really tough to write about intense emotions or universal experiences in a way that's original and subtle. Great novelists and poets spend their lives struggling to do this. If you're not careful, it's easy to end up sounding like a 50-cent greeting card.

Fixing clich?d ideas is more challenging than fixing clich?d language. You need to ask tough questions:

"What does this phrase mean? What am I really saying here? What situations illustrate this? What do I want people to get? What value am I adding here?"

Remember that people are looking for straight talk and solutions to problems. Your solutions. They want your ideas, expressed with your urgency and importance.

So don't give your readers hackneyed ideas expressed in stale language. Don't fob them off with a bubble bath, try shoving them into a brisk, eye-opening cold shower instead.

5. Proofread Your article has to be 100% perfect in grammar, spelling and punctuation before the public gets to see it. The public means anyone visiting your Web site, and anyone you submit your article to for feedback or possible publication.

I confess, I did work as a professional proofreader for a time. And when you spend your life looking for missing periods and dots over i's, you tend to get a little demanding. But there's a reason for my concern.

Your article isn't like a casual e-mail that you zap off without reviewing or editing: It's more permanent and public. Your article is you, and people are going to assess your value by how you present it.

Think of it this way. If you're fortunate, hundreds, even thousands of people may read your piece. You're probably hoping to get lots of new clients from this exposure. Posting or submitting your article is, in a sense, like going for a job interview.

Dot your i's, cross your t's. Make sure there are periods at the end of sentences. Make sure you know how to use commas correctly, that you haven't made any common errors (for example, it's instead of its; there instead of their; your instead of you're). Check for missing words; check the spelling of any unusual words.

If you have even the slightest doubt about your English skills, have a professional proofreader or editor review your article. At the very least, give it to a friend to read. Mistakes are very hard to catch in your own work.

6. Be brilliantly unoriginal. Your promotional article is almost guaranteed to fall into one of these five categories:

Sex

Love
Health
Finance
Career

What I want you to understand is that you don't have to have the greatest, most never-thought-of-before idea in the history of the universe before you write your article. In fact, you can't. It's all been done.

That's the unoriginal part.

Yet people are always itching to read, again and again, how they can improve in one of these areas (or about what a terrible time someone else is having in these areas, and thank heaven it's not them this time).

So please, just get over your fear and give us your unique take on the eternal topics. Your unique take - that's the brilliant part.

Brilliant doesn't have to be big. It can be:

a new system for filing papers
the absolute best way to make espresso
the surefire way to find your G-spot or your Z-spot
a strategy for saving money that only an accountant like you would know

We're talking soft innovations that flaunt your particular expertise.

Your brilliance could be in how you package your experiences. Have you been through a messy relationship, learned how to talk better to your teenaged kids, survived a life-threatening illness, started up a successful small business? Chances are, there are people out there just waiting to hear how you did it. This information is gold.

There is brilliance in your own communication style. Are you kind and patient, buzzy and edgy, witty and ironic? Are you more like a kindly grandfather or more like a visionary CEO? Whatever your qualities, be utterly yourself.

Your brilliance can be the simplicity and clarity with which you give your advice-the way you get your idea across so well, it's like we're hearing it for the first time. The way you inspire. The passion with which you speak.

So don't worry that they've heard it all before. Of course they have. But they've never heard it all from you.

About The Author

David Roddis, The Writers' Coach, helps independent professionals write killer marketing copy, promotional articles and information products that attract more clients. Go to http://www.coachdavid.ca/fasttrack1 to join his mailing list and receive a free copy of "12 questions to fast-track your article". For more information, visit http://www.coachdavid.ca/fasttrack1.

bathroom cleaning service Lincolnshire ..

In The News:

The Omoway Omo X features a modular design, obstacle detection and emergency braking, and can drive itself to charging stations, signaling the future of smart urban mobility.

PillTrek, a tiny wireless smart capsule created by Caltech, provides real-time gut health data by detecting electrolytes, metabolites, glucose, hormones, pH levels and temperature.

Learn to spot fake bank text messages with five warning signs of Chase phishing scams, including suspicious links and urgent deadlines designed to steal your account information.

Robot coyotes built on motorized cars reaching 20 mph are being deployed at military airfields as an innovative solution to wildlife threats to aircraft safety.

Explore Google Drive's strengths and weaknesses as a backup solution, including its encryption security, privacy concerns and comparison to dedicated backup tools.

As environmental challenges grow, underwater habitats gain momentum with DEEP's Vanguard, supporting short missions and Sentinel designed for 28-day stays at depth.

The new Urban Eyes safety vest features dual cameras, reflective panels and a wireless remote to deter harassers and provide peace of mind for outdoor workouts.

The $200 billion data broker industry tracks your personal details across websites, posing privacy risks that can be mitigated through data removal services.

UCC Holding has teamed up with COBOD to create desert-inspired, 3D-printed schools in Qatar, featuring dune-like wavy walls impossible with conventional construction.

Darkling beetles equipped with microchip backpacks can be guided through disaster areas using electrical signals, offering a biological solution for search and rescue.

Scammers use number porting to take control of outdated landlines still connected to financial accounts, bypassing two-factor authentication to steal funds while avoiding detection.

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey developed Bitchat, a privacy-focused messaging app that works offline via Bluetooth without requiring email, phone numbers or personal data.

Google is making a push to ensure its AI, Gemini, is tightly integrated with Android systems by granting it access to core apps like WhatsApp, Messages, and Phone.

A new green energy system is set to change how we capture clean power, and it all starts with the ocean. French startup Seaturns has designed technology that taps into the natural motion of the sea.

Cybersecurity researchers are warning that hackers have started exploiting flaws in chatbots to carry out AI phishing attacks.

Google has just made it easier than ever to regain control of your inbox with Gmail's new Manage Subscriptions tool.

Despite the benefits, residential power saver programs come with several potential drawbacks and concerns that have been raised by both customers and experts.

The Blackdot AI tattoo machine is quiet. It's steady. And according to early users, it hurts a lot less.

Attackers have started to exploit the very signals that users assume will keep them safe when it comes to add-ons to improve productivity or entertainment.

Located on Cerro Pachón in Chile, the world's most powerful digital camera is set to transform how we see the universe.

The innovative DQ Tower stands 28 feet tall with 420 square feet of living space, featuring floor-to-ceiling windows and premium amenities in a prefabricated design.

A new mmWave imaging system allows warehouse robots to scan and create 3D models of objects inside sealed containers, potentially revolutionizing shipping processes.

Family fraud endangers seniors when relatives exploit their trust, but removing personal data online and monitoring identity can prevent financial harm to aging parents.

A study analyzing 500,000 customer service interactions shows chatbots struggle with complex issues while human agents excel at matching customer communication styles.

Aigen's Element robot uses solar power and AI to provide farmers with a sustainable alternative to herbicides, working efficiently in cotton and soy fields.

Stop Struggling and Write Your Article - Part II

Article Writing