I wrote my first article after following a writer's advice on how to write articles.
Today I want to share with you few simple steps that you can follow as well to write your first article and send it out to a publisher.
The first thing that you need to know about writing is that you do not need to sound like the CEO of a company to write a good article.
Write as if you were talking to a friend using simple easy to understand language, and write about a topic that you know well.
In other words don't write about cooking if you can't cook.
Try to write rather short easy to understand sentences rather than long running ones.
As you write always remember, your topic shouldn't glorify yourself, but educate others, and keep in mind that what is important about your article is its quality, not so much its quantity.
The content of the article is more important than its length.
I try to keep my articles between 300 and 700 words.
If the subject demands it, however, it's OK to go a little over.
Just use your discernment and you will be fine.
The headline of your article is very important.
If your headline is vague people won't read your article.
It's as simple as that.
Choose a simple and specific title that describes exactly what you wrote about.
At this point you might be thinking: "I don't know what to write about!" Here is a tip for you.
Go to some book websites and search any given subject that you might be familiar with like for example: Tennis, Marketing, Business, Home improvement, gardening, Personal development etc...
the list is infinite.
Choose a subject that interest you or that you may already be pretty familiar with, take ideas from what has already been written and add your own experience and thoughts.
If you just do this, you will have a written piece before you know it.
Make sure you article has an introduction and a conclusion which will make the material clearer and easier to read.
You should first write your article on Microsoft word or something of the kind.
Once you have written your article find a good title that represents the article well, and write a 3 to 5 lines that will let the reader know what your article is about.
Your article should be free of spelling and grammar errors.
Publishers won't accept to publish your article if they find spelling or grammar errors.
So especially if you have a tendency to typo you need to do a few proof readings before you submit your article.
Something that I found efficient for me is not to submit my article the same day I write it.
If you come back to it the next day you will read your article with fresh eyes and any mistake will pop up.
Remember that computer's spell checks correct only some errors not all of them.
I worked for two years as a Legal Assistant and I've got some paralegal training where we were always reminded that computers don't correct differences between words like: Their and there, who's and whose, your and you're, two and too, than and then, and so forth.
Remember also that if you write "article" instead of "articles" sometimes the spell check of your computer will let that go as well Once you are done with your writing you will need to look for formatter's directories to format your article.
Never send an article that is not formatted.
They are a lot of text formatters out there, and you can find them with a simple Google search.
Just type "text formatter" on the search box.
Once you've found one that you like just stick to it so you won't lose any more time than necessary just to format your article.
When you have your formatter page ready just copy your article from your document page, past it on the formatter space and click on format.
Your article will be formatted automatically and you will see your word count, character count and line count.
Once your article is formatted you need to go to a publisher's site like EzineArticles.
com for example.
On the publisher's site go to "submit article" and fill out your information like name, address etc...
for your registration, then you will be asked to fill out the information about your article which is the title, 3 Key words for search engines, a 2-3 lines that will briefly introduce your article, and finally the article itself.
At this time you will need to copy your article from the formatter and past it on the publisher's site.
At the bottom of your article you will be asked to write a presentation of yourself in your author resource box.
This should be used to introduce yourself and what you are achieving.
It should be about 3-4 lines and have your website link.
Now you're done! Just click on "submit article".
If your article is accepted you will receive an email within 2-7 days from the publisher letting you know that your article has been published.
Even though I have been writing most of my life I found article writing to be a rewarding way of sharing my knowledge and I have been enjoying it tremendously for the past year and a half.
So go ahead, follow these simple steps and share your knowledge with others.
You won't regret you did.