| |
| |
|
Go Back | About | Contact | Web Design News | |
|
|
|
Do You Have the Characteristics of an Article Writer?
In order to answer the question I've just asked in the title, I decided to interview myself. (Now there's a stretch). After all, I've spent a lot of time reading the instructions of the people who profess to make a lot of money writing and I've spent a lot of money on the written word about writing the word so if I put it all together I should be an expert. Right? So I figured, I'll talk to an expert, someone who has spent a lot of time and money buying the writing of people like you and me. Me To get my opinion, I made a list of characteristics - things that I feel are important in a writer - and gave myself the task of rating them from 1 (most important) to 7 (least important). Before we go further, I'd like to ask you to perform the same exercise. Just number the following characteristics, the definition will have to your own interpretation, based on your life experiences. Just go ahead and put your number in the space to the right of each characteristic. Love of writing Professionalism Quality of writing Self-Assuredness Self-motivation Talent Writing Style Now to the business at hand. Let's take the list in order and see where it takes us, shall we? "Love of writing"- let's face it writing is not like being a great artist; even the mediocre among us can learn to write and might even be interesting. In fact, that's where talent may be detrimental, if you stop to think about it. Those with writing gifts figure that their ability should some how make writing easy for them - and when they find out, this is not fiction writing, its some plodding writing with much research, rewriting and trying to decide what the facts are. Which is all part of writing a good article, they become disillusioned. Suddenly they realize that something they enjoy as play is really going to be work. You can be a writer without talent. But without the desire, every word you write will come hard and leaden. You won't last or turn out articles that will be read. The desire to write, the "Love of Writing", I felt was number 4. There are those that think I have forgotten something and of course when you think about it they maybe right, does anyone care if you like what you are doing? Fact is a lot of people have jobs they don't care for but most manage to do a reasonable job despite not "loving it". "Professionalism" - I've defined "professionalism" as "knowing what you are writing is going to be one hell of a good read". It means that you have done your research, presented them in a professional manner and are ready to stand behind your article. You have presented an article that is of the proper length and of a quality that is above reproach. I rated Professionalism number 1. What did you think? "Quality of Writing" - Quality of writing is what your readers will see of you. Recognizing this, you should realize that if your writings were good your readers would know it. That is what will bring them back for more. If your article doesn't impress your reader, don't spend time wondering what's wrong with the reader. Ninety nine times out of one hundred it is your writing, and only by facing that will get you to the point where people will buy into your point of view. I rated Quality of writing number 2. "Self-assuredness" - When we come right down to it, self-assuredness - as well as the other qualities we discuss, are subject to interpretation of the reader. No one can tell if you're self-assured simply by reading your work, we can however determine that you seem to be. Of course there is no question that self-assured people inspire confidence, in their readers. Perception is paramount and if your reader sees you as someone that will do the right thing, you've got the job. Of course we all can be fooled but remember "Quality of Writing" will out. I rated "Self-Assuredness" number 7. "Self motivation" - Now this is a biggie, because if you have ever set down to write there are many things that will get in the way, getting a cup of coffee, sharpening your pencil, etc. These are all of the things that get in the way of your "motivation". Of course we are talking about enthusiasm mixed with the desire to achieve. Self-motivation is the one key characteristic that can make or break you as a writer. You may think that this kind of enthusiasm is merely naiveté in disguise, but I wouldn't mind having some more of it myself. I rated "Self-motivation" number 6 but maybe it should have been higher. "Talent" - In my opinion talent isn't something you achieve, you can't get it through training or study or even osmosis. You get it naturally - you are born with it. So by default you don't need Talent to become a good article writer because a person with average verbal skills can be trained to write acceptable articles. Maybe you find that statement disturbing, I know I certainly do but it is true, you can learn to be a good writer; of course if you lack talent you must work much harder and differently. I rated "Talent" number 5. "Writing Style" - When writers talk about "Style" its apparent that they view it as something as unique as a finger print, a way of writing that will put their own inimitable stamp on their work. That's not it, actually. Style is simply how you string your words together. It doesn't have to be unique: infact, when it is, it can get in the way: unique gets tiresome. I really don't think style is anything you can intentionally develop - not anymore than you can wish wrinkles on yourself. Nor is it important that your work be encompassed by any such personalizing description. What is important that your writing is a form and logic and propels your reader along and makes the reading just about irresistible. When it reaches the point that the paper you have just typed on tells you what's needed instead of the other way around, you have developed style. I rated "Style" number 3. In conclusion, to answer the question before us, we must analysis the facts we have gathered. Since I interviewed myself for this piece, these conclusions will have to be mine and I am sure you will come up with your own conclusions. I hope we have given you something to think about. I have concluded that you must have professionalism at least as defined by Webster's Dictionary. (Remembering we are not talking fiction.) If you don't know what you are talking about your reader will know. If that is the case why write it down. I further concluded that you must develop a quality and style to your writing which gives you the confidence to continue. You must love to write or at least feel some joy in putting words on paper or you won't succeed. Then of course it's nice if you have talent and self-motivation, but I don't feel that the lack of these will hinder you from success if you really want to write. William McNutt This article may be freely distributed and reprinted as long as the author's information and web link are included at the bottom of the article. About the Author Bill McNutt is a freelance writer and web designer. Having retired as an Aerospace Engineer after 30 years, he became fascinated with web site design, retirement got boring. He now writes articles about his website contents and adds to his websites. Truck Accessories
MORE RESOURCES:
Writing-Articles - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Incredibly Bad Articles Will Kill Your Credibility I've noticed a disturbing trend recently of articles suggesting that people write articles to send traffic to their websites, and enhance their credibility. In theory, the more articles you write, the more traffic you'll receive, the more credibility you'll have, the more sales you'll make. Stop Struggling and Write Your Article Don't let overwhelm hold you back- follow this expert advice and start writing your promotional article today.As a writing coach, I frequently work with independent professionals who have great ideas for promotional articles, but no idea how to start writing them. How to Write Great Movie Reviews for Your Entertainment Website If you have an entertainment website then you're always looking for fresh, new, fun and interesting material to keep your readers coming back for more. Movie reviews are a great way to do that. Keyword Article Writing: the Key to Your Success! Ready to jump on the keyword article bandwagon? Billions of companies are using keyword articles to gain free exposure on the internet. Whether you're a netpreneur marketing a product or a writer seeking freelance work, odds are you can benefit tremendously from keyword articles. Success Starts with Articles No one can logically argue against the fact that content is king. Web sites that are nothing more than glorified link farms or ad spiels must work harder and invest more money to gain visitors-almost none of them return. How to Get Ideas for an Article? Are you short of ideas? There are times when we are in the mood of writing an article, but suddenly may feel lost without ideas, wondering what do we write about. Does it apply to you?I had many such occasions and found the following simple tips most useful. The Difference Between Article Marketing and Traditional Article Writing Lately, there seems to be some confusion between Article Marketing and regular article writing. People wonder why I would write articles when I'm not getting paid for them. Everything I Needed to Know About Article Writing I Learned from My English Teacher By now you probably understand how important writing for trade publications is to establishing credibility in the home business world.On to the first hurdle: how do you get past that HUGE writers' block? How do you know what to write about, and how do you make it unique, informative and interesting?Remember how you resisted writing those reports in school, insisting that you would never need to know how to do that in "real life"? Welcome to the real world of business writing. How to Write Articles that Sell In order to sell your article must do three things:1. Give value2. Writing Articles For Permanent Traffic Writing articles is possibly the best way to generated free traffic to your site. A short article, submitted to a few places, creates permanent streams of traffic. Article Writing For Fame And Fortune How would you like to have your name and web address spread all over the internet?How would you like to have your web site move up to the first few pages on the major search engines?Actually, it's not as difficult as you may think. It requires some time and effort on your part, however, the rewards can far outweigh the effort that you put in. Write Articles Geared to Your Local Market to Bolster Your Local Search Visibility The Shortest Distance to Your Home Town Enterprise is Over the InternetCombine two dynamite online methods for bringing your business to the attention of buyers - Local Search and widely posted articles you write. Doing both gives you a jump on your local competition, plus additional credibility and exposure to your market. How to Use Articles to Increase Web Site Traffic! A simple technique to increase web site traffic is using articles.Just imagine? Hundreds, even thousands, of theme-related sites having one-way links to your site! What would that do for your web site? Would your page rank increase? How much of an increase in web site traffic do you think you would see?I can tell you from experience that it will blow your mind away. Build Links and Your Brand: Article Marketing Delivers Many online marketers have crowed about the value of writing and publishing articles for branding and credibility. A few have mentioned the effects articles can have on the links to your site and therefore your search engine rankings. Create An Article Reference Box That Calls To Readers There are two primary factors in creating a successfulreference box, also called a bio box, that get the resultsyou want from your Internet-posted articles. The first isadding the right keywords into the language. Promote Easily With The Two-Step Here's a really simple way.. Writers Block - Find an Article Topic in Minutes Anytime Anywhere with These 7 Tips Guaranteed! One question I get asked all the time is how to you get Ideas for your Articles? How can you churn out 5 Articles in a Day? Use these 7 Tips and You too will be able to Churn out Article Topics in Minutes Anytime Anywhere Guaranteed!As you go through your daily routine Article Ideas present themselves all the time you just need to pay more attention to what you do and How You Do It.As an Example Today I was looking over my Web Site Counter to see which keywords Web Surfers were using to Find my Web Page. Jump From Unknown to Widely Quoted in One Week Start by Being QuotableIt's tough to stand out online. With millions of experts andwebsites on the Internet, what are your chances of gettingnoticed? Long odds, certainly. Article Marketing: Free Speech Means Free Plugs for Your Business Article marketing works like this. The majority of webmasters are unwilling to pay for fresh content - so some content distribution websites have positioned themselves as the liason between content writers and content seekers. Theres More Than One Way To Carve This Turkey Although this may sound like a funny metaphor, if you try to focus on the possibilities as they apply to writing a story, an article, a report or almost anything, I think you may gain some helpful insight into your particular approach to this passionate profession.Below are five strategies I consider to be realistic techniques for writers preparing to work on slicing up a wild fowl or that mania called "your writing.
|
ChicagoAnimation's Acquisitions: Market Polls - 1pennyStock.com
Sponsors: Paving | VTL's | Religious Statues
