Much like an art form, writing requires skill and dedication. Contrary to popular belief, writers too visualise their writing before they start writing. If you are looking for some pointers that can help you write better articles, here are a few tips to help you better utilize your writing skills:

Tip 1: The importance of research

Article writing may not require an exceptional imagination, but you should research and understand your topics before you start writing. If the topic you are working on is relatively new, it is vital to carry out extensive research on the topic. If you are quoting people or statistics, make sure you verify the sources before placing quotes in your articles. In a nutshell, before you start writing keep all your research material in one place. It is also important to have a concrete plan on how you want to approach the topic.

Tip 2: The framework

Irrespective of the nature of the article, you should have a framework in mind. If the article is lengthy or complicated, write down the main points on paper and create a brief outline. What differentiates a good writer from an average writer is the writer's ability to present articles as a single coherent piece of writing.

Tip 3: Know your audience

Before you start writing, you should know who is going to be your target audience. If you are writing an article that will be read primarily by doctors, there is no point in trying to keep it simple; doctors are expected to understand articles that use medical jargon. As a rule of thumb, try and keep your articles simple and easy to read (unless you are explicitly asked to use jargon or make the article technical). Similarly, do not use big/difficult words unless you are confident your readers can understand them. A common mistake committed by most amateur writers, is trying to impress their audience by using difficult words. If the reader cannot understand half the words he reads, he will sooner give up reading the article than reach for the dictionary. In a nutshell, it is important to know who will read your articles.

Tip 4: Keep your sentences short

There is nothing grammatically incorrect with using long sentences; however, it pays to keep sentences as short as possible. Break down sentences into smaller, readable chunks, this will ensure the sentences are easier to read and also easy to proofread. Sometimes, it is difficult to avoid using longer sentences (a good example being legal articles that are filled with lengthy legal clauses), in such cases use paragraph spacing to divide the article into smaller more readable sections.

Tip 5: Maintaining focus

If you have trouble staying focused when you are writing longer articles, make sure you have a writing framework ready. It is not always possible to write an article in a single session; if this is the case, pace your writing, if required set yourself a deadline. Making up a deadline will keep you focused and help you concentrate.

Tip 6: Making sense, and the importance of a summary

Even if your grammar, syntax and spelling are perfect, article writing is more than just writing grammatically correct English. As mentioned earlier in the article, it's important to have a game plan. The final goal of an article is to convey a message, do not loose sight of what you are trying to convey to your readers. Irrespective of the nature of your writing, try and conclude your articles with a summary. You don't have to conclude your articles by making the summary obvious, you can use phrases like ?To sum it up? or ?To conclude? to let the reader know you are summarising the article. Technical articles usually demands a separate paragraph be dedicated to the summary of the article.

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