This article on the 10 (no, 11… yes, 11) tips for aspiring writers is not written from the catbird seat point of view of the article host or database manager. Rather it is by and from the perspective of an writer who thinks the early misgivings. It is composed particularly for the starting article writer. I have written and presented hundreds of compositions for publication to a horde of article hosts and information managers and still considers article writing my nemesis.
1. Necessity vs Desire:
Writings and Blogs are essential in present day scheme of search engine indexing. Not what the newbie wants to hear. Just think what the Holy Book states, “there has nothing over taken you that is not common to man”. This is absolutely right! Many of us hate article and blog writing at times, and some of us dread the journey to pen and paper (or keyboard as the case may be) all the time. Many a webmaster would call them “a essential evil” as they are not mostly anyone’s best wished house keeping chores.
2. Just Start, It Gets Easier:
First it is sometimes difficult to get a thought or idea and to get started. We know authors who actually get sick thinking about the process. Lighten up. There are a lot to write about, name it: alternative medicine, cancer diseases, true religion, life insurance, playing online poker, cheap insurance. Others may think of even more unusual topics such as penis enlargement and cheap viagra. Once an writer has a starting point and gets passed the introductory thoughts, blogging and article usually works fairly smooth.
The essential thing is that you get rolling. Select a topic you are familiar with and know something about and just start. You will be pleasantly surprised at just how easily ideas flow. Don’t assume everybody knows what you know. They do not. Will Rogers once uttered, “all men are ignorant, just on different subjects”. And this is the truth!
3. Good vs Perfection:
Your old English composition professor is not looking over your shoulder. This paper does not have to be perfect. It doesn’t mean it should not get a point or to say that it does not have to be correct. It does or at least it should be. However, perfection is not the goal and is, in fact, rarely possible. Too much detail and you run the danger of losing your reader on various levels. Too long and
most readers simply don’t have the time or interest to wade through the material regardless of how important it is.
4. Blog Length vs Article Length:
Most article publishers want a minimum of 600 words per article - some will let you slide with four hundred (400) words. Blogs can have a shorter content. Blogs can and maybe should support appropriate photos and embedded links.
Just don’t over do it. Too gaudy or too slow to load and you have wasted your time, ticked off a potential reader, and probably upset a host who can ban you entirely from their service. writings, then again, typically cannot carry these extra touches according to the requirements of most web publishers.
5. Format:
Prepare your article in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. There are a lot of software that does this thing. A search for ‘free ASCII editor’ or for ‘free plain text editors’ will give you a lot of tools to choose from. WordPress is a popular choice. If all else fails Notepad is enough for you to use.
6. Grammar and Spelling:
Run and good spell checker and grammar checker once you have written your article. Microsoft Word works well for these purposes. Just don’t use the MS Word copy for writing of your article. Rather use its corrections to make any necessary rectifications to your copy in plain text. The MS Word copy will work for blogs although other editors are preferred.
Just like the days when you were pushed by teachers, you will find article and blog writing skills become better with time and practice.
7. Publish and Announce:
Once your article is ready you may want to utilize some software to publish and announce it. First do a search for Blog hosts and select those suited to your needs. Register in one or more and publish your blog there. Then search for blog and RSS announcers and utilize them to get your blog known.
Now that you have that out of the way find an article wizard that will post your compositions to free publishers. You can post them one at a time by hand if you are really bored and have absolutely nothing else in life to do. Using an automatic poster you can publish to hundreds of directories in an hour or so. The only way to go.
8. Patience:
Now, have some patience. Here is where you lose control. Many of those who host articles are timely and your compositions will be reviewed in a span of 1 to 2 days. Others may take days and weeks therefore never date an article - a sure way to get rejected.
9. Rejection - “sorry your article has been declined”:
Be prepared for most hosts to reject your articles. Do not take it personally. It usually has little to do with you or your article.
Some databases routinely reject articles for spelling errors when there are none or where there is more than way to spell a word. And, just as in any other endeavor some directories are simply too lazy and get so far behind, the easiest and fastest thing to do (and perhaps the only alternative) is to reject the whole article. You will know who do this over time.
Then there are those who run your writings through the sausage grinder and if they find certain words, regardless of how they are used, your article gets no farther. These are the people who can’t even publish the Bile because it contains words that offend them or their readers. Don’t worry about these folks who are so heavenly minded they are of no earthly use.
Remember, just as in everything else in life, for every rule there is an exception.
10. Always believe, and keep cranking out compositions:
Since most writers, particularly newcomers, prepare only one copy of an article against the advice of most seasoned authors it is important that the newbie keep his chin up - keep the faith. That will be easier as more and more of your articles are accepted and published getting visitors to your website while creating those all essential links to your sites.
It is not essential that every host to accept everything submitted to them. After one or two directories publish your article on any given subject, the search engines tend to penalize you anyway by ignoring additional postings. This is close to spamming and while it could help someone find you, it probably won’t. It is not necessarily, the more the merrier. The additional listings will not step-up your page rankings or links reported by the search engines. It is more significant to get your article published by directories with the highest Google page rank possible.
Now, one Incentive TIP for you: Together with “the rejection slip” will usually come a suggestion on how to “edit” your article and a request that you submit it again. Don’t blow your time. While trying comply with one database manager’s request you could have written a new one where you can get more punch. There will be enough publishers will get your article up so move on and save yourself some time and heartburn.
Each person has an idea or thought at least once a day usually at the untimeliest time. How many of these ideas are lost because you procrastinate? Don’t procrastinate! Go! Write that thought before disappears.
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