Article Writing Tips to Do it Right the First Time

If you are using articles as a marketing tool there are a number of things that you can do to have your article published quickly and have it deliver traffic to your site.

1. Write original content that helps the reader in the area or topic that they are interested and provides value to the reader.

2. Make sure if you are referring the reader to your site with a URL that it actually works and your link is alive.

3. Ensure that you are not just submitting PLR content that has been produced in bulk and putting your own name on it. It should and will be rejected by most article directories and will not be of any benefit to you.

4. Ensure that the content you have in your article is helpful and not just regurgitated facts. Readers are looking for answers to their questions and if they are not satisfied they will move on along away from you quickly. Your articles also may not be accepted in article directories because of their quality.

5. Ensure that you do not stuff your article with keywords and that you keep the keywords you are using down to below 1% density or one keyword for every 100 words in the article.

6. Article Marketing is all about getting people to find out more about you. Remember not to put more than two links in your resource box and that the anchor text is under 3-4 words and uses your main keyword.

7. Prior to planning your article think about what your reader would be searching on and use the keywords and plan to find the specific part of your niche that you can serve best versus a broad keyword. For example if you are writing on cats don't go broad too much but drill down to the "long tail" keyword for example cat litter box behaviour.

If you follow these tips your articles should be approved and accepted faster by article directories such as EzineArticles and you will get the targeted traffic that you are looking for to help you in your endeavours.

I would like to know what questions you have about article marketing. I invite you to visit Article Writing Tips. Let me know and I will email you a link for your free mp3 on Article Marketing Secrets which you can listen to at your leisure.

6 Golden Rules For Fiction Writers

As an aspiring writer of novels you probably come across obstacles in your writing course on a daily basis. That is to be expected. Writing a novel is quite a long process and you are bound to have days when you have writer's block, lack of motivation, and are just feeling generally unproductive. Here are some fiction writing tips and golden rules for writers to get you back on track.

1. Write about subjects that are interesting to you. You may have a grand idea for a novel that you think will make you a millionaire, and in fact that may be the case. However, if it is a subject you have no interest in you are going to have a hard time staying motivated to complete an entire manuscript. If you're writing on a subject which is near and dear to your heart or at least something you are very interested in, you'll find the process of writing much easier. You'll also find you won't have to do as much research.

2. Don't let your mother look over your shoulder. A lot of writers subconsciously censor themselves because they begin to think about all the other people who might read their book should they get published. So instead of freely writing, they end up writing very stilted descriptions with the thought in mind of who is going to be reading it later. You must write without worrying about who will read your book.

3. Join a writer's group. This is important so that you can get constructive criticism that is objective. You may be showing your manuscript to your friends and family, but most of the time they are not going to give you very good criticism. Why? They don't want to hurt your feelings. But you need to hear what people actually think of your writing so that you will have a better chance of selling your work later. It's great to show your unfinished novel to your friends, but in your writers group you will get the best critiques.

4. Develop a thick skin. You must allow people to give you their honest opinion of your work. This is how you can improve. You also need to remember that you will probably get a lot of rejections for your work, and you will need to not take it personally. Learn from these rejections and improve your writing. Editors may sometimes include notes for you and these will be great fiction writing tips that you can apply.

5. Always read. Never stop reading books on writing, books in your genre, as well as a wide variety of other subjects. Become as well read as you possibly can.

6. Take classes. You may think that you already know all there is to know and that a class would only bore you, but you will find golden nuggets of crucial and invaluable information and fiction writing tips in each and every class, sometimes from your instructor and sometimes from other members of the class.

For more fiction writing tips and a step-by-step guide to write your novel, all you have to do is click here!

Learn how you can get your first novel started and finished easily with this step by step guide

A Children's Writer's Guide to Critiquing Manuscripts

If you've just joined or started a critique group for writers but no one seems to know what to do next, maybe this guide and checklist will help. If you aren't in a critique group, you can still use it to critique your own writing.

CRITIQUING MANUSCRIPTS (For Critique Groups)

Begin with some basic procedural guidelines for critiquing:

1) Start with something positive - Point out at least one thing that worked really well in the manuscript.

2) Be specific in your comments and suggestions - For example, saying "I liked your story" is flattering to the writer, but doesn't really mean much. Saying something like, "I felt the dialogue sounded exactly like something two teenagers would say and advanced the plot well" is more specific.

3) Use the checklist (below) - This will help you be more specific in your comments and suggestions. And, if you use the checklist to critique your own writing it will help you recognize weak points in your story before you share your work with anyone.

CHECKLIST FOR CRITIQUING MANUSCRIPTS

I. Character

__ Are my characters well-rounded? Do the major characters have both positive and negative traits?

__ Is my main character someone readers can care about? Does he/she want something important?

__ Have I revealed character through action?

__ Does my main character take action? Or is she too passive?

__ Is each character's voice distinctly his/her own?

__ Have I avoided stereotypes and stock characters?

__ Does my main character solve his/her own problem? Is he or she different in some way from how he or she was at the beginning of the story? (this doesn't always have to happen, but usually it means your story has some depth to it)

II. Point of View

__ Have I stayed with my POV character throughout the story?

__ Would the story be stronger if I switched from third person to first person or vice versa? Would the story be better told from a different character's point of view?

III. Plot

__ What is the basic conflict of my story?

Beginning

__ Do I introduce my characters and the conflict right away? Or do I take too much time revving up? Could I chop off the first paragraph and start with the second?

Middle

__ Have I put complications in the middle that get worse and worse and build to a climax?

__ Does my character have to work to reach his/her goal?

End

__ Does my main character solve his/her own problem?

__ Does the ending grow logically out of the rest of the story?

__ Is my ending satisfying without being predictable?

IV. Language

Description

__ Are my details specific, not generalized?

__ Have I bogged down the action with tedious passages of description? (One way to check this is to see how many "ing" words are used; very many usually means there is too much description)

__ Would that description work better if I wove it gradually into the story rather than presenting it as a block?

__ Have I described with more than one sense (i.e. sight, sound, touch, taste, smell)?

Action

__ Have I used strong and specific verbs and nouns?

__ Have I successfully avoided passive voice?

__ Can I cut out redundancies? Small talk? Clutter? Meaningless qualifiers such as "just" and "very"? Passages that bog down the action? Have I used too many different dialogue tags that attract attention?

Mechanics

__ Are there awkward or confusing sentences or scenes that need to be cleaned up?

__ When I read my story out loud, does the rhythm sound right? Is it choppy? Too wordy? Monotonous?

__ Are my transitions smooth?

__ Have I avoided clichs?

__ Does each sentence sparkle with my own voice? Is that voice strong and credible?

V. Purpose

__ 1. Does each character and action in the story have a definite purpose?

With these specific points to look for when critiquing a children's story, it should be much easier for you and your fellow writers to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each and every manuscript.

For more helpful tips for writers, visit http://www.workingwriterscoach.com and sign up for the mailing list. When you do, you'll receive a free ebook for writers, plus every weekday morning you'll get The Morning Nudge, a few words to motivate and inspire you to get a little writing done.

Visit the National Writing for Children Center at http://www.writingforchildrencenter.com and find out how you can learn to write for kids. Suzanne Lieurance is a fulltime freelance writer, children's author, and founder and director of the National Writing for Children Center.

The Successful Freelance Writer

Back in the old days, it was quite easy to get freelance writing jobs. When our grandparents were still in their teens, they already had jobs at newspapers and magazines. Back then, they were also gutsier and were more resourceful. Perhaps it was because of the urgency during their time that they had no other choice but to excel and do their best.

These days, we have the comfort of technology. Writing does not require you to actually own a pen or a notebook (although other people find such practice more conducive to writing). Modern technologies like the Internet, television and even mobile phones have paved the way for more freelance writing jobs.

But how come only a few seem to have tapped into this new media (especially the internet)? After being in the business for quite some time now, I've come to realize that some people are just not aware. They think it's hard work looking for a gig online. I'm here to correct that notion.

It's not difficult to find writing assignments online and sustain it as long as you find your niche.

Freelance writing jobs start out with you looking for something you're comfortable writing about. At first, you might be given assignments you know next to nothing about. However, don't be dissuaded and give up.

Since you're already online anyway, why not try doing research? Research is a freelance writer's best friend. For example, I was once tasked to write about employee relations. Back then, I had no idea what I could write about. Instead of returning the assignment, I looked around for information and read other articles. Soon, I found myself understanding what it meant and I was able to come up with a great piece.

Freelance writing jobs will expose you to a wide range of topics. However, you will soon find yourself having a greater and easier time writing certain topics. At this stage, you have already found your niche and while you may still keep your old job, you can now begin looking for other opportunities that will focus on the topic of your interest.

There are plenty more tips for freelance writing jobs where this came from. Already unspoken rules, of course, include polishing your grammar and being responsible for your articles. Plagiarism is absolutely a no-no. The Internet might be an endless vast space but it's not that hard to bump into articles every now and then.

Want to earn a 5-figure monthly income through freelance writing jobs? Go to http://www.20daypersuasion.com/5figurewriter.htm and discover how to earn massive amounts of money by becoming a freelance writer

Why to Avoid Free Copywriting

Finding someone reliable to put your website text together can be hard and when you're on a budget it can be even harder. So, free copywriting can sound very tempting in some situations. However, it is important that you not only strive to get quality over quantity and affordability. You also need to be sure that you spend the right amount of time fleshing out the content and the writer who will put it together.

What You Get From Free Copywriting

Free copywriting doesn't pay. It's often poorly executed, or even generated by a machine rather than put together by a seasoned, well trained writer. It might be plagiarized or spun from other content and Google will almost certainly not accept it as a viable addition to your SEO efforts.

So, why do people seek free copywriting? They want to save money of course. But, if you really want to save money in the long run, go the extra mile and pay for quality in your text. It will save you money in advertising and efforts later by boosting organic SEO in the here and now.

What You Get From Paid Copywriting

Paid copywriting is a much better option than free copywriting because it provides you with a few things. First, you can find the writer that you like and interview them to be sure they know what they're doing. Second, you can review their credentials and tell them exactly how to write your text. Finally, you can build your plan and work with them to continually revise it. When you pay someone, they are much more willing to work with you on the final product.

The baseline is this - free copywriting doesn't pay. You need to spend a little to get a little and that will always hold true - no matter how much you want to save.

Read more from Anthony Chatfield and why free copywriting will only cost you more money in the long run by visiting his website at SeattleFreelance.com

Thought Leaders - Using Article Marketing To Entrench Yourself and Your Personal Brand

A "Thought Leader" is someone recognized as an authority in their field of expertise...also known as a visionary. Few people set out to become a "thought leader" or "guru," but there is good reason to not only establish yourself as an expert, but as a higher-level expert or "thought leader" for your market.

How can you become a "thought leader" for your niche or industry?

Besides risk-taking, leading a company that leads an industry, being vocal in your own blog and posting comments on other blogs & top industry forums within your niche... the easy answer to saturate the market is via the use of syndicated articles!

Here's a mini-course on how to get started to build your own "thought leadership" following via submissions of EzineArticles:

QUANTITY: You'll need more than 100 articles to really do this right, and as you approach the 500-1,000 article level, you'll be closer to reaching a saturation point that builds a buzz around your name, your ideas, your articles and your expert opinions.

Could you influence a market with 1 or 2 articles? Nope. Can you do it with 10-50 articles? Perhaps 10 years ago you could. Today's market is very competitive and as such, you need to do more than 'what everyone else does' if you want to stand out and get to the top, especially if you're in a niche that is very popular already.

QUALITY: You want to use your articles to communicate your single-minded focus as the expert of your niche. This means quality articles, very little babble, and 1 or 2 links in the resource box that must reinforce your expertise and personal brand. This is not the time to be an affiliate marketer.

Example: If you want people to take your Digital Photography business seriously, you can't post a Geocities, Tripod, etc. junk URL in your article resource box...but rather, you must post a domain name that you own that further solidifies the unity of your message. Also, leave out domains that you own that have nothing to do with the purpose of the article you're writing.

Note: Quality does not mean high word-count quantity. Best if you keep your word-count in the 250-500 words per article so that you can achieve a high article count. A 500-word article performs the same as a 5,000-word article, so why give the marketplace more than they can absorb in an easy reading? Today's reader "scans" rather than deliberately reading every word of your articles.

CONTROVERSY: Unlike other article writing reasons, when you write to achieve market "thought leadership" status, you must stir up the market by taking some gray issues and make them black and white. This is a good opportunity to take current events and provide your expert analysis and support reasons why certain issues are good or bad for the market, economy, world, etc.

CONSISTENCY: Using article marketing or putting your hundreds of articles into distribution is not a one-shot Charlie routine, but rather it's a drum you begin beating and every week for a few years you pound your article submission drums louder and louder.

It pays to create a burst of submissions (50-250) when you initially start, and then taper off to 10-100 new submissions per month until you reach a market saturation point that you feel puts your voice, your brand, your articles at the front of the pack.

PROMOTION: Once you put your articles into distribution via the various article directories, ezine publishers, and specialty web directories of your niche - the next step is to promote them further by using them to establish credibility as you participate in forums, blog comments, your own blog/online journal, and your email newsletter.

"Thought Leadership" via Syndicated Articles Conclusion:

It is possible to take the net by storm to position yourself as a 'thought leader' via putting hundreds and thousands of your articles into distribution. Within 6-18 months, you can become known as a "thought leader" in your niche if you'll do what no one else is doing and in a volume/quality that no one else had done to date for your niche. There is time and you can do it. Go for it! :-)

About The Author:

Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best quality original articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic http://EzineArticles.com/ expert author community. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links intact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/

(c) Copyright - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

The Moral of the Story

The means of conveying a moral specific theme in a fictional story is termed Moral Fiction. This designation may seem self-explanatory since you most likely grew up with stories that contained a moral lesson. So many classic children's stories were infused with value based story lines it may seem strange to think that is not the primary purpose of storytelling.

Today, however, Moral Fiction is a genre unto itself. Somewhere in an undefined part of literary history, new genres of fiction began to emerge with little claim to a moral objective. Today its clear there is a need for the term Moral Fiction.

With this genre, the story is essentially a creative vehicle whereby a moral lesson can be conveyed to a mass audience. That's not to indicate that Moral Fiction is preachy because it doesn't have to be, in fact, I would suggest it shouldn't be.

Writers need to be careful to remember the story has an ebb and flo that does not respond well to the use of a bully pulpit. If your reader views the story as a tool to bludgeon them with a moral imperative they will stay away from your work - in droves.

Julie Andrews delivers a song for the movie, "Marry Poppins" that is very appropriate when choosing this type of fiction, "A spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down." Too often readers view bad moral fiction as if they were being force-fed vinegar.

Moral fiction is very effective when the author uses the moral lesson as a single thread in a very large tapestry. The trouble often arises when the author views the moral lesson as the tapestry and the story as the thread. In one case it's a compliment to the storyline and in the other it is viewed as moral superiority.

As a writer you seek ways to connect with your reader. In Moral Fiction the goal is to allow the story to be as engaging as possible so the reader doesn't immediately disengage from the storyline because they weren't anticipating a sermon.

For writers who come at their work from a faith perspective it is expected that at least a good portion of the work produced will have a moral theme. Moral Fiction provides an effective vehicle to convey a Christian worldview in the much-loved genre of fiction.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects.

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