Article Weblog

Writing articles isn’t as hard as you might think. By knowing what to avoid in your articles, you’re well on your way to creating effective content that grabs and holds a reader’s attention. Here are five common mistakes that can detract from the quality of an otherwise great article and how you can avoid them:

1. Lengthy Paragraphs: Paragraphs that are too long simply don’t capture a reader’s attention the way more compact blocks of text do. Your basic article will normally have a minimum of four paragraphs. The maximum will depend on how long the article is. Try to keep your paragraphs the same average length. Paragraphs that are too long or short detract from the quality of your article. If you notice a block of text that seems unnaturally long, simply split it up.

2. Poor Sentence Construction: While good sentence construction can make an article great, poor sentence construction can have the opposite effect. Sentences should be concise. Avoid run-on sentences that go on longer than they should. On the other end of the spectrum are incomplete sentences. While some articles can accommodate a more casual style, you still want to avoid incomplete sentences because not only are they unprofessional, they can get confusing. Also stay away from unnecessary punctuation. Another mistake in sentence construction is inserting punctuation where it doesn’t belong.

3. Too Much Jargon: Jargon is a word used to describe terms specific to a particular career, hobby, or pursuit that insiders frequently use. For example, there is legal jargon and medical jargon. When writing articles, a little jargon goes a long way. Since many of the people reading your articles want to find out more about a subject and aren’t already experts, keep your word choices general and understandable by all.

4. Misspelled Words: One of the biggest mistakes is that of misspelled words. Spelling errors distract the reader and take away from your status as an expert. With spell check available in every word processing software, there are no excuses. However, spell check can miss certain words or interpret them incorrectly, so be sure to manually scan your article as well.

5. Bad Grammar: Another big mistake is that of bad grammar. These days, some word processing programs come with a grammar check in addition to spell check. As with spelling, perform a manual check of your article to search for poor grammar. By reading over your work and reciting questionable portions aloud, you can easily identify grammar mistakes.

By keeping these five mistakes in mind when you sit down to write your next article, you’re more likely to create an effective piece of writing that gets your message across in the most professional way possible. Regardless of what you’re writing about or how you’re presenting your message, avoiding these five critical errors can increase your success and let your readers know that you mean business!

Jason Waganer is the owner of the “Free Monthly Content” membership site, which provides 100 percent original; keyword targeted free web site content each month. Website owners are encouraged to visit http://www.freemonthlycontent.com today and sign up to start receiving absolutely free web content each month.

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Recently a top notched writer of screenplays and public relations author wrote a hard biting article of half-truths about the online article submission sites popping up on the Internet. In fact she singled out one of the top online article submission sites and slammed it indicating it was flooding the market with amateur articles and making it tough for professional writers to sell their works out to the public?

Well, that is interesting as this top writer writes an ARTICLE to slam article writing for free to make a slanderous accusation about AMATEUR AUTHORS of ARTICLES? Do I sense a sort of hypocrisy here or a tinge of jealousy from this professional attacking writer?

Well, personally this issue does not concern me much, as her comments are not true and therefore irrelevant. Nevertheless she brought up a point of contention worthy of assisting me in my goals to write more articles, as I am the very amateur online article author she is slamming and supposedly preventing her from making money?

And when she attacks online article submission venue and the amateur writers like me, she inadvertently showed her true feelings and inner thoughts of other up and coming writers and attempted to put up a barrier to entry of protectionism, by slandering in an attempt to diminish online article submission sites. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

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‘Tis the season for evaluating the year gone by! Over the next few weeks you’ll see plenty of articles summing up the successes and failures in industries all across the board: television, movies, automobiles, retail. It’s no different for the publishing industry. Already the New York Times has run an article examining publishing’s good, bad and ugly decisions of 2005. There are many tidbits here and there in Publishers Weekly as well. While the overall message can seem daunting for an aspiring author (sales down, even some celebrity books didn’t do well), there are a few choice nuggets you can pluck from the dust and use to energize your publishing process for 2006.

Beware of Mixed Messages

Yes, sales are down. Both the Association of American Publishers and the American Booksellers Association reported a drop of 2 percent in adult hardcover and overall bookstore sales. This continues a trend that’s a few years old. However, the USA’s major bookstore chains (Barnes & Noble, Borders and Books-A-Million) are planning to open about 80 new stores in 2006, ten more than this year. And we’re talking HUGE stores, with the B&N ones topping out at nearly 30,000 sq. ft.!

Obviously, somebody is making enough money to justify these openings. Granted, such stores do sell more than books these days. Music, DVDs and expensive cups of java figure prominently in the sales ledgers. But I don’t see Books-A-Million changing their name to Cups-A-Million! Bottom line: as long as the big guys think it’s profitable to be in the book business, it can be profitable for you to be in the book business.

When Celebrities Fail

It seems like Martha Stewart had a banner year, doesn’t it? She got out of prison, launched a couple of TV shows, made a spectacular return to the cover of her magazine and she wrote a book, The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build, or Manage a Business. Despite her huge successes elsewhere, though, things didn’t turn out so well for that book. The New York Times reports that after Rodale Books signed Ms. Stewart to a $2 million contract and planned a printing of 500,000, the book has sold just 37,000 copies since its October release.

I asked around about this and one editor wondered whether Ms. Stewart had crossed a line into overexposure land. But let’s be clear about this and get the lesson right: this isn’t just about seeing Martha Stewart everywhere and being too tired of her to want to read about her in a book. This is about whether Ms. Stewart had anything left to tell us that we don’t feel we already know.

Understanding this nuance is important because in this time where having a “platform” is the “it” thing, you have to be quite savvy in how you put yourself out there. If you give away all your tips, secrets, strategies, life story, connections, etc., each and every time you’re in front of people, you won’t have anything left for them to look for in a book! Of course this only pertains to non-fiction authors and only for certain subjects. I’m sure Ms. Stewart’s audience, for example, will never tire of getting new recipes and new household tips from her!

Classic Winning Move: Speaking Truth From the Heart

I’m a fiction writer, so it pains me to say it, but right now in the publishing industry non-fiction is king. And the stuff that people want to read includes thoughtful, heartfelt stories and essays from noted voices such as Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking), Jimmy Carter (Our Endangered Values) and Kurt Vonnegut (A Man Without a Country). The lesson here is a simple one: be true to yourself, write what you feel and at some point your audience will find you.

I know that can be hard to believe when it seems you can’t get anyone to read a query letter let alone a manuscript, but this is an industry that rewards persistence. There are many ways to get your story out there and in a few weeks you’ll have a whole new year in which to find the one that’s right for you. The choice is yours. Good luck.

© 2005 Sophfronia Scott

Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is “The Book Sistah” TM. Get her FREE REPORT, “The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published” and her FREE online writing and book publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com

Sophfonia is also author of the bestselling novel, All I Need to Get By. If you liked today’s issue, stay tuned for more because The Book Sistah also offers FREE audio classes, FREE articles, workshops, and other resources to help aspiring authors get published and market their books successfully.

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