How to write an article? 5 steps to interesting text
They say that the text format has no place in the modern world . But I don’t think so. First of all, I love texts – I like to create intricate sentences, spin turns and metaphors, joke. I have loved to write since I was a child! She even wrote some kind of “book” in a 24-sheet school notebook about the unfortunate mermaid Laura, who was forced to live on the seashore in search of her meaning in life.
If this is your first time on my channel, let’s get acquainted! My name is Veta , I am an art photographer and a model in fabulous images. On this channel, I talk about my work, teach photography, makeup, make-up and posing to beginners. I also share my discoveries in self-development and psychology, thoughts and ideas.
Secondly, my blog is my psychotherapy and an opportunity to share exciting information with the world, ideas, thoughts, knowledge. I love sharing! I read a lot and consider myself erudite enough to convey complex technical information to the reader in a popular and entertaining way. She is ready to talk about photography for hours until she loses her voice. I also type quite often – until my fingers ache. And last but not least, the blog is my main income and an advertising platform for my creativity.
Is my blog useful? Of course, not everyone, but artists, bloggers, novice photographers and artists, cosplayers and just creative people – no doubt, yes! If a person likes fantasy aesthetics, he finds aesthetic pleasure in my photographs. But my blog has always been, and still is, more text-driven! The photo is just an accompaniment of my thoughts with pictures so that the reader is not bored.
It’s no longer a secret to anyone that the blogger’s earnings depend on the quality of the text, its uniqueness and elaboration, he gets involvement, and then contracts and advertising integrations. I can’t do otherwise – I don’t want to write an illiterate text from simple idleness and for a penny, as many authors do. I value my expertise! Today I will talk about how I create my articles.
1. Preparation for writing (search for keys)
How long? From a few hours to a week or more! In my drafts there are sketches for articles 3-6 months ago! I look for informational reasons everywhere, in comments, news headlines, things around me, in ideas and quotes that excite me. My preparation includes searching and studying the topic , reading books, various literature and watching videos. And no, I do not look for 2-3 articles on other portals and do not deep rewrite them, because these are:
1) at least theft,
2) is perceived by the algorithms as secondary content and does not receive good impressions.
For example, I recently wrote an article for a blog about emotional burnout and my personal experience in this matter. I read a bestseller on this topic for two days, signed up for a webinar and read a couple of scientific articles. Yes, I often write articles, as they say, on my knee in half an hour, when I am on fire with a topic or speak out about sore points. But most often my articles are a long work on form and meaning .
2. Sketches (first text)
My draft notes rarely look like folding text. Usually these are separate phrases or terms in a column, sometimes (always) with errors and typos, even without commas.
A kind of stream of consciousness is my future article . When I listen to a lecture or read a book, after listening, reading or in the moment I write down my “anchors”, as I call them. Or lighthouse ideas, the brightest ones that impressed me or touched my nerves. This is the skeleton of my future article, but not in the form of an ordered system, but rather, like a bag with these individual “bones” in a mess. The reason for me can follow the effect, and then a phrase for the end of the article, a metaphor for the introduction and reasoning for the middle. The order is not important to me, it is important for me to write down the idea so as not to forget to build it into a concise and formalized flow of thoughts. Sometimes (rarely) I sketch as lists. I write up to 10-15 ideas in a column, and only then I choose the brightest ones and paint each one.
3. Structuring
At this stage, I collect the “skeleton” in a logical order. Usually I move through the text from top to bottom, transfer phrases from one group to another, from general to particular and vice versa. Short phrases and words – I paint, supplement, explain, and long ideas and quotes – I simplify. Sometimes I immediately add images if they are meant to be at that moment. Everything so as not to forget to do it later and not to keep it in your head. At this point, I divide the article into paragraphs, chapters and subchapters. Sometimes I shuffle paragraphs if logically it seems to me that they should go in a different order. I want to dilute a serious idea with a ridiculous joke – why not? If I remember an interesting metaphor or catch phrase, I will definitely add it. Humor is a great tool!
4. Simple thoughts
This stage can take me on average about half a day, sometimes more. I am focused on the topic, but I continue to go about my daily activities away from my laptop and notepad. I like to say that at this point I give the article a “breathe” . Sometimes we may forget some obvious detail, and then:
Eureka! And how could I miss it from my field of vision?
Usually I write down the missing things in a diary, notes or messenger on my smartphone (whatever is at hand) on the go, and then I add the missing things at the computer.
5. Editorial, proofreading and publication
The last stage is the final check of the text for errors, speech, semantic and spelling. Still, she graduated from school more than 8 years ago, and at the university she studied biology in depth. I have forgotten many of the rules of the language. Sometimes I check spamming and the amount of water in the text in special text services, look for a tautology (it happens to me), replace duplicate words with synonyms or close ones in meaning.
I try to carry out the final check of the text thoughtfully, if I can, I read aloud . Our brain often sees the last and first letters of a word, automatically completing the middle, so mistakes are easy to miss. Sometimes it becomes very annoying when you miss a ridiculous typo or a very common mistake. Here, too, the online editors of many blogs add fuel to the fire. Underlining errors in red lulls vigilance. You rely too naively on the machine, not considering all the words with special care. The punishment for this, as a rule, is one – the readers are angry, they do not miss the opportunity to insult the author, that for such an illiterate text (one typo) they need to forcibly take away their Russian passport. But we, the authors, are not vindictive people! 😅
After checking the text, I usually place photos between paragraphs (my own, because using someone else’s can get a ban on a platform that respects the rights of authors), I go over the text again, insert hyperlinks to my social networks, other articles on the topic and publish! Sometimes I put an article on delayed publication if I wrote it in advance. In that case, I’m guaranteed to read it again the day before with a fresh look.
Perhaps my algorithm will seem too complicated to someone, but I’m so used to moving from the particular to the general, from facts and terms to their explanation. Perhaps my story will inspire you to try yourself as a blogger or writer!
