Written by: Tatiane Kozijn | Instagram: @tatianekozijn
Most of us have learnt to write at some stage in our lives, one being more naturally talented at it than the other. I personally love reading articles and it intrigues me how some have the ability to captivate me from the beginning until the end while others I stop reading at the second line. People often think that a good story just “happens”, but I can tell you that the opposite is true. Every good story begins with careful planning. Want to know how to keep your readers interested? Continue reading….
1. Main topic
Before you get started, ask yourself what the topic of your article is or what question you want to answer in it. If you have a bit of a creative mind, it’s likely that hundreds of ideas and story lines will pop in your head. However, if you’d write all those thoughts down without structuring the story that you want to tell, you’re guaranteed for a big mess. So first, set the scope of your article.
2. Sub topics
In order to answer or discuss the subject of the main topic, you need sub topics too. I can’t think of a better example than just this. I’m writing a post about how to write a good article, of which one of the sub topics is “sup topics”. See what I’m doing there? Ha. Anyway, you get the point. Sub topics should be seen as helpful and organized tools that evolve around the main topic. Structuring your articles this way makes it easier for the reader to stay engaged and follow your train of thought.
3. Maximum words
The statement “the longer the text, the better it must be” is completely false. Sometimes an article of less than 20 lines can impress a lot more than a story of 400 lines. When you write an article, try keeping in mind who you’re writing for and what question you try to answer at all times. Short and to the point articles keep your readers interested, long unstructured stories won’t.
4. Close to yourself
The difference between an average and a great article in my point of view, has everything to do with how personal you keep it. People like being able to identify themselves with a person. Sometimes it’s hard to make an article very personal because you don’t want to give away too much private details, but at the same time you have to ask yourself: what have you got to lose? We’ve discussed this topic here at the FashionContainer HQ and we both believe that sharing your most personal stories is such a powerful thing to do. It only results in replies from readers showing their empathy and more often than not you find out that you’re not the only one dealing with the issues you’ve just opened up about.
5. Kill your darlings…
If you like to play with words, it’s easy to wander off from your main topic and thus this tip is essential for the people who recognize themselves in this. Sometimes you have to cut out text because it’s simply doesn’t add value, even though it might have emotional value to you. Read over your article several times and re-write or cut-out words where necessary.
6. Subject line!
A good subject line is half the work. This one line of text often determines whether the reader proceeds to read the article or not. A few rules of thumb? Make it catchy, a little provocative or use an imperative.
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