Almost anyone can write an article or a blog post, but only
a few can write articles worth reading. The internet is awash with poor-quality
articles that are miswritten, structured terribly, or someone has written just
for the sake of it. Free blogging sites like WordPress and Medium have only exacerbated the situation. Do
not be one of those people; follow these tips to create compelling feature
articles that others want to read.
It is challenging enough to make people click on your
articles in the first place; then, you only have approximately 15 seconds to
grab their attention so that they continue reading what you have written. If
you do not hook them in those opening 15 seconds, they will close the page or
look somewhere else, rendering your article a waste of time and effort. This is
your first tip: decide the purpose of your writing. Is it to entertain, inform,
or persuade someone to act? Once you choose that, think of a way to take notice
of your opening paragraph. Let them know you will teach them something, use an
opinionated or provocative statement like in this article you're reading, or
write something funny.
Know Your Audience and Write For Them
You not only need to know why you are writing something but
who your audience is. The person that wrote the BetUS review page
would use entirely different language, terminology, and accompanying images
than someone penning an article for a financial institution or a renowned
publication like The Lancet. As someone who reads hundreds, if not thousands,
of articles weekly, I see talented writers writing for the wrong audience.
Using overcomplicated words and phrases is the number one problem in this area.
If the reader has to Google the meaning of a word, they have broken away from
your writing and are unlikely to return.
Show People, Don't Just Tell Them
Once you have researched your audience and come up with a great
introduction, it is time to write the body of the article. The body of your
essay makes up the bulk of your writing and is where the exciting facts live.
There is a technique called œShow, don't tell that you should adopt because it
injects much-needed color into your writing. For example, if you were writing
about a soccer game where a player scored, someone telling may write, œKylian
Mbappe scored a great goal. While that is factual, it is dry and dull. Showing
the reader by writing, œKylian Mbappe scored an incredible goal that will live
long in the memory. The Frenchman danced his way around three defenders before
curling a shot beyond the outstretched hand of the goalkeeper, a sublime finish
by a fantastic player. Which would you rather read?
Feel free to be creative in your writing. Give your work a
personal touch by using an anecdote, or keep the reader wanting more and
feeling invested by asking a rhetorical question. Feel free to use hyperbole or
exaggeration to get your point across. Please don't get too carried away with
hyperbole because it loses its effect. Using the Mbappe example above, you may
say something like, œthe fans in the stadium cheered so loudly you could hear
them the length and breadth of France.
Wrapping Everything Up
Your article should end with a conclusion that brings
everything together. Conclusions summarize your stance and ideas and inspire
your readers to take action. In your conclusion, you can write a call to action,
asking or telling your audience to do something. Now you are armed with the
basic knowledge of how to form a stellar article. Are you ready to put what you
have learned into practice?
