20 STEPS TO WRITING ARTICLES

Muhammad Omar Iftikhar

Daastan Publishing

First Published in Pakistan by Daastan PVT LTD

House # A-41, Madni Street, Lala Rukh, Wah Cantt, Punjab 47040

www.daastan.com

www.meraqissa.com

Text copyrights © Muhammad Omar Iftikhar

Book Design copyright © Anum Ameer

Edited by: Mariam Rizvi

The moral rights of the writer, illustrator and editor have been asserted.

All rights reserved

This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or distributed in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN 978-969-696-730-9

This book is dedicated to all those aspiring writers who want to write and publish their articles in print and digital publications.

May the words be with you, always!

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

IDEA

RESEARCH

TOPIC

HEADING

WORD COUNT

MESSAGE

OUTLINE

ANGLE

BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END

YOUR READERS

SHORT SENTENCES

SHOW, DON’T TELL

READ TO WRITE WELL

CREDIBLE FACTS

PARAGRAPHS

VOCABULARY BUILDING

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

CLARITY

INTRODUCE, INFORM, INSPIRE

REMOVE DISTRACTIONS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

Writing is an art and a way of life. It is a skill that can be learned and enhanced. You should develop your writing skills to effectively share your message by drafting various personal and professional documents. These include cover letters, resumes, applications, e-mails, reports, articles, essays, blogs, news reports, etc.

This book explores twenty ways to write an article. The techniques will provide writers with an overview of how to plan, research and develop their articles.

Best Regards,

Muhammad Omar Iftikhar   

1

IDEA

The idea you create in your mind will help you develop similar ideas. Keep imagining. Keep writing!

Your idea will make or break the article that you want to write. If you have a rut-of-the-mill idea that every newspaper is publishing articles on, then no one will find it interesting. An idea is a sentence you wish to explore. 

Ideas are everywhere, and interestingly, all major ideas are being discussed in print, electronic and digital media or have been discussed in the past. It is not the idea – in the long run – but how you present it that makes the difference. Writers have written a lot about nearly every idea. It is how you present the same idea in your way that makes the difference. 

We all have different perspectives on life. Our views and opinions differ. We may write an article exploring varying perspectives even if the topic is the same. Our idea remains ours to explore the way we want.  

You should read books, novels, and newspapers to come across ideas on which you can write an article. One article that you read may have over five to eight sub-ideas to explore. Your keen observation when reading and absorbing content will help you find new ideas and topics to write about.  

Here are a few suggestions: 

1. Read content in print and digital media. 
2. Write down points that you think are important.
3. Research about those points to expand your learning. 
4. You will learn new words through this practice.
5. Observe your surroundings to find ideas.

2

RESEARCH

Do your research before writing. It serves as a guidepost to help you write effectively.

The word “research” should become a part of your life if you wish to become a writer or a columnist. You need to read and explore facts so you may have content to refer to when writing. 

You must obtain information from multiple sources. In today’s age of fake news and misinformation, you cannot solely rely on the Internet for gathering information. Try reading e-books or physical books that are a correct source of information. 

Your research will help you in the following ways. You will: 

• Learn information to use in your article. 
• Cite sources from where you take the information to add credibility to your article. 
• Explore facts you did not know or the ones that are unknown by the masses in general. 
• Conduct research to ensure that the facts are accurate. Research for facts through various sources (news, books, etc.).

Conducting research before writing an article is akin to ironing your clothes before leaving your home. It is an activity that lets you present your article to the readers in an appealing way. Writing an article on a general topic may not be an issue. However, if your article has details and facts and you write without ascertaining their credibility, then your authority as a writer may be jeopardized.  

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Choose keywords related to your topic. Use these keywords to conduct research for gathering specific data.
2. Keep writing the sources (website addresses, name of author, and book) from where you take information.
3. Sixty percent of research depends on what you want to find and forty percent of it depends on what you want to write. 

3

TOPIC

Choose a topic of your interest. Repeat the process.

Writers and readers often get confused between topic and idea. A topic is a single word that comes to your mind when you think of writing something. For instance, you may want to write about automobiles, planes, or chocolates. These are topics. An idea is a question or a phrase that becomes the basis of your article, such as, ‘what is the history of automobiles?’, ‘how can planes fly?’, ‘facts about chocolates’, etc. 

When we observe closely, we may find several topics surrounding us at any given time. Observation lets us think about topics as questions and phrases. They may come to us while reading, during conversations, or merely through observation. You choose a topic that leads you to construct an idea that eventually facilitates you to write an article, essay, or blog. 

Choose a topic after surveying various print and digital publications. This will guide you in establishing if such topics are being discussed, and if they are, then in what capacity and perspective are they shared.  

Here are a few suggestions:

1. Select a topic that you have information about. 
2. You should be interested in researching the topic. 
3. Read more about the topic before you conduct research. This will also help you if you do not have ample information about the topic.
4. Ascertain that you want to write on the topic.
5. Research the “who, what, when, where, why, and how.” Get to know more about the people, places, and events that are related to the topic. 

4

HEADING

Create a powerful heading every time you write an article.

The heading you choose for your article will make or break the article. It is the first element that the readers come across. The heading should not be a cluster of words but must have seven words or less. Even seven is a large number. Try to keep the heading at five words or less. 

A short heading has an impact on the readers. They do not have to ponder much on the heading and continue reading the article. A heading comprising heavy words may repel the reader.