SUBMITTED BY:

Mohammad Ismail

HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE

An article:
Is a piece of writing usually
newspaper, magazine or journal

What is
an
article?

intended for publication in a

Is written for a wide audience, so it is essential to attract and retain the readers attention
May include amusing stories, reported speech and descriptions
Can be formal or informal, depending on the target audience
Should be written in an interesting or entertaining manner
Should give opinions and thoughts, as well as facts
Is in a less formal style than a report

An article can:
Describe an experience, event, person or place
Present an opinion or balanced argument
Compare and contrast
Provide information
Offer suggestions
Offer advice

A realistic article should consist of:

1. An eye-catching title which attracts the readers attention and suggests the theme of the
article. (Think about why you read a magazine or newspaper article recently - what made you
read it?) Articles can also have subheadings before each paragraph.
2. An introduction which clearly defines the topic to be covered and keeps the readers
attention.
3. The main body of two to five paragraphs in which the topic is further developed in detail.
4. The conclusion - summarizing the topic or a final opinion, recommendation or comment.

REMEMBER!
Before you begin writing it is important to consider:
Where is the article going to appear - in a newspaper or magazine?

 Who are the intended readers - a specific group such as students or teenagers, or adults in
general?
What is the aim of the article - to advise, suggest, inform, compare and contrast, describe,
etc.
These three points are the deciding factors in the layout of your article, its style, language and
level of formality.
Determine the information you are going to use and organize your ideas carefully into
paragraphs. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence.
The article could be formal, semi-formal or informal, depending on your intended audience.
Use vocabulary and descriptive language appropriate for the article. Linking words and
expressions, and a variety of vocabulary will only improve your work and make it more
interesting.
DO NOT use over-personal or over-emotional language or simplistic vocabulary.
DO NOT talk about
writing for the general
circle of friends. Your
interesting to other
make them amusing, justify them or explain them.

WRITING

yourself. You are

public, not a close
opinions are only
people if you can

title is absolutely necessary when writing an article, and should be a concise summary
of the information which is going to follow in the article. In other words, the main topic
of the article should be stated in the title.

Stimulating the readers interest is also essential - if the title looks uninteresting, why would
anyone read it? There are various ways to achieve this. For example, if you are writing a
description of a place, using adjectives can enhance the attractiveness of the place, before
the reader begins reading the article, e.g. The Tranquility and Peace of an Island that Time
Forgot. If the task involves proposing a solution to a problem or your opinion, and so on, you
can address your audience directly, e.g. What You Need to Do to Be Successful, or use a
question such as Is Learning English Really Necessary Today? for the title. In more formal
articles, it is more common to just summaries the topic in a short statement, e.g. Laughter
Can Improve Our Health. The title should not be too long and should mirror the style of the
article - formal or informal.

o ensure unity in a paragraph, it is necessary to group sentences around a main

idea. This means that it is necessary to begin by finding a theme or Topic Sentence
which sums up the main idea of the whole paragraph. The best position for this
sentence is normally at the beginning of the paragraph, but it need not always be
there. Sometimes there is no Topic Sentence, but only a topic or main idea around which the
paragraph is written. However, it is preferable when writing an article to place the Topic
Sentence at the beginning to help the reader to quickly comprehend the topic of the whole
paragraph and minimize the likelihood of losing the theme altogether.

PLANN

t can now be seen that in order to write a good article you need first to find the theme or
topic sentence which summarizes what you are going to write about, and then make a
plan. This strategy will enable you to write quickly and clearly, help you think of a title
more easily and your work will have cohesion.

Using this method gives the topic sentence of each paragraph and connects it to the other
paragraphs. These topic sentences can be made into one paragraph and then developed to
form a whole article. Conversely, these topic sentences, when taken together, can be used to
cut down the entire article into a one-paragraph summary of the whole piece.

STEP 1: SELECT YOUR TOPIC.

Choose a topic that interests you enough to focus on it for at least a week or two. If your topic is
broad, narrow it. Instead of writing about how to decorate your home, try covering how to
decorate your home in country style on a shoestring budget. Thats more specific and, as such,
easier to tackle.
Then write a rough, rough draft, including everything you can think of. Stay loose, avoid getting
analytical, and enjoy the process of sharing what you know. When youre done, youll have the
bare bones of an article that only you could write. Then put it aside for a while.

STEP 2: ADDRESS YOUR AUDIENCES NEEDS.

Now, come back to your piece. Switch gears and imagine youre the reader of this article. Pick
three words to describe the audience you want to address (e.g., professionals, single men). As this
reader, what questions would you like answered? You might not know the answers yet, but list the
questions anyway; youll find answers in the next step.

STEP 3: RESEARCH.
Research will ground your article in fact. Good details to include with your how-to are:
Statistics
Quotes by well-known people
Definitions
Anecdotes (short, illustrative stories about yourself or someone else)
Quotes and examples from people like the reader or from popular books on the subject
References to other media (film, television, radio)
Helpful tools, resources or products (if many, consider creating a sidebar)
References to local venues or events (if for a regional/local publication).
Collect everything you have gathered and put it in a folder, an electronic document, a notebook or
whatever you like. Dont forget to keep track of sources in case you are later asked by an editor to
verify them. You may want to sift through your research at a separate sitting from gathering it. Or
just go ahead and sprinkle your research in right when you find it. Its a lot like cookingplay
around until you feel you have it just right.

STEP 4: TIGHTEN YOUR DRAFT.

Keeping your audience in mind, write a tighter draft incorporating the new supporting information
youve collected. Sometimes what youve learned in Steps 2 and 3 may compel you to start over
with a completely fresh draft. Or you may just want to revise what you have as you proceed,
retaining a nice conversational tone by directly addressing your audience.
This time when you read your draft, ask yourself: Is it working? Is it too general, too lightweight,
uninteresting, unclear or choppy? If so, comb some of your favorite publications for how-to
articles. What techniques are those writers using that you might employ?

STEP 5: MAKE IT SPECIFIC.

Double-check to see that youve included every pertinent step in the process. How-to articles have
to be thorough. You want your reader to walk away knowing exactly how to make that
Thanksgiving dinner on a shoestring budget, execute that rugby tackle or locate great
accommodations.
If your narrative goes on and on, or off in too many directions, break it down into key points
indicated with subheads (as in this article). Synthesizing complicated information and breaking it
down into steps is especially crucial for online writing, and is also a trend in print.
STEP 6: READ, REVISE, REPEAT.
Read the draft of your how-to article out loud to a supportive friend. Then, ask her a series of
questions: Does she now understand the process? Are there any steps missing? Is there anything
else she would like to know about the subject? Could she do the task herself? With your friends
suggestions in mind, use your best judgment in deciding what changes, if any, need to be made.
Heres a quick list to help you catch errors or omissions:

Did you adequately describe the ingredients/supplies needed in order for the reader to complete
the task?
Did you include all the important steps?
Is the order logical?
Did you use words that indicate sequence: first, next, then?
Did you warn readers of possible pitfalls?
Rewrite, read aloud, rewrite, read aloud, rewrite, find a proofreader and, only when youre satisfied
youve written an effective how-to article, submit your piece to an appropriate publication with a
short cover letter