You're itching to show off your infinite store of useless knowledge on Wikipedia. You've invented a squid and peanut butter cocktail and you want to share it with the world. Perhaps you just want to go on a search marketing article writing bender to boost your website's page rank and give those snarky old Internet search engines a little slap behind the ears. Problem is, are you up to it? Are you really going to write a pithy 500-word article? Or are you just going to write 500 words that accomplish little more than crudding up a little further the already crud-crusted Web 2.0 Internet Universe?
Here are two steps toward writing articles that are better, clearer and more engaging.
1. Your lede (lead) is your article's lynchpin.
Some writers prefer lede to lead as it dispenses with any ambiguity. (I will lead her astray by convincing her to drink a gallon of lead paint.) Whichever you choose, make it good. Without a strong, snappy lede your article is doomed to choke on its own tongue and die a meaningless and undignified death.
Your lede should be compelling, something that seizes our eyeballs and makes us say "Wait a second, here's an article that might be worth ingesting." Moreover, your lede should give us a sense of where we're going. Being as concise as you can, dangle something provocative in front of us, something that makes us salivate to read sentence two.
Bad ledes abound. For example: "The suggestion that the typical Internet experience, with respect to not only quality but also substance, is declining owing to a glut of meaningless articles featuring truly lousy writing has been made by some people."
Leding the article this way would be an improvement: "Here lies the Net, killed by bad writing."
2. A good transition helps render a readable article.
So, you came up with a killer lede, followed by two or three sentences that reinforce and expound upon your original premise. We're at the end of paragraph one and off to the races, right? Um, no. An article can't depend solely on its first paragraph any more than a chef can rely upon only her appetizers to satisfy voracious diners expecting a full-course meal. Now you have to entice us into paragraph two and the real meat of your article. We like what you did in paragraph one, and we're willing to tag along further, but only if paragraph two promises flavors similar to paragraph one, but somewhat different and substantially more filling.
For example: Let's say in your lede you write, "Filet mignon beats the hell out of tripe." We like bovine products, so we say, "Aha, tell us more." You write that tripe is cow stomach and rather chewy, while filet is cow tenderloin and, if cooked properly, melts like butter in your mouth. You go on to say that scientific studies show that there is significantly more protein in filet than in tripe. Now what? It's time to take your article's argument to the next level-but don't go too far afield.
For example, this would be a poor paragraph-two transition: "In the U.S., filet eaters vastly outnumber tripe eaters, but in Kenya some people subsist largely on goat's milk."
However, you might try: "Whenever I read a bad lede, I'm reminded of my cousin Darla who resembles a supermodel but has only three teeth and is therefore restricted to a diet consisting solely of pured tripe, which she must suck through a straw."
Consistently applying these 2 keys will markedly improve the quality of your articles.
Here are two steps toward writing articles that are better, clearer and more engaging.
1. Your lede (lead) is your article's lynchpin.
Some writers prefer lede to lead as it dispenses with any ambiguity. (I will lead her astray by convincing her to drink a gallon of lead paint.) Whichever you choose, make it good. Without a strong, snappy lede your article is doomed to choke on its own tongue and die a meaningless and undignified death.
Your lede should be compelling, something that seizes our eyeballs and makes us say "Wait a second, here's an article that might be worth ingesting." Moreover, your lede should give us a sense of where we're going. Being as concise as you can, dangle something provocative in front of us, something that makes us salivate to read sentence two.
Bad ledes abound. For example: "The suggestion that the typical Internet experience, with respect to not only quality but also substance, is declining owing to a glut of meaningless articles featuring truly lousy writing has been made by some people."
Leding the article this way would be an improvement: "Here lies the Net, killed by bad writing."
2. A good transition helps render a readable article.
So, you came up with a killer lede, followed by two or three sentences that reinforce and expound upon your original premise. We're at the end of paragraph one and off to the races, right? Um, no. An article can't depend solely on its first paragraph any more than a chef can rely upon only her appetizers to satisfy voracious diners expecting a full-course meal. Now you have to entice us into paragraph two and the real meat of your article. We like what you did in paragraph one, and we're willing to tag along further, but only if paragraph two promises flavors similar to paragraph one, but somewhat different and substantially more filling.
For example: Let's say in your lede you write, "Filet mignon beats the hell out of tripe." We like bovine products, so we say, "Aha, tell us more." You write that tripe is cow stomach and rather chewy, while filet is cow tenderloin and, if cooked properly, melts like butter in your mouth. You go on to say that scientific studies show that there is significantly more protein in filet than in tripe. Now what? It's time to take your article's argument to the next level-but don't go too far afield.
For example, this would be a poor paragraph-two transition: "In the U.S., filet eaters vastly outnumber tripe eaters, but in Kenya some people subsist largely on goat's milk."
However, you might try: "Whenever I read a bad lede, I'm reminded of my cousin Darla who resembles a supermodel but has only three teeth and is therefore restricted to a diet consisting solely of pured tripe, which she must suck through a straw."
Consistently applying these 2 keys will markedly improve the quality of your articles.
About the Author:
Don't head off on a Vermont SEO campaign without getting all the knowledge you need for success. Learn more about the tools and techniques that should know before to head off oning your Vermont search engine optimization campaign.
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