Article writing is more than just sitting down and writing out your thoughts. In order to get people to keep on reading you have to almost instantly capture their interest. You must get your reader interested enough and curious enough to be able to get your message across to them.

The most important ingredient in putting together an article is creativity. Some people are just naturally very creative, while others go crazy while suffering from a seemingly endless bout of writer’s block. It can be extremely frustrating and aggravating when the words that you are looking for just don’t seem to want to come. But you must learn to relax and let them come.

Writing words that magically transform themselves into an image in the mind of the reader is an art form in and of itself. Your words need to be crisp, clear, and concise. You can use metaphors to help yourself out, but the way an article is woven together word by word and sentence by sentence is how it develops its essence and personality.

You are sitting there and you just can’t seem to get any words to come to mind, what do you do now? Since the beginning of the written word, all writers have faced this situation. There is no perfect or guaranteed answer to the problem of writers block. One secret that I use, as well as a lot of other writers, is to keep a notebook near you at all times and write down any ideas as they come to you. Write down everything you think of, everything you see, and everything you hear that might prove useful. You can use this notebook for future reference when you are in need of an idea.

Another thing that you can try is to simply relax and empty your mind. We all from time to time end up with a head full of life’s little worries. If you are having some sort of problem or difficulty in your life it will make it very hard for you to concentrate and keep focused on what you are trying to do. Every time you sit down to write, take a moment to relax and clear those troubling thoughts from your mind.

The area in which you work is very important and can have a direct effect on the quality of your work. A cluttered workspace can be a distraction and hinder your productivity. This doesn’t mean however that you have to have a sterile and drab work area. Put up some pictures that inspire you. Place some small objects on your desk the bring back those kinds of memories that you just can’t help but smile when you think of them. A peaceful work area will greatly increase your output.

Figure out how you work best

A good place to start is the speed with which you write. Some writers once they get going, the words just fly across the paper. Other writers are much slower and more methodical. You need to find your own pace. Some writers having a never-ending cup of coffee always on the desk, while some have been known to sip on a glass of wine or put away a few beers while they write. There is no right or wrong way, there is only you finding your own way.

And if it all gets to be too much, and no matter how hard you should try the words just won’t come, get up and walk away from it. Take a break, go for a walk, do something that is unusual and will break up your normal routine. Once you have let go of all those little things that are bothering you, the writing process will flow effortlessly.

About the Author

Thomas Alling runs a blog where he writes about how you can make money from blogging. He also writes articles in the internet marketing niche. To read more from Mr. Alling, visit his blog MakeMoneyHelper.com

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Nothing helps set a blog and its author apart and give them the visibility they need more effectively than a unique blogging voice, one that’s easily recognizable in each post you publish. Both general and niche blogs need their style to help them stand out. It’s an easy way to gain loyal fans, authority and reputation.

How exactly can you find your blogging voice and make sure it is recognizable in everything you publish? Here are a few tips:

1. Identify your blogging voice

Each person has their preferences for certain phrases, expressions, ways of building phrases or of presenting arguments. This personal style needs to be inserted into your blog writing and maintained throughout each post. You need to experiment to first come to understand which is your blogging voice, otherwise you’ll just stumble around blindly, picking up influences from who ever you might think is hot and popular at a certain point. It has to be your inner voice, not a fabricated one, as its being genuine will make it easier to maintain. It will be something that comes naturally when you write, not a forced tactic meant at setting you apart that you might overlook when getting into a topic you’re passionate about.

2. Use catchphrases

Everyone recognizes Midnight Caller’s “Good night, America… Wherever you are”. And if you don’t know this one, who on Earth does not immediately associate Bugs Bunny with “What’s up, dock?” or Porky Pig with “That’s all folks!”? They are used in movies, by writers, by radio show hosts. A certain turn and twist of a famous phrase, a typical start to to your posts’ conclusions, a personally developed way of inviting others to comment, an interjection that’s all you, supporting your blogging structure with such catchphrases will make your unique voice and style recognizable to your blog readers. It will become part of your brand.

The secret to a good catchphrase is to choose one that actually fits all and any post you might think of publishing and stay away for overused, cheesy catchphrases. For example, the overused, Pantene invented “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” might not make you seem unique and have the exactly opposite effect, resulting in a rolling-eyes gesture from readers that’s actually bad for your blog. Though that might be good for Kanye West!

3. Get your readers accustomed to receiving something extra from your post

If a catchphrase that fits all your articles is harder to pin down, you can create other writing habits that will later define your unique blogging voice to your audience. Start or end your post with famous quotes or lyrics, book recommendations or a quick roundup of other blogs debating the subject that are relevant to the topic you’re debating.

4. Using themes or blog series

Joanna Paterson over at Confident Writing further defined her unique blogging voice by choosing a theme for each month of blogging. All the posts published in a month would further expand the chosen theme. If you don’t have enough material for a monthly theme, you can choose a weekly theme or have a blog series published each month. State the theme at the end of the month and publish one or two parts each week. Also, try and come up with a unique and appealing name for your series.

5. Create your signature group writing project or award

While there is nothing new or impressive about group writing projects (GWP) or awards per se, creating a unique, signature GWP or system to award others will help readers better identify you and your blog and it will set you apart from the millions of blogs out there. Think of how we immediately connect the “What I learned from...” monthly GWP with Robert Hruzek. Or how the weekly list of new SOB badges says Liz Strauss and Successful-Blog.com to all of us!

And while we’re debating the unique blog topic, you might travel back through the archives and read this post too: What’s behind a unique blog?

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You know me, I always encourage you to experiment, to learn new things, to reinvent yourself, but sometime the wheel doesn’t not need to be reinvented. Sometimes the best thing to do is to learn from the experience and wisdom of our “elders”. Such is the case of today’s blog post. Instead of sharing some of my own tips with you, I’ll leave you in the company of some of the world’s most famous authors and only interpret their teachings in the art of writing.

Easy reading is damn hard writing.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret.
Matthew Arnold

It’s easy to get lost in words and ideas. It’s harder to keep your writing concise and to the point, to make it clear and easy to read. Focus on getting your ideas across, to your readers, in their most natural form. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Matthew Arnold both agree on this.

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.
Richard Bach

If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.
Edgar Rice Burroughs

Writing is a continuous activity. You experiment constantly. You learn and evolve. The more you write, the better the chances to put something good out there. It’s “trial and error” until it becomes “trial and success”.

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
Jack London

It’s something I’ve always preached. Keep your eyes and ears open to the world around you. Look for inspiration in every single thing you read, hear and see. There’s actually no such thing as a “writer’s block”, but rather failure in finding a good starting point.

Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.
Anne McCaffrey

Stories… even simple news have a story behind. Give people a story they can relate to. Give them a story they can understand and let them draw conclusions themselves. Give them the tools and let them build their own result.

The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it.
Ernest Hemingway

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.
Elmore Leonard

Being a good editor is also a must for a good writer. Proof-reading and “shit detecting” as Hemingway calls it are required in order to make sure you get the best possible copy out there. What’s harder to achieve though, is being neutral, looking at your own work from an outsider’s perspective.

The two most engaging powers of an author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new.
Samuel Johnson

When 20 people are writing about the same thing, the only one to “make it” is the one putting it in a new light. There’s no point in doing the same things in the same way. Find your original angle.

What is written without effort is in generally read without pleasure.
Samuel Johnson

And your original angle comes from within your original voice. Put your heart and mind into your writings. Put passion into writing and passion with be reborn into reading.

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How many times did you come across a blog post that seamed to deliver the right information, but the post itself was just too hard to follow? Countless times, I bet.

And so, what seamed like the perfect solution for your searches, easily turns into a nightmare.

Quality content is NOT enough

Writing a good article is obviously not enough to make people read it. There are many things that can be done to attract readers and back links to it. In the past, I wrote a few blog writing tips on how to make your blog post more readable and the proper structure of a blog post. Now, it’s time to take a look at some of the things that you should not do when writing a post.

The traps of WYSIWYG editors

For most people, the WYSIWYG editor (What You See Is What You Get) built in the blogging platform is a great tool, one that easily allows us to style our content in just about any way we want, but this “power” is tricky. Here are a few things you need to take in consideration whenever publishing a new article:

1. Publishing and editing content

Don’t simply copy-paste content in the blog’s editor from any other source that allows styling (MS Word, websites etc). The styling will also be imported and will break your blogs’ overall look and feel. Try passing the text through a basic editor, like notepad first, and apply styling in the blog’s editor after. Another alternative would be writing the article directly in your blog’s editor or using a publishing software like the Windows Live Writer.

Take a quick look at Windows Live Writer in this introductory video:

2. Misusing fonts

If your blog’s theme is using one font-family, you should stick to it when creating or importing content. If you’re not satisfied with it, you should edit the overall style of the theme instead of just using different fonts in blog posts. Adds a lot to a blog’s clean, friendly look. Also, keep in mind to always use web safe fonts. Never mix up fonts, too many colors or font sizes. A proper, easy to read font size is about 11 to 13 points/pixels.

This is not a good thing to do:

3. Acting all emotional

Blogging requires passion. If you don’t have it, you might as well quit. But, when too much passion gets expressed in your blog posts by using smiling faces and all sorts of emoticons, you might just manage to drive a few readers away. I don’t use them, but if you insist on using them, don’t overdo it.

4. Excessive linking

While linking to other blogs is a sign of appreciation, filling your blog post with links is not. It will make your post hard to follow, will probably get skipped by readers (links will not be clicked) and from a SEO point of view, you’ll probably get penalized by search engines for being considered a spammer or content scraper.

5. Embedding different types of media

It’s nice to see a relevant image here and there or a video embedded, but again, overdoing it is simply madness. Of course, if your blog post would be a gallery of photographies from an event, or a tutorial that requires videos and images it’s ok, but even so, you need to place the media in a clean, proper order to make it easier on your readers’ sight.

6. Advertisments

If you’re looking to monetize your blog, having ads showing up in hot areas it’s a must, just don’t place an ad at the end of every paragraph of your post. It’s simply annoying!

Over to you

From a visual point of view, that about covers all the things that drive me away from reading a blog post.
How about you? What similar situations have you encountered while browsing the blogosphere?

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Sometimes, having a great idea to write about can give your blog posts a boots, but most time it’s not enough. In order to establish a good, effective level of communication with your readers you should consider a few essential factors that could improve your writings and clear their path to your readers’ minds.

When blogging on a certain topic, you’ll be automatically considered either a specialist, or an enthusiast. While enthusiasts have more premises to write using a natural tone, specialists tend to overuse industry specific language which could make it hard to spread ideas through a general audience.

In terms of communication, William Butler Yeats – Irish poet and dramatist – said it best:

“Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people.”
William Butler Yeats (1865 – 1939)

We’re talking about your blog, which means it’s about your thoughts, your advice, your skills, but if you don’t manage to get your ideas past the screen, they can be totally brilliant and still won’t get you anywhere.

Get to Know Your Audience

Spend some time learning more about your audience. Read the comments, visit their blogs, and ask questions. By getting to know your readers, you will find it easier to talk to them as they would expect you to.

These days, you have no excuse to say that you don’t know who your readers are, what they think and what the want. With so many free tools waiting to be used, you only have to want to communicate better.

The Value of Website Statistics

Take a look at your statistics:

1. Check out the entrance and exit paths.
2. Analyze the search terms that got your visitors on your blog and see which ones offered a better conversion from visitor to reader.
3. Check your referrers and study their content and audience.
4. Find out which posts are your most popular and most commented.
5. If you’re using Google Analytics, make sure you check you Navigation Summary (on the right side of the page under the “Content” tab)

Statistics can provide a lot of useful information about your readers and their activity on your blog.

One Way Communication Tools

Consider running polls one your blog. Readers love to feel involved, it what makes a group become a community.
WP-Polls is a wonderful and easily customizable WordPress plugin, that you can either include in your sidebar as a widget, or in the content of you blog posts. It’s the one I’m currently using on Blogsessive’s sidebar.

Two Way Communication Tools

Are you using Skribit? Skribit is a great online application that can ease the blogger-reader communication. As they call it, it’s a “social-suggestion” tool that goes in your sidebar just like a widget, allowing your readers to suggest future topics for you to blog about. Of course, you can add your own suggestions and let the readers cast their vote on them.

Alternatively, you can create a series of “Questions and Answers” posts, insuring not only a good communication level between you and your readers, but also gaining a bit of traffic through having people submitting questions by commenting.

Keep You Readers Close and Your Visitors Even Closer

If you’re looking to grow your community, learn how to talk to everyone, including your newcomers. Don’t complicate things, let your ideas speak for themselves, and on this thought, I’ll close with another great quote from the Greek philosopher Epictetus:

“Be concise in your writing and talking, especially when giving instructions to others.”
Epictetus (50-120)

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With the amazing amount of blogs available out there, a question raises naturally. Why do we read some blogs, and not others? Why do we follow certain bloggers and become more active in their comments section? Content, information is definitely one of the key factors, but what is information if it’s not nicely wrapped in a good delivery package?

Think of your articles as if they were products on a shelf. Are you going to pick the cheapest looking? Surely not! That’s also available for bloggers. The way you deliver your message is extremely important and finding the right tone should be a top priority on your list.

Different people have different personalities. Your own style can help you connect with some people, while pushing others away. So, basically the keyword should be: Balance.

Shifting from classic media to blogs

Over the years we’ve seen a migration of readers from classic media like newspapers to blogs. No matter how talented some journalists are, they still have writing guidelines to follow when writing an article in the paper, which means that their own tone will be moderated by the overall publication’s tone. Knowing this, many of them decided to publish additional blogs, where they could express in a more natural way.

This is the advantage that bloggers have over the classic media. We can be ourselves, 100%.

Real life examples to consider

There is obviously a reason why our websites are called personal blogs. Not only because we keep track of things we’ve done, or personal experiences, but also because creating a community around our blogs is like growing a group of friends and acquaintances.

When writing our articles we should always consider our audience, our topics, and most times get personal with our community by letting aside any corporate twaddle that could throw a cold shadow over our postings.

So, how do we do it? Imagine these three real life situations and think about how they apply in your case:

1. You’re in your living room with a group of friends, having a relaxing chatter;
2. You’re in a pub or at a party with a mixed group of friends and people you barely know;
3. You’re in a meeting with people you’ve just met.

What tone do you choose when addressing the audience in each of the above situations?

From where I stand, I believe that the tone you’d go for in the first situation would be perfect for a family blog, or a blog you share mostly with your friends. The third situation can easily be applied to corporate blogs, where a more conservative style is necessary.

The tone for the second situation is the most difficult to find, due to the amount of unknown variables such as interests, characters or adversities. Even so, when blogging you have the advantage of your focused information, which, in most cases, tells enough about your readers’ preferences, and this is where balance comes into play.

From personal experience

Take Blogsessive for example. My posts have a personal touch. I like to talk about how I feel about what other people said, share my opinion on some blogging tips or posts, or publish blog writing tips from my own experience.

Words like “me”, “I” and “you” can be found in each of my posts because they ensure a conversational style. I use a moderate tone in my articles, but as soon as someone decides that a post deserves a comment (which is quite a big step to take), I get more personal and try to use a style that would find an echo with my commenter. Many times, before even posting my comment, I visit my reader’s blog and learn about him: who is he, what does he like, what does he talk about and how does he do it; and I would suggest that you do the same, obviously, based on the amount of time that you have at your disposal.

Hi, my name is Alex and I’m a blogger!

So, basically, finding the right tone is not that hard. It only takes a bit of time to experiment with different styles and approaches, real life situations and deciding based on the reactions.

How about you? What are you blogging about and how did you come up with your perfect tone?

Photo credits to Janet Burgess

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