Article Marketers and Writers - How Do You manage to write short articles

what about turning longer articles into a series? If you can have 2-3 articles that cover different aspects of the same topic rather than one huge article you might get more bang for your buck. Just make sure you number them some how so people know to look for the others.

Just another thought: You may choosing topics that are to general. For example, it would be hard to write a 250-word article on "gardening." Even the topic of "rose gardening" would be easier. Even easier would be a very focused article on one single tip like "Rose gardening: how bone meal can help." That way you can go into detail without getting a very long article.

I like aiming for just above the minimum required by EZA (250 words) because if you keep your article within that limit, your signature shows up above the fold.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you're not going to be able to teach people a whole lot in such a short article, so keep the topics uber-specific - even the rose gardening example above could be narrowed down much more - like rose gardening in warm climates, in pots, or some such thing. The more you narrow it down, the easier it is to make a decent point in a short space. Then of course, you want people to come through to your site for more information. That's where you'll actually teach them something.

In terms of writing fast, I like to follow a template - very simply: short intro (1-2 sentences), 2-3 brief points that back up the main topic (each 2-4 sentences long, with a subtitled headline) and a conclusion paragraph.

When you're brainstorming, think of 3 little subpoints under your topic. Then when you get to writing, you just bomb off something about each point, and boom you're done. You'd be surprised at how quickly you can pump these out once you get used to the idea.

I guess there's two schools of thought with article marketing - volume vs quality. The way I see it, you're never going to dominate all the keywords you need to if you're taking 20-30 mins (most people are more like 40-60 minutes) per article. So I shoot for short articles, almost teasers, then get people back to the site where you can sell them on a product that will properly educate them.

/2cents

What I like to do is write a quick overview of the problem and simply talk to people in a conversational way regarding why they may have the problem. This way I do not actually give them too much information.

If I do this I find I get higher CTR and at the same time I am able to keep it short and entertaining as if I am talking to a friend. I will not go under 350 words though if I can control it.

I think you need to add some personality and some humour to your articles. This is where articles written by human beings trump auto article writers hands down.

Try and write from the heart and don't worry about how long the article is. When you become a bit more experienced you'll learn to write at speed and not worry how long the article is.

Bullets

I think bullet points are really important as we all love to skim through these days. I think with so much distraction on EZA, bullets is the way to go. I struggle to write 250 word articles since there's no way I can pack real interesting content into an article while trying to get across my personality at the same time. Not saying it can't be done. I'm just saying I personally struggle.

Write Fast

The best way to approach your article is to just write at lightening speed with mistakes and the wrong grammer. You then later go back and correct them at the end once it's written. The main point is to get something down in black and white that you can edit later. I'm up at 5.30am and write 4 articles until 6.30am using speed writing techniques (simply getting my thoughts down quickly).

To focus on writing short articles in my opinion is focusing too much on something that isn't that important. Your prospect is looking for valuable info. You offer that info, but incomplete leaving them wanting more.

Depending on the reader, long articles can put people off. When you see a large articles with dozens and dozens of lines it just 'looks like a lot of hard work'.

Short articles that replay the problem, and hint or offer a solution is what you are obviously striving for.

Try writing say three bullet points and then structure your article using those three points. It just sounds to me that you are going into too much detail.

Break it down and then force yourself to write one or two paragraphs on each point.

Yeup, keep Bryans plan in mind and focus on one issue like Justin said you will be golden.

ezinearticles has a word counter when your writing an article to give you an idea of how long your articles are. I use that tool even if im not submitting one to ezinearticles.com...

Think of it ore like you are writing a summary of an article.

Sometimes I'll grab a whole bunch of articles on the same topic and just summarize each one with a sentence or two.

Learn to utilize an outline .. it will make all the difference.

I agree that if you tend to write incredibly long articles, you should break them up into a few articles.

Personally, I just write out an article title and then hammer out an article. It takes me about 15 minutes to write an article. Some end up being a little over 250 words, some end up being over 600 words. I really don't pay much attention to the length. As long as I can pump articles out in a timely manner, that's all that matters to me.

It sounds like Bryan has a great method for writing articles. You might want to follow his advice.

Yep, it comes down to laser focusing. Don't stray. If a tangential idea pops into your head while writing (and it almost always does if you're a good writer), try putting those offshoot ideas into an "idea file." I keep one open (Notepad) on my desktop at all times. When I go on an article writing tear, I end up with a bunch of great ideas for more articles that totally just pop into my head as I'm doing the originals. Honestly, I never run out of article ideas just from this one simple technique. Try it!

John

One of the methods I use is what I call my one question article where I ask a question towards the beginning of the article and answer that question through the article. I also do this with two questions sometimes. This should help you write shorter articles.

I created a free writing tutorial that you can get here!

There are a lot of really great answers here. I write at whatever length my clients determine is best for them but for myself I like to write around 450 words. when I'm feeling organized I'll go ahead and lay out 10 articles at a time.

I start by researching at least three or four questions pertaining to the subject at hand. I like to brainstorm by coming up with titles first. I then research the uniqueness of the titles when I have a good bunch of titles that works for me; I then play with the questions.

Each 450 word article will tend to have three questions laid out in the body of the article. Above them will be my introduction, below them my conclusion.

However you manage to standardize your process; that should be a personal matter. More important than anything, you should standardize the process for yourself in a way that makes you comfortable and willing to sit down and pound out as many articles as your brain will allow. You will get quicker with practice.

Dennis

BAng Bang BANG

Make your bullet points and get out.

Here's a tip...

Pick 5 points you want to make, then write a one paragraph intro and a one paragraph ending.

Then make your ...

*1. Five

*2. Bullet

*3. Points

*4. In a

*5. Row

Done in 350 words - Easy!