Calling out All Writers - What's Your Technique?

Hi Will,

When I write articles for my sites I generally like to make lists to help
my writing along. For example, if I were writing in the "Catch A Cheater"
niche, then I would create a titled list such as: "Different Ways to Catch
a Cheater."

I would then create a bulleted list such as:

-Check your spouse's pockets for phone numbers
-Check your spouse's computer internet history for dating sites
-Listen to your spouse's phone call conversations
-Check your spouse's cell phone for suspicious numbers
-etc.

The next thing I do is use these different bullets as sub-heads for my
articles.

Creating a list such as this with 15 bullets will yield you at least 5 articles
if you use 3 bullets per article. You can create even more if you mix and
match them.

You can drill down even further in your niche and create more lists. Going
off this example you could create a whole new list such as "How to Catch
a Cheating Wife."

I find that keeping these on hand help me to get writing when I am feeling
burned out on writing.

Hope this helps.

Rien

Hey James, no problem.

To expand even further, you can use these lists for different types of
articles.

For example:

"3 Steps To Catching A Cheater"

"5 Top Secret Tips To Nail A Cheating Spouse"

I sometimes use "The Pomodoro Technique" (basically setting a timer and only working while the timer is going, then taking a break.)

Love,
Shannon

The first thing I do is keyword research on the topic. You can get many ideas to write about just from that. I look at an article as a main keyword. 1 article equals 1 main keyword and I pick 3 related keywords from my keyword research to go with that main keyword for the article.

I then open a word document and title it the main keyword and paste the 3 related keywords I am going to use for that article under the title. I will do that for all the articles I am going to write... If I am going to write 10 articles I have 10 documents opened with their main and 3 related keywords... that at least gives me a starting point and helps me to know what I am going to focus on when I do my research.

Then I start researching those main keywords and see what comes up. I will grab snippets of information and paste them into my articles. Sometimes you find information that would suit a different keyword so I add the snippets to whichever keyword document it suits best. At the end of your research you have 10 documents... with the main keyword, 3 related keywords, and snippets of information.

Now you can go back and start writing on what you have on each document. Sometimes I need to go back and search a snippet a little deeper. And doing it this way for me I can leave these documents and go back to them at anytime and all my information is there that I wanted to write about. I don't have to rely on memory for anything.

As far as ebooks go they are just a combination of articles. A 50 page ebook could be 20 articles... write them like they were articles and just make them blend together from one point to the next.

Good Luck... You will find what works best for you through trial and error

I agree - there is such a paucity of truly great content out there that anything outstanding is snapped up for syndication with the resultant long term income benefits.

I think that the key thing here is to have an original voice and to be unafraid to use it. Readers love it because they can smell authenticity and, conversely, sniff out a tired old churned out piece. If readers love it then they buy...and that's half the art of internet marketing: making the connection.

Write as if you were speaking, as if you were telling the story of whatever it is you are writing about out loud. Often, I read back what I've written out loud just to check that it flows. You'll soon hear if it doesn't.

I do a 'quick and dirty' bullet point before I start writing anything and that saves me a ton of time. I also make sure I've done all the research I need so that I can get going and get flowing.

Have the guts to let your voice shine through and you will reap both long and short term rewards. Above all, enjoy yourself. That's just about the most irresistible quality of all - true passion for your subject.

Great points guys and very helpful tips for myself and assumably many others.

Alexa, some excellent points as always, something I really want to highlight is the point you mentioned about writing, quality, lengthy articles which are full of enthusiasm. I think this is definitely the key when wanting to create a business online.

I think those (unfortunately, myself included) who churn out 300 word articles, one after another sometimes miss this point. Honestly & personally, I don't however it's for the sheer fact as you mentioned that you are trading time and effort for money and depending on your financial situation this is sometimes a bigger benefit than having to wait whilst you create a long term business.

However this is not to say, that we should use all our time to produce these smaller less valuable articles which give a small amount of information in exchange for the chance that the reader may click through to our website.

I also just want to highlight that because some people choose to churn out smaller articles, without focusing as much time as others it does not mean to say these articles are of a lower quality.

Thanks for your input Alexa & everybody else

Great post Rien.

I've lost count of the articles, blog posts and even e-books I've written over the years, so your question is very good for me. (It's like someone asking me how I drive my car when I long ago passed the stage where I have to think about it!)

Step by step ... here goes...

1. The keyword research done, it is also my title.
2. Check body posture and comfort - an aching back or strained eyes are no good for writing or creativity!
3. Ask myself three questions:

a) What would I have to believe in order to see X as a problem? (If you're selling something your target market has some kind of problem, right? So if it's weight loss, the belief might be, "No matter what diet I try, I can't seem to lose weight." If it's debt, it might be, "I'm just too old to get a job and my debts are too big for me to manage.)

b) What belief would start to give me hope or get me excited in some way? I want the reader to keep reading, so I'm going to build in some value. The best way to do that is to press an emotional button, ("Hey, this could REALLY work..." and then follow up with something helpful and practical).

In the examples I gave above, I might try: "Losing weight is easy when you have the right mindset ... and I can show you what that is ..." Now it will depend what my offer is. If it's a lose weight by hypnosis course, I'm obviously not going to spoil the farm in the article, but I can wax lyrical about the benefits of hypnosis. On the other hand, if it's a diet program, say, the rest of the article will outline the right positive attitude so now they're "all fitted up" to buy the product.

With debt, I'd talk about adopting the belief that there's always a way - maybe give some anecdotes. Wasn't there an lady in her nineties who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro? Or was it Mt. Fuji? Or I'd talk about practical solutions, e.g. money from the net, depending again on the product or offer I'm aiming at.

c)What external resources could make this happen easily for me? Ta-dah! Now you can write a paragraph that describes a benefit of your offer, and point out that there is such a product! (Surprise) Obviously, then it depends if it's a blog post or article whether it goes in your resource box or as a hyperlink/anchor text.

An e-book works on the same principles, except I'll do about five problem areas surrounding the the target market's issues. There's always a mindset about any issue, (otherwise there'd be some areas of life where everyone fails and others where everyone wins, and that's clearly not the case).

So there's always a chapter (at least), around self esteem and beliefs.

There'll always be dissenters, so a chapter on handling objections is good. (Easy to research on Google).

Which leaves you two or three more chapters on the steps to take to overcome the problem. 2000 to 3000 words on each gives you a 10000 to 15000 word ebook.

Articles take 10 minutes. An ebook chapter is about an hour usually.

Hope that helps!

Cheers
Trevor.

Good points. I think once you get some words down on the screen, writing an article or blog post starts to take on a life of it's own and the ideas seem to just start to flow. Getting started is always the hard part for me.

here is my dilemma. sometimes i sit down and the words will flow. i can go 500+ words non stop and they usually sound good.

then out of no where it's like BAM! my writing comes to a grinding halt.

It's not writers block. I know what I want to write, and I've got plenty of ideas, but for some reason my sentences just don't want to come out right. I can't explain it but ill sit there for 20 mins just trying to get a short paragraph right. On top of that, when I am having one of these "moments" the stuff i write doesn't sound good. Usually if i put it down and come back later things willbe better. I can't be stopping too often, sometimes I need to get work done.

i never had this problem when I was younger but it is like my brain is broken now. I really want to get past this so I am trying to write everyday. I am hoping that if I start writing more this will pass and I can become a productive writer.

Anyone have any advise for getting past this kind of thing??

I have a different twist to it. I only write in fields that I'm so highly interested in that I already have years of research into them. That helps. It's not a shortcut to write in-depth time consuming articles. But what I create sometimes will stay on google one for years for whatever keywords (which I have never stuffed into an article).

I write naturally, and I don't count words. I say what needs to be said and then it's done. Um...when you don't have word or character limits why would you restrict ideas that support your thesis or that would intrigue your readers?

My blogs aren't stuffed full every day, but when I do put something up it is quality and when people get to my site they won't see as much as they might elsewhere, but what they see will be quality.

To me writing isn't something that I'd ever want to shortcut. I still look at it as an art.