Friday, January 15, 2010

An Outline For Writing A Short But Informative Freelance Article

Since I started writing professionally, I've encountered a number of clients who have requested different guidelines for writing articles and other content for web purposes.  Sometimes these guidelines have been simple and straightforwards.  Other times, they have involved very complex instructions in order to get the job done according to their specs.  It is one of those things that is a mainstay of the freelance writing business.  It requires a lot of adaptability on the part of the writer.

I wanted to introduce you to simple article writing outline that I was given by a fellow writer to help build my articles around a sound structure.  For many would-be writers or even newbies, the challenge is to funnel those ideas in to an article that reads well and logically.  If you read a lot on the web, you may already know that there are plenty of bad writers producing content out there on a regular basis.  Why not better your chances of getting more work by presenting your clients with competently-written pieces?  With that said, let's look at that outline.


Article Outline

The name of the game here is paragraphs.  I'm giving you an outline that could be used to produce a six-paragraph article that includes useful information about the subject, but doesn't overwhelm the reader, and certainly does not require you to spend hours researching.  The idea is to produce good content but in a short period of time.  Here we go.

Introduction - 4 to 5 sentences

First, you need to start with a general opening sentence that expresses the nature of the topic.  This is followed by a more specific sentence that introduces the exact topic you are writing about.  Sentence three introduces at least four points about the article you will be covering in more detail.  Finally, you end this section by writing a sentence on the purpose of the article.

Body Paragraph 1 - 4 to 5 sentences

Introduce the first article point you mentioned in the introduction.  Elaborate this point for about 2 to 3 sentences, before concluding the discussion of this point in a final sentence.  This last sentence also introduces the point which will be discussed in the second body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 2 - 4 to 5 sentences

Introduce the second article point you mentioned in the introduction.  Elaborate this point for about 2 to 3 sentences, before concluding the discussion of this point in a final sentence.  This last sentence also introduces the point which will be discussed in the third body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 3 - 4 to 5 sentences

Introduce the third article point you mentioned in the introduction.  Elaborate this point for about 2 to 3 sentences, before concluding the discussion of this point in a final sentence.  This last sentence also introduces the point which will be discussed in the fourth body paragraph.

Body Paragraph 4 - 4 to 5 sentences

Introduce the fourth article point you mentioned in the introduction.  Elaborate this point for about 2 to 3 sentences, before concluding the discussion of this point in a final sentence.

Conclusion - 3 to 4 sentences

In this closing section, you will reiterate the general statement about the article topic in light of what you discussed in the body paragraphs.  Then you should hint at other points about the topic that you might not have covered.  Also, you might use other general statements to summarize what you've said in the body of the article.  Then conclude your article with a final sentence that closes based on the purpose of the article.

Let Me Know

Well, that's it.  Now, you have a structure to work with if you need help constructing articles from the ground up.  Obviously, you can play with the model some.  It can be expanded to accommodate more points.  Please let me know what you think about this article.  If you have questions you can either leave comments or contact me via the contact form I've provided.  Thanks again for reading.  Good luck with your writing endeavors.



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