Writing for Get Paid To sites will not replace your full time job, but will give you the opportunity to earn a few extra dollars from your home. This is an ideal option for college students, people with children, and those with unusual schedules. Generating a small amount of income can ease the strain on a household budget for small items; it may pay for a tank of gas, food, or contribute in the payment of an unexpected expense. However, getting started writing an article can be a difficult and daunting task.

For each Get Paid To site you write for, read the TOS or Terms of Service. Each site has different guidelines as to what they will accept, the length of the article, rules on prohibited content, how they pay, and if they accept previously published articles or require original content. If you violate the TOS, there is the risk you will be reprimanded or even banned from the site. It is better to err on the side of caution when writing articles and if you have any questions it is better to contact the site and ask them rather than guess.

Starting to write an article is probably the most difficult task out of all the steps you will take. You have to decide what the article is about, what points you want to cover, and how to introduce this information. But how does the process begin?

Choose a Topic

First, you have to decide what the article will be about. If you do not have a specific idea in mind, start with a general topic and work your way to one that is focused. Also, choose something that interests you! Articles become difficult to write when they are about a topic you are attracted to. Choosing popular topics will not work unless you are already interested; if you are not it will clearly show in your writing. Your goal is to engage the audience, entertain them, and/or relay knowledge.

Just Write!

When going through the beginning steps of writing an article use the method that is most comfortable for you. Keep in mind there is no wrong way to write, and articles can be corrected up to and possibly after their submission. One method is to sit with pencil and paper and write ideas as they flow - this may be in the form of keywords, phrases, scribbled notes, or even full sentences. Another method is to sit at a keyboard and type ideas as they flow. Do whatever works for you and your article will be successful.

Start to Form the Article

This is the point in the creation process where the article begins to take shape. Take your notes and put them into article format remembering that it is not and will not be perfect at this stage. The goal is to create a rough draft that will eventually turn into a final copy.

Proofread

Nothing is worse than an article that doesn't make sense. After the rough draft is written it is time for a rewrite. Make sure ideas flow smoothly from one to another, the sentences make sense, and your grammar is correct. Any corrections needed should be made at this point before moving onto the next stage of writing.

Spell Check

Other than a poorly written article the next worst mistake is an article with spelling errors. If it has not been done already, it is time to transfer the article onto the computer and have it do the checking for you. Make sure your mistakes are being replaced with the correct word - the computer may find mistakes but the corrections it chooses may not be right. After this stage is complete, review the article again and verify all the corrections made.

Final Read-Through

Before the publish button is pushed, reread the article one last time. Check for any errors, and if you need to step away from the article before it is reviewed. The most heartbreaking mistake for any writer is finding an error after the article is published and viewable by the public. Some sites will allow you to correct your errors, but most will not. Save yourself the embarrassment - make the article as perfect as you can get it

Publish!

After all that hard work, it is time to publish the article to the Get Paid To site. Most will require that they review your writing before it is posted, which may take a day or two, possibly even a week. That information should be covered in the TOS or FAQ. Shortly after your review, you will receive that extra bit of income you worked so hard for.

Maybe you’ve published a few materials and itching to write some more but you don’t know what to write about. Here are three easy things you can do to help you think about what to write next.

Type Triond

Type the word “Triond” in the explore section. Read all the “tips” on how to succeed or maximize your earnings written on “writinghood.” It will tell you a lot of things about what to write and how to increase your earnings.

Write Down Categories

Look at the “categories” in the Submit Section. Write down categories that you think you might have something to write about. Narrow them down later. Look again about once or twice a month, something you’ve experienced might have changed your inclinations.

Explore or Random Reading

Click on “random” in your Triond toolbar. Any material that will come out might inspire you to write something. If you’re only into writing, click on the photos or videos section and click on any tag that might interest you. You might realize that you will do better in photography than in writing or that you want to do both.

Explore Triond. Click on any tag even if it doesn’t interest you. Chances are any writing topic you will come across will ignite some idea, not necessarily about the topic but maybe about some words or the angle on how a story was written.

They say that a good plan executed today is better than a perfect plan executed several years from now. This is true, and if you have a book inside of you then getting it out on paper won't hurt (much). With this in mind here are some tips to set you on the right track.

Regularity

Write regularly. Through habit and regularity you will condition yourself against writer's block and therefor make steady progress. If you write regularly it is also easier to convince relatives and friends not to disturb you when you are at work. Most importantly of all, it's all too easy to lose the knack of writing, and regularity guards against this.

Smashing through Writer's Block

If you have writer's block, then it is important to write something - immediately. Use Freud's talking cure to help. The infamous (for his wacky ideas) psychologist Sigmund Freud would kick off a free association session with his patient using a keyword. They would have to respond to that word immediately without thinking about it. Whatever word popped into their mind they would say. A session might go like this; “Forbidden,” setting off the patient; “Chocolate, desire, cardinal, tornado, sigh, swing, bat, sky, song...” and so forth. Freud believed that at first the individual's inhibitions would censor inappropriate thoughts (hence words) but as they continued to repeat the chain of thought at such a high speed the self-censorship would subside leaving insight into the patient's subconscious. This stream of consciousness would reveal to him secrets the patient would not ordinarily reveal.

This is very useful for the writer as well. Writer's block is often caused by anxiety about one's writing. We want to write the best that we can, and worrying about it gets in the way. Is this story rubbish? Is it not as good as my usual work? We wonder to ourselves. Such anxiety is unjustified, there's no such thing as perfection anyway. Get a word processor open and then type everything that enters your head in a stream of consciousness style of story, and keep going with that. Do not worry about how good it is. Everything can be fixed later.

Soon you'll find that the block has lifted and that you're enjoying writing again. You can either keep the stream of consciousness section and edit it later, scrap it, or reuse it elsewhere. Most of the time it actually turns out, not only better than expected, but often among your favorite bits.

Let Your Own Stories Inspire You

Somewhere in the world is someone who would love your stories. Where would we be today if Homer, Dante, and H. G. Wells had all kept their writing to themselves? Write short stories and start sending them to publications. This is very difficult, competition is fierce, and rejection letters will seem to be the only mail you get. But it's worth it. Getting a short story published, having that there, being able to leaf through the pages and see your work beside the works of others changes the way you look at yourself and your writing. Being a published writer makes it harder to forget about your novel.

Musical Muse

Give your book a soundtrack. Create a playlist and play that when you are writing your story. Sound is a catalyst and will drift within your mind to spark thoughts and emotions that deepens world, the story and the characters.

Don't Endlessly Rewrite

The end of the first draft is the beginning of your novel. Only once you've got the whole thing out and into existence can you see it in all its messed up glory. Each draft provides an opportunity to see its flaws and chip away at the rough form before you, until you reveal the form that lies within, (much like a sculpture). Herein lies the problem. It is quite possible to write and rewrite endlessly, to go through a thousand versions of the novel, to seek out perfection. When does a painter for example know when the final stroke of his brush has been made and the painting is done? The art of knowing when to stop is as important as putting the work in. Once finished, only rewrite to editorial order.

Join a Writer's Group

A writer's group will help you immeasurably by providing people who are willing to read your work (in exchange for you reading theirs) and offer advice and suggestions as to how it could be improved. Although editors also sometimes offer suggestions, nothing can beat the in-depth advice provided by helpful colleagues in writer's groups. On top of that, fellow authors tend to point out useful websites, books and software. Even just the moral support makes it worth the effort.

Like all things there are good writer's groups and bad writer's groups, and no way to tell them apart except to try a few and make up your own mind.

Inspiration

Where do story ideas come from? Everywhere. Bang two ideas together and see if they spark. Suddenly you might find that spark lighting the flames of your passion. Some authors get their story ideas from reading a newspaper, while others just sit down at the computer and write, experimenting as they go along. Wherever you are in the world, keep an open mind and look around you as a thousand stories unfold. Often just being at the right time and the right place is enough, but don't hang around waiting for inspiration, write every day regardless.

Setting

You would be amazed how many stories are set in the main character's living room. While there is nothing wrong with this, be creative, set your scenes elsewhere. Back row of an abandoned theater, on a train, museums, grand plazas – ask yourself; Where do I go? And then ask yourself; Where would I like to go? In your book you have no time constraints nor budget constraints, use your novel to escape, send your characters places you can only dream of. They'll thank you for it. Conveying a sense of place is extremely important, from that comes everything else. Take care of the setting and the characters have a world to live in, places to see, a whole universe of cause and effect. Suddenly your characters will come alive.

Characterization

As we have already seen, take care of the world and the characters take care of themselves. Avoid clichés though. Does the professor have to be absent minded? All stepmothers surely aren't evil? Do rich girls always have to be shallow? More importantly your characters are people, and therefore they transcend boundaries and mess up easy categorization. Even if one of them is a professor, it doesn't necessarily mean he is absent minded – he could be sharp as a surgical laser or better yet he could be just an ordinary guy. Being a professor doesn't define him, only his actions do.

Read Voraciously

Nothing helps writing more than reading. It is through the words of others that we become inspired by stories and worlds, to look beyond the furthest horizon.

Most Importantly

Never give up. Writing a novel is a fun and rewarding pastime and nothing can beat the satisfaction that comes with getting one finished and out there among readers. With a bit of luck these tips will help. They are off course merely suggestions, take what you find to be valuable and discard the rest. In time you will find ways of working that suit you. So let that novel idea plant itself in your mind and grow through the pages until you have created a world, and spun a story; and someone somewhere will enjoy what you've written.

Your First Steps

To get started, you will need a working internet connection and a notepad, Microsoft Word etc. First head off to Triond , and register a free account. Registering and using Triond is totally free so you don't have to worry about anything. Once you are done, create a free Paypal Account. Paypal is a online money account that is free to make and totally free to use. Triond pays monthly to Paypal so you will need to have a valid Paypal account. Once you have registered at both of these sites, you are ready to start typing.

Write, Write, Write!

You might want to think about a topic for your article. I suggest making a “Top 10” article since they are easy to write and very profitable. Of course, any article can earn you a lot so you don't need to have a top 10 article. Think about and good topic and start typing! When writing your article, to make your article look nicer, try adding some suitable pictures and links to make it easier for the readers. This will get you more views and more of that sweet sweet money.

I Wrote My Article, but it is as Plain as a Piece of White Paper

A good article consists of many pictures and links. Try adding a picture after each paragraph and also add links whenever you mension another site. A good idea is also to try write in a bit of a humoristic way, “The polar bears are white” may sound official but “Those polar bears are so white that it's hard to spot them from the middle of the snow”. This is just an example, use your imagination!

Fantastic Article, Time to Publish!

You have just written your first complete article. Congratulations, from now it will be just smooth sailing. Go to Triond and go submit your article! I suggest you give your article a good description and name. “Police are stupid” sounds like from the mouth of a 7 year old. “Are police actually that smart?” sounds much more interesting and will earn you much more views. The description should describe your article, but remember not to make it too long so that people don't have to spend more time reading the description than your article.

Now in my opinion comes the hard part. You must choose your category. There are many categories but at least I have faced problems finding a suitable category and in choosing the best category (if there are many opinions). Remember to choose carefully, your category will have a great effect on how many views you get.

Last thing are the tags. Many people just fill this with popular words and names like cat, dog, Brad Pitt etc. First put keywords related to your article and then add some other ones like internet or Google. These tags will for sure get you more views. Click the submit button and you are done! Your article will be pending for a few days before it is accepted. If it is not accepted, you will receive information about why it was not accepted and what you need to do in order to get it accepted.

Views

Views are your main income of money. Putting links in various places to your articles are a great way to get more views. Spreading the word out through your friends works too, and posting your articles on various forums will for sure get you many views. Sites like Digg will advertise your article for free, giving you once again, more views.

Social Networking Sites are great way too. Put links to your articles on MySpace or Facebook profile to get more views. Linking your articles together is a good way too, in the end of the article you may put a simple sentence like “Check out my other guides/articles too such as link, link, link”.

Money. Money,  but What Will I Use this For?

Triond pays monthly via Paypal, and you the minimum amount to be paid is 0.50$ USD that is pretty easy to earn. When you get the money, you might want to think about what you will use it for.

Free mmorpgs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) suchs as Runescape and Maple story have payable special items and features that you may pay via paypal. You might want to buy a Runescape membership, or Maple Story NX Cash. This is all easily achievable with the use of Triond.

Thank you for reading, if this article helped you even a little.

This morning that same friend commented that I must be rich due to my postings on Triond. Again, I laughed. Has anyone who posts on a site like Triond ever tried to explain why you do it? If you have ever succeeded in explaining it, please enlighten me.

First of all, does anyone make money off of the Triond's site? Sure, the owners of the site are in this to be nonprofit. Those who established the website did so to make money and they are making it. Writers who contribute to the site receive a penny or two a day on the average. If any of them tell you differently, look for their works under fiction.

I post the things I write on Triond site because I spend time writing them and I want them to be read. Granted they are read by a minimal number of people through posting on Triond, or like websites. Face it none of Trionds posters are well known columnists and none of the sites who post our offerings from Triond are the New York Times.

The truth is, as writers we do it for fun. We all want to make it big and make millions, but the truth is, we have not and we still write because it is in our blood. We post on Triond because we want someone to read our work. I have no idea whether or not the owners of Triond make a living or if it is just a supplemental income, but I do know maintaining a site is work. I for one am thankful for a place, other than some local newspapers which pick up my columns once in a while, to post my writings and keep in practice. When the New York Times calls, I am ready… is that my phone ringing?

So, to the friend who asked the question, does that answer it for you? Oh, please pass along the Triond site to all of my other friends who enjoy reading my columns. Triond executives, do not get excited, if all my friends log on to read my columns this is not going to double the hits to your website. I do not have that many friends and of the friends I have, few of them read my columns. They figure listening to me talk when they see me in person is fulfilling their obligations with respect to my opinions.

These are things that can take hundreds of long pages to fully do. So how does a young eager writer pump out a winning short story? Well, like with all writing it is 10% knowing what to say and 90% knowing how to say it.

Title: The first thing that any judge or reader is going to see is the title. The best way to approach a title is to do it last. Stories are like children they grow with time. As a work is written it takes a life of its own and may grown into something very different then what it was originally meant to be. By waiting till the work is fully complete the author has a far better grasp of what their work even is.

The next step is to play with words. A title should be unexpected yet still related. Sum up the story in one sentence, then cut all but a few of the words, and then arrange them in a bit of a poetic way. That is at least a start. The title should be a poetic, with a small about of rhythm and rhyme. That way the title literally bounces off the judge’s tongue.

Story and Plot: Plot movement in the story is one of the most important things in all works. The challenge of short stories is the limited time to develop a good plot flow. One way to help is to out line the whole story no matter how complex or long. Then pick the single most important event or time in that time line. That is the short story. No one expects the whole story, a short story is just a moment, or a day in time where something interesting happened.

Characters: Like plot, characters take dozens of pages to fully explore. Also like plot there is a way to help make believe characters in a short story without going into their life story. Develop the history of the characters before the story begins down to every detail. The majority of these things will never be know to the reader but the completeness, the reality of the character will come across. There is nothing worse then a predictable and uninteresting character. There is nothing predictable about real people, show that in the characters.

The Ending: An ending to a short story should be unexpected and even sudden. Leave the reader thinking and even a little disturbed. Remember, most judges have to read dozens of works, make yours stick in his head like glue.

In truth, there is no such thing as a bad story. There are just well written stories and poorly written stories. By using simple tactics one can increase the quality of their work greatly, no matter what their content is.

If your typing on you laptop or desktop computer, you indent. When you indent you press the TAB button once at every new paragraph, (trust me, it’s an essential rule to writing). As crazy as this may seem, you do the title last, or at least an idea of it. You must never be afraid to take something out, whether it’s just a sentence or a paragraph, a page, or even a whole chapter! If the new idea is better then the last one, then scratch it out, mostly every beginning idea will eventually be taken out, so don’t be surprised, if you have too, then you have too.

If your writing a paper, then write and rewrite your latest ideas, then make out your first draft, taking every idea and putting it together, just like putting Lego blocks together, it’s not that hard what you get used to it. If your writing a novel, don’t be afraid to put swearing in, if it’s a way for your character or characters express themselves then so be it, you’ll probably rewrite it anyway. Don’t be afraid to put commas, semicolons, periods, question marks, quote symbols, and other signs in, and if your using it a lot, don’t worry, your just connecting your writing. Let me give you the basics of the signs:

• Comma- you could put it as a ‘bridge’ to describe something.
• Semicolon- this could be used to describe something that is a switch in an idea.
• Period- marks flat out, an end of a sentence.
• Question mark- marks a character asking a question, if you just put a period, when a character finishes asking something, it would bore the reader silly, it would be the same old thing, ranking to nothing on the seller’s list.
• Quote symbols- mark what a character is saying, you must always do this, when a character says something that is, make sure you put who said it so the reader doesn’t get confused.

Now the you have a basics on what to do, you could write a second draft, perfecting the aspects of the sentences, take your time, concentrate, if your in a quiet environment the thoughts will come to you faster. I’m not saying that you should always be in a quiet environment in order to write a successful piece, I’m just saying that you’ll think better. Rewrite your piece, the more you rewrite the more you realize your mistakes. Then after, you revise it (rewrite it) making sure there are no mistakes, then if you think it’s done, you may be able to publish it.

In conclusion, I must tell you this, it is a said truth that a writer is never finished, you’ll be always, writing and rewriting your work, if you don’t take my word, then ask a writer, they’ll tell you the same thing. I hope you take this into consideration.                          

Writing about a good topic is always the first step to getting lots of views. If you write an article on your old hamster, then chances are it's not going to get views. But if you write about a controversial topic, such as why you believe 9/11 is all a conspiracy, then chances are it's going to do well.

Use A Simple, Straight To The Point Title

This is always the key to getting people onto your article. If your title is long-winded, and just confuses people, or sounds like its going to be a dull read, then people are not going to check it out. If, on the other hand, it has a very 'normal' title such as: "How To Write An Interesting Article That Will Earn You Money" then it will draw readers in much more easily.

Write About Something That Will Help People

This article helps people to write good articles, and therefore people will look at it to get some help on how they can improve their articles; as well as helping them make their bank balance look better.

Even articles about how to put a shelf together, or how to upgrade the memory in a certain laptop will get views as people who need help putting a shelf together, or upgrading the memory in their laptop will look at it.

Use Good Spelling And Punctuation

Nothing is worse than having an article with spelling and grammar mistakes. An article with a title such as "how 2 put the shelf togever!!" is never going to be read. By anyone.

Use Headers

When writing an article always remember that headers are your friends. Breaking the article down into small, manageable chunks is always a good idea. This article would look horrible if I took aways the headers, and just compressed it into a wall of text. Lots of short paragraphs are also another way to break things down under each header.

Don't Make It Too Long, But Not Too Short Either

It's a difficult line to tread, and it's very much like asking "How long is a piece of string?". Generally I try to make no more than ten points in a single article, but no less than five. Use your own judgement and common sense though, one long point is better than a dozen small worthless ones.

Make It Easy To Read

Try to make your article easy to read. If it can be read by the average person then you are appealing to much wider audience than if you use lots of technical terms. Most people browsing the web looking for something to read are not looking for a dictionary.

Finish Off The Article Nicely

Try to have some final words at the end, such as this, where you thank the reader for reading your article, and where you say that you hope that the article helps them in some way.

Final Words

Thanks for reading this article, now go out there and write some really good articles!

Keep a Journal

Many ideas come when you're least expecting them. Keep a journal or recorder with you at all times so when creativity strikes you are armed and ready. Later when you are at your writing place, go back to what you have recorded and see what ideas come from them.

People Watch

When you are sitting at an airport, restaurant or any place where there are plenty of people, sit and observe what they are doing. What are they saying to each other? What are they wearing? Where are they going? Make up your own stories and lives for the people passing you by. Why does the man who just walked in front of you look as if he's in a hurry? Is he late for something? Keep asking questions, which brings me to...

Why? How? When? Where?

If an idea strikes you, ask questions about everything that has to do with that idea. Even if you don't actually use the answers to some of these questions it's okay because it gets you started and it leads you to what may be more important for your story.

Write What You Know

What do you know about more than anything else? What do you want to inform people of? Did something amazing happen to you sometime in your life? Draw from experience, memory, maybe a book you read or a movie you saw. You can use these experiences as idea starters.

Read, Read, and Read Some More

When you read all sorts of different genres you get ideas from them that you can use towards your proposed genre. You see examples of great writing used in many different forms. Do you like the way one author describes scenes? How can you use that technique for the scene you are working on?

Many or all of these ideas may work for you, the idea is to keep writing. Even if you feel you have nothing worth writing one day take out a journal and start writing about your day, thoughts you had, how events made you feel. Sooner or later one of these remarks will spark an idea for your next piece.

1. Interesting Subject

   The topic of your article has to be interesting. If its on a boring subject no one will want to read it. So write about interesting and entertaining topics or about helpful tips on how to do things.

2. Grammar

   You have to use good grammar. If you use bad grammar the readers will have a hard time reading and understanding your article. It will also make your article look sloppy and unprofessional, and that will turn off many readers.

3. Tags and Title

   Your title has to be interesting and catchy. Your title has to stand out in order for people to read it. With a normal, average the readers will just scan right past your article. Your tags have to be detailed and also wide-ranging. The more tags you have the more likely someone will find your articles. With bad tags no one will be able to find your article.

Follow these three easy steps and it will improve your Triond articles 3 times more. These steps will help you gain more views which leads to more money! On the next article you write put these 3 steps into your article it will be worth it!