Here are some tips that I think will help new writers. Hopefully they’ll make the writing journey less frightening.

1. Write about things you know first.

   If you start out writing about subjects you know a lot about you will be more comfortable. It’s easier to write on a topic that is close to your heart because you actually believe you know what you are talking about. Writing on topics that you have to research is a little more daunting for new writers. You can get to that after you have a few articles under your belt on subjects you are good at.

2. Use Word or another program that will help with spelling and grammar.

   It is very important that your articles be as professional as you can make them. Everyone makes mistakes. If you find a spelling or grammar error in an article you’ve already had published don’t worry too much over it, just try to prevent the same from happening again.

3. Write often.

   The best way to overcome the fear of writing articles is to write more of them. The more you write the more confidence you’ll have in your abilities, and the better your writing will get.

4. Write for different places.

   Don’t just pick one place and write for them exclusively. Pick at least two or three different places so you can learn about submission guidelines and the different styles of writing they like. It’s best to expand your knowledge of article writing sites so you can eventually make more income with freelance writing.

5. Don’t get discouraged if your articles are rejected.

   This happens to everyone! If an article is rejected by one place, you can submit it to another. Look at the article and see if you can make it better. If the publication offered edits, learn from them.

6. Join writing forums.

   A wonderful writing forum that I’m a part of is the Accentuate Writers Forum. The other writers on the site offer help, encouragement, and guidance. The forum also has leads for paid writing jobs, contest you can enter, and writing tips.

7. Read other author’s works.

   The more articles you read, the better your own writing will get. By reading other people’s work you can see different techniques and styles, common mistakes, and find new ideas.

8. Do not copy anyone else’s work ever.

   It is very important that you comply with copyright and plagiarism rules. Copying another’s work will get you banned from most writing sites.

9. Look around you for article ideas.

   Once you begin writing you’ll find that every trip you make, person you meet, movie you see, or book you read is fodder for an article.

10. Pace yourself.

    While you need to write often, you don’t want to burn out. Writing up to five articles a day is a good place to start.

I hope these tips will help any aspiring writers out there. It is fun to write articles. You get to put your opinion and point of view out for others to see, inform people about information they may not be aware of, and leave your stamp on the world. If you are interested in writing, by all means do it! Take the chance, you won’t be sorry.

1. Hire professional writers.

   A lot of people can write but few can write a well-written piece that is grammatically correct and relevant to the topic. If you create good content for your site, not only will you have presence in the search engines, you will also be considered as a good resource site for quality information. You will become an instant expert. It may be more expensive to hire professional writers, but your site will become known for quality. Check out elance.com

2. Hire professionals in the field or experts on the topic.

   It is good to quote resource persons in your articles. Being experts in the field that you are writing about, they will lend credibility to your piece. But of course, if you can, you should also look into hiring these experts to write the articles themselves. This will be great for the site and also great exposure for them.
   
   OR

3. Do an interview piece.

   Some of your articles can use the interview technique, where you sit down with a known expert in the topic you’re writing for, and simply do a “Q & A” session with them. A little before-hand preparation is called for, but it will be worth it for the valuable information you will receive.

4. Get editors to clean up the articles.

   If you cannot pay good writers to do the job, at least hire an editor who can look at the articles and clean them up for you. Depending on the kind of editing involved, editors may be expensive, but having clean well-written articles will help your site get the credibility that it needs.

5. Photos.

   Articles that are posted on your website will catch more attention if you include pictures or clever use of graphics. Visual representation that accompanies the articles will help cement the concept into your readers minds. Images make the article visually appealing to the site viewers. Unfortunately, most article directories do not allow the use of images, so just use them on your site.

Plan carefully, prepare rigidly and do your research. Article marketing is one of the best methods for increasing your customer-base.

Learning how to write keyword or web content articles that are accepted on the internet is a skill that anyone with a high school diploma can achieve. Compared to technical writing and feature article writing, web content articles are easy.

The general practice of article writing includes researching keywords, writing an informative article, editing, and submitting it. With the large number of websites dedicated to article writing on the internet, a new freelance writer can gain confidence quickly.

Web content and keyword-specific articles can provide a lot of freelance writing income. In fact, you can make them the entire focus of your writing business if you like. There are many markets for them online and they are quick confidence builders because they can be written and submitted fairly quickly.

Instant Gratification

One of the best methods to gain confidence as a freelance writer is to have immediate positive feedback for your articles. Earning money and being told your writing is good will always boost your confidence levels. Web content or article writing usually has a shorter wait period to find out if you are accepted or not. Some publications take months or even a year to get back to you after submitting.

On web article writing websites where you can submit your articles for pay, you will get ratings or page view profits in a short period of time. This will help convince the beginning freelance writer that their writing is worth something.

Moving On

The hardest part of gaining confidence as a freelance writer is moving on to "real" freelance writing jobs. Instead of simply submitting articles to web content sites, you must learn how to query publications or contact those looking for freelance writing work. The first part of getting each freelance writing job can be frightening for the beginning writer.

Take a deep breath. Realize that many people have begun freelance writing careers before, and many more will. Remind yourself of the success you had with your article writing endeavors. Then take the plunge. With every acceptance you get from your queries, your confidence will grow more and more. You will be on your way to a profitable freelance writing career.

Several years ago, we launched a magazine for African women. We took the usual formula-more sex and celebrity articles, spiced with a few home-making tips. On the cover was a picture of a well known TV woman personality whose story was briefly told inside.

A glossy paper with that kind of story mix, we were certain, was the stuff that would pull the circulation of our magazine upward before we could finish counting fingers on our hand. But there was no movement in the readership of the publication.

Frustrated but still optimistic, we again went to the drawing board and reasoned that the cause of our failure was the glaring lack of politics - women politics-in the magazine. We got hold of a photo of the most active and famous woman in local politics and stuck it on top of our magazine. Against the photograph in the inside pages we ran a wonderful and perceptively written analysis on women politics. Again, there was no movement in the readership of our magazine.

It was actually by a combination of chance and sheer determination that we came upon the type of stories that eventually formed the basis of the new formula for our magazine. And our circulation soared.

Here is brief list of the type of stories that we found the African woman wants to read:

1. Self-Improvement

   In this category, we are not talking about grooming-nice hair and nice clothes (although that is welcome spicing). We are talking about serious, psychologically-based articles that analyze human emotions. A typical article would be discussing what negative emotions such as anger and hate do to the human body. A good example would be “Stress: Understand and then cope with it”.

2. Family Issues

   The average African woman values a successful family. In fact when the family is threatened, all else is threatened. She wants an improvement in relations with her husband, children and even immediate relatives. You should tell her not only how to please her husband but also how to bring up her children.

   Many working women feel guilty about “abandoning” their children to the house help as they go to work. They are concerned about the psychological effects this has on their children and how to minimize the effects.

3. Health Issues

   Writing on health in Africa isn't just writing about improved diagnosis of diseases and more effective medicines. The average African woman believes in an all “inclusive treatment”. That is why they flock into churches where preachers have made themselves modern day “diviners” and medicine men. If your article follows the example set by these preachers, you will be on the way to creating a strong and faithful following among African women readers. Many travel far and wide - and spend a good fortune, too - seeking faith healing.
   
   Under health issues, you may want to add contraception and infertility. The later can be surprising in a continent with many unwanted, poorly-cared-for children. There are, however, also many totally infertile women and women who become infertile after only one child or a few children of the same sex. These women fill up the “consulting” rooms of “medicine men” and “priests”. They are desperate for information. In one issue of our publication, we ran a story on, “How to Choose the sex of Your Child” detailing techniques that can increase the chance that your next child will either be a boy or a girl. The magazine briskly sold out and remained one of our most sought after issues.

4. Humor

   Don't forget humor. But you must understand the humor of the African woman. It is what you might call “serious humor”. Once we carried an article under the heading: “Why I kicked my Husband out of the House”. This was a light -hearted article about a small family squabble where the husband “walked out” on his wife. Essentially, the article contained plenty of practical ideas regarding husband-wife relationships. To our surprise, this was one of the most successful articles that we ever published.

A write or die attitude will start bringing them in.

Put as much time into your word as you want your readers to. Set up your turf in your reader's minds. And they'll be sure to read almost everything you write. Make them believe that no one could have written it better than you. And stimulate their desires to write something similar.

Proper substitution of words and phrases can fit definition into a senseless paragraph. They are like staples connecting what you intended to say instead of what you tried to say. One strong page says more than a weak book, so strive to fit the book into the page. To plant yourself between the words uproot your focus and throw it into the article.

Write for the throne. It's where the royalties are. It is where writers who started in your position are. Their same creativeness

Can throne you. Just hold on to the idea form.Cause back tracking for those lost, will hold back new ones. By posting this Writer's Motto onto your memory, fresh ideas will be available when you're ready to structure them.

 

Writer's Motto:

I have the pen.
I have the paper
and I'm ready to be creative.
Cause re-writing will inspire re-reading
as I collect royalties.

Reaching the throne may not come as quickly or easily as you may be assuming. But the quality and quantity of articles can build you a ladder of support. Keep the content coming. Cause without it chances are you will fall and fail.

 

While waiting for our dream to come true, we can sharpen our skill of writing by reading as many books as we can. These books are available at the library. If you cannot find it, talk to the librarian, and he/she will find it for you from other libraries.

Voice Lessons by Mimi Schwartz

This is a fantastic book to have as you starting out in your writing career. There are many tips such as deciding who you are in the story, and finding your place in the story, as well as strategies to find that voice.

How to Create a Strong Voice by Patricia Cornwell

Here is a quote from this book: "Whatever your story is, if you write enough, Certain Themes will reappear. Watch for them. Don't be afraid to face them." The author offers many other wonderful tips, and the aspect of writing.

7 Steps to a Powerful Opener by Sam McCarver

To capture the readers, your opening must be powerful and grab their attention right away. This book is important to read, as it is applied to article writing, blog writing, and writing in general. There are so many tips in this book to learn from to craft a powerful first page.

How to Make a Scene by Quinn Dalton

"Scenes are units of significant action that provide new information and advance a story. Compelling scenes contain many elements." This quote was from the author, and you must read the book to find out what elements he is talking about.

5 Steps to Turn Facts into Fictions by Jordan E. Rosenfeld

The author gives five simple and direct steps to create your story from the facts of life. This book is worth looking in and to learn from. We all turn to fiction from our own experiences at one time or another.

These are books that I have read over the years. If you want to keep current on what is new in the market, the Writer Magazine is a wonder place to start. Carry one of these books around for when you find yourself waiting to pick up your children from school, or sport events. Not only you will be focus on just reading, you are also using your time wisely.

Of course, you can continue to write some of your writing as art, like poetry, some of your writing as craft, like journalism and how to books, but some of your writing should be business, helping you to earn money using your writing craft, talent, or art.

Writers can do several of these types of writing. You must decide the purpose and goal of your writings.

As for your business writing, your earn money writing, select the type of writing that you want as your business writing or writing business.

Let's say that your decide that your writing for the web, your web content writing is your business writing?

Then develop your writing business centered upon writing for the web. Continue writing and publishing your poetry books, not necessarily your most salable books, but let's say you write poetry for art. Your hobby writing? Say you write science fiction. You're not the best science fiction writer. You haven't published any. But you like science fiction. You like reading it. You like writing it. It's your hobby. Perhaps you'll publish your hobby, and become a professional at it, but for now you're an amateur, a hobbyist.

So therefore, you have several types of writing--your art, your craft, your hobby.

Now as for your business. You write web content to earn money. Certainly there'a an art and craft to web content writing. You're learning the art and the craft, but as a freelancer, you've also decided this is your business, this is your earn money writing, and you're perfecting the art and craft of web content writing to earn money. You want to write salable web content. You work at writing the most salable web content and a web content that is also interesting to your editors, readers, including other web content writers.

Set up a business name, a d.b.a. and write web content in your business name, your pen name, and/or your own name.

Decide to incorporate your web content business. Write the web content yourself, co-author, or hire other web content writers as independent contractors. You must decide how you want your business.

If you write the web content yourself, then write in your company name, your pen name, and/or your own name.

Get a tax ID in your d.b.a. and/or company name. Or you can get a tax ID in your own name for business purposes.

Write your most salable web content. Find at least several markets that regularly publish and pay you regularly for your web content.

Decide upon a regular writing schedule, again understanding that this is your business, this is your job, and you are focussed on the salability and marketability of your writing. Writing is a product.

Write what you like to write, of course, but with the understanding it's a salable, marketable product.

Your poetry is art. Your science fiction is a hobby. Your web content earns you money.

Write according to a business schedule. This can be writing a number of hours per day, or a number of articles per day. It's best to schedule according to the number of articles per day. Let's say you write at least 4 articles per day. You also have a schedule for doing research.

You do this writing and research as a business.

Read and study the works of other web content writers, read books on the art and craft of web content writing as a business. Read and study the works of the most salable and the best web content writers.

Submit and resubmit your web content articles. Submit them to reprint markets, if you maintain the copyright.

Write regularly for the markets that regularly publish and pay you for your writing, and research new markets.

Understand that writing is an art, a craft, a hobby, and a business.

Learn the art, the craft, the hobby, and the business of writing.

Then, ask yourself, how can you make this article popular?

Relevant Information

People go to the internet for relevant information. There is generally information that they are seeking. This can be information about earning money online, finding employment, information about their favorite movie stars, information about products like clothing, toys, food, gifts, information on favorite topics, like astronomy or education.

Also people seek information on current events, topics in the news.

So when writing articles, ask yourself is the topic not just interesting--is the topic relevant? How can you make the topic relevant?

Let's say you're interested in writing about astronomy? What is relevant? Perhaps there is something in the news about astronomy that makes the topic relevant?

Everybody is interested in teaching children, for example. How can astronomy be used to teach children? This makes astronomy relevant?

How can you earn money with your knowledge of astronomy? This makes astronomy relevant to those who go online to find money-making opportunities? Are there jobs for astronomers? This makes astronomy topics relevant for astronomers seeking jobs?

You can also make topics relevant by introducing relevant information. Let's say you're writing about the Samarai tradition. Many people are interested in the Samarai tradition. But you can also mention Tom Cruise in the movie The Last Samarai, so that when people are searching for Tom Cruise online or about celebrities or entertainers, they might also read your article on The Samarai Tradition.

Make a list of topics from the websites that you write for. What are the topics that interest you? What are the topics that you have expert knowledge of? How can you make those topics relevant?

Up-to-Date Information

People go online for the most up-to-date information. You can read books and encyclopedia for information, but most of this information is not the most recent and the most up-to-date.

Perhaps you're interested in astronomy. You can read books on astronomy, articles from magazines, but the most up-to-date information is often found online.

This is the same with wikipedia. You can read your standard encyclopedia, but wikipedia has the most up-to-date information.

So when you write your articles on astronomy, entertainment, food, shopping, etc. what is the most up-to-date information that you can include.

Research the information online, verify the information from several sources, and then include the most up-to-date factual information. You should also do this with your opinion articles, your editorials. What is the most up-to-date research and information to support your opinions and editorials.

1.What is the newest research on foods?

2.What is the newest information on celebrities?

3.What is the newest information on shopping addiction?

4.What is the newest information on learning styles and techniques?

5.What is the newest information on pre-school education?

This newest and most up-to-date information should be included in your articles.

What does popularity mean?

Popularity in article writing means merely that people want to read your articles. In addition to being relevant and up-to-date they should of course be well-written. Try to write your best articles, edit and proofread them and then submit them to your favorite online markets.

You can tell which of your articles are the most "popular" by the number of readers that click on your articles.

Other things that enhance article popularity include:

1.Interesting, relevant and up-to-date titles

2.Popular keywords

3.Writing style

Study the formatting of web content articles just like you study the formatting of print articles.

Usually you find that there is more space in web content articles. The paragraphs are not as long as in print. Nevertheless you must fully and adequately express your ideas and thoughts. The web content must be meaningful and readable.

Web content must also be scannable. Many readers of web content do not read but scan. Many readers are seeking information. They use search engines and key words to find information. What are your key words and what are your key ideas? Focus more on the key ideas and then your key words can come from these key ideas.

Be original just as you are original in print articles. Of course, many people on the web are writing similar articles. How are your articles different? What different ideas do you express? Is there a different writing quality.

Also, you must be sure to proofread your articles, correct for grammar and spelling. If you are not a good proofreader, then ask a good proofreader to proof your articles.

There are also many spell checkers online and spell checker software that you can make use of.

Make sure you have a good dictionary and a good thesaurus.

Study the ways in which web content writers help to make their texts more interest--including the use of bold letters and bold introductions and bold topic sentences when necessary.

Study the web content of the markets that you are writing for, and the style of those markets. What is the best style appropriate for the different web markets? Certainly many editors tell you when the content is not appropriate. Many tell you also when the style is not appropriate.

In addition, take note of the guidelines of the websites you're writing for: word count, for example. If the guidelines say the word count must be at least 400 word, then make sure your articles are at least 400 words. Study the subject areas. Jot down the subject areas that you have knowledge of and the subject areas that you are interested in learning more about and doing research.

Also, study the areas of principle reader interest. Celebrities? Fashion? Science? Movies? What do you know about these subjects? What are the principles areas of your personal writing interest? Keep an idea journal or notebook. Keep a research journal or notebook.

Keep to a writing schedule. Decide how many articles you want to write per day, per week, or per month. Or how many hours per day you want to spend writing articles.

You should write for at least several web content markets. Continue to study, improve and perfect your web content writing.

You can pretend that you're the reader, and/or you can write for the readers of a specific website, say astronomers, or musicians, or general international audience, and/or you can imagine a specific reader.

This helps you to write your article by focussing on reader(s).

Articles are written by writers, however, all articles are written to reader(s).

Your target audience helps you to not only decide what to write, but the style in which to write what you write.

Along with the target audience is the purpose of the article. Are you writing to present the audience for information, to persuade, to advertising.

Therefore, when writing, determine your target audience and determine your purpose for writing to that audience.

If you're an online writer, you can write on similar subjects in your areas of expertise for many different websites, however, for each you must make your articles different. Having a different target audience and different purposes for writing the articles helps to make your articles different articles and helps to give them variety.

Let's say you're writing on the subject of jazz. You're an expert on jazz. You want to write different articles. Here are the different target audience and different purposes:

1. An article on jazz for a children's website
2. An article on jazz for a forum of experience jazz musicians
3. An article on jazz appreciation for a general international audience, who may or may not know anything about jazz
4. An article to advertise your jazz store to an international audience

You notice that each of these articles has a different target audience and a different purpose. Therefore, although you're writing about jazz in each article, each article is different based upon the different target audiences and different purposes. In fact, based upon the use of target audiences and different purposes for writing articles, you can write many different articles on the same general subject.