How to Write Content -- PUNCH THE KEYS!

I promised to tackle the topic of writing content for niche blogs. On the issue of web content, I do know whereof I speak--because I've been working as a freelance article writer for the past year. Before that, I was an English teacher.

What am I an expert in? Not micro-niche blogging. No, not yet--though I plan to be by the end of this year.

I'm an expert in teaching people how to write. I love it. I still hear from students I had back in the mid-90's telling me, "Hey, I wouldn't know how to write if it wasn't for you."

And, in between dabbing at my eyes with a hankie I say, "More correct usage would be, "Were it not for you."

And then they're like, "Erm, yeah, nice having you as my Facebook friend. Catch ya later."

Ah, so lovely to hear from past students.

But about content writing:  did you ever see the movie Finding Forrester?  Gosh, it's gotta be 10 years old now--and it had Sean Connery playing a kind of J.D. Salinger character.  A reclusive author who ends up mentoring a gifted inner city teenager in writing.

And what was Forrester's secret?  Get past writer's anxiety by NOT staring at a blank page:

When Jamal is sitting there just paralyzed by writer's block, Forrester finds one of his old New Yorker articles and tells Jamal simply to type in the very same words until he finds his own.  (In other words, he tells Jamal to begin by plagiarizing.  Gasp.  Oh, the horror.  But wait, please let me finish.)

Jamal summons up his courage and starts in--rather uncertainly at first. Forrester shouts, "PUNCH THE KEYS."  And Jamal does.  And slowly the words become Jamal's own.  He finds, with someone else's words in front of him to inspire and plant ideas, that he is able to find his own words.

The Moral of the Story

The moral of this story:  Jamal, in the end did not plagiarize--he used another author's words to create something new.  (I know some of my readers are going to be all caught up in his typing the famous author's exact words...My point is, that was really, truly only the starting point.)

The staccato sounds of the punched Smith Corona keys fill the apartment as the minutes tick by.

And...finally, Forrester yells triumphantly to his student, "Yes!  Yes!  You the man now, DOG!"

(If you want to see how awkward it is to see Sean Connery trying to use Bronx vernacular in this fashion, then get this movie into your Netflix queue.)

Begin with Someone Else's Words--Just to Prime the Pump

What am I saying here?  Merely this:  if writing articles does not come easily to you, then begin with other writers' words in front of you.  What are you writing about?  Elliptical machines?  Cool.  Then go find someone else online who's written an article that makes YOU want to check out the product(s).  Preferably an article that is broken down neatly into at least five paragraphs.

Now find one more.  Print them both out and set them by your side.  No copying and pasting.  You'll take too many words that are not your own, and you'll get busted for it.  (Take it from me--the gal who's busted many a lazy student.  Plagiarists are hardly ever as clever as they think they are.)

So, with those articles by your side, begin writing your intro.  Don't even worry about a title yet.   Type in one author's intro words--the entire intro paragraph.

Showcase Your Primary Keword Phrase

First thing to address:  how to get YOUR primary keyword phrase to lead off.  How can you change that lead sentence so that your keyword phrase is showcased nicely?

Now look at sentence # 2.  How can you turn that into your own words?  Treat it like a game.  On to the next....  Every one of those sentences should be expressed differently.  I'm not talking about inserting a synonym here and there.  I'm talking about replacing text and making it YOUR WORDS.

Change the Intro, Sentence by Sentence

Now read over your intro.  Does it sound natural?  Does it flow?  Could it use just a bit of humor?  Or something to keep it from being dry as dust?  Then get it in there!  Now it's really your own.

Use a List format to "Frame" the Body

Next thing:  thing how you could take the IDEAS (not the words, the ideas) in front of you in those two articles...and make them into a LIST.  Nothing is as easy to write and as readable as a list.  Plus, when you write a list, it's super-easy to get your keywords in. Here's an example:

Andy Warhol Poster Pick #1:  blah blah blah soup cans
Andy Warhol Poster Pick #2:  Beatles blahbady blah blah silkscreen
Andy Warhol Poster PIck #3:  Marilyn on red, Marilyn on pink...Okay, you get the idea.

Careful to make sure you are not going over board on the keyword usage--but how could it be any easier to get your lean, mean search-engine-movers in there?

Use your printed out articles to create a list of tips or recommendations or reminders, or whatever is appropriate.  Now read those articles to get the gist--and turn them face-down when you're done.

See what I'm onto here?  Not for one moment is this about plagiarism.  This is the time-honored practice known as RESEARCH.  (Albeit in a scaled-down way that Mrs. Finkelstein from 9th-grade English might not recognize as research.)

Flesh Out Your List (No Peeking!)

For each bulleted or numbered list item, write in the text.  You have evaluated and synthesized the information and now you are recreating it.  (Oh, we educators do love to use such words! So satisfying to think our students are synthesizing rather than just taking it all in, y'know.)


Think "Friendly Call to Action," NOT "In Conclusion..."

When you get to your conclusion, remember you are generally going to be dealing with a resource box of some sort.  The part where you'll point someone where you want them to go.  A product link or your own website or blog maybe....

How can you make it really conversational as you sort of sum up the little journey you and the reader have just taken and call them to do something about it.  No "in conclusion" OR "to sum up."  Uh-uh.  Yaaaaaaawwwwwwn.  Whatever the teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off would have done in that droning voice...don't do that.  Bueller?  Bueller?  You can do better than that.  You can keep it lively and lovely--just the way you would do if you were sitting down and chatting with your valued reader.

In the end, you'll want to have that call to action--but not in an obvious, brow-beating kind of way.  Just like, hey so much more than I can cram into this little overview.  But I've got loads of stuff to tell you about XXX widgets, and here's where you can go to get the full scoop.

Or, if it's content for your actual website, a final caution, reminder, product recommendation, whatever--followed by product links that make it very easy to DO something about all of that great info.

Make Headline-Writing into a Game

Now walk away from it. Do something else as you mull over what a GREAT title would be for your little gem of an article. Ask family members, give it some thought as you cook dinner or exercise.  Let your mind just play with it a bit.

Think in terms of two parts: a hook and a (partial) explanation. Both should have some punch...and sound 1) worthwhile and 2) somehow both straightforward AND exciting/entertaining.

"How to Write Content -- PUNCH THE KEYS." Well, obviously it got you to read on, right? There should be a promise packed into your headline. The person who reads this is going to be changed in some way. (Improved, that is). Smarter, richer, more capable, SOMETHING.

If you read this article (to continue my self-promoting example) you will learn how to write content. And hey, I'm promising you, it pretty much boils down to punching those keys, baby. Did I deliver? I hope so. If I didn't feel free to hold my feet to the fire (politely of course).

Pretty simple, right?

No blank page to stare at, no crumpled papers thrown across the room (where they miss the waste basket, because you never WERE any good at basketball).

Just a crutch to help you as you find your own words.  And, in the end, a piece of valuable, readable, practical, actionable information.  And when you've fleshed out your site with five good keyword-optimized articles--AND done your bit on EzineArticles to promote--leave a comment here.  And I will be sure to tell you (though not as awkwardly as Sean Connery):  "Yes!  Yes!  You the man now, DOG!"