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Blog Creative Writing Tips: How to Write an Article

Creative Writing Tips: How to Write an Article

By Jenni Harrison | Holiday activities, Top Tips, Writing Tips, Annual Showcase

Creative Writing Tips: How to Write an Article

Creative Writing Advice for Young Writers - How to Write an Article

Here are our top tips for writing articles - why not give it a try? You could even enter your article into our Annual Showcase competition and get published in a book!

What is an article?

An article is a piece of writing written with a particular purpose or aim, usually found in magazines, newspapers and online.

Articles can be used for lots of reasons:

⭐️ To inform the reader about a certain subject

⭐️ To express the writer’s opinion

⭐️ As a how-to guide

⭐️ A write-up of results of experimentation or investigation

⭐️ To compare similar things e.g. the best phones

⭐️ List articles e.g. top ten things to do in summer

⭐️ A profile of someone

How to write an article

➊ Decide what to write about. Write a list of potential topics to choose from and then consider the following:

❓ What is interesting about the topic?

❓ Do you know enough to write about it?

❓ What do you want people to know?

❓ Is there an angle or point that isn’t widely known or covered?

❓ Are you passionate about this topic? Your enthusiasm (or lack of) will show in your writing, so make sure you care about it!

➋ Think about who the article is for. Who will be reading it? An article will be written in a different style and may even contain different information depending on the intended reader.

For example, an article about TikTok written for older generations (who may need it explaining in more detail), will be a lot different to one written for younger readers (who already use it and know how it works).

➌ Think about what you want the goal or message of your article to be. You need to have this in mind as you write so that the article stays focused and you don’t ramble too far away from it.

➍ Do your research! Read up on your chosen topic – online, the library, newspapers, blogs etc are all good sources of information.

➎ Try not to get side-tracked! As you research, remember to stay focused to your aim or message and don’t get distracted by interesting but irrelevant details.

➏ Outline your article. Write a few notes on what you want write about in each section. There is more detail on the structure of an article below!

➐ Write it!

➑ Read it back and edit:

❓Is there anywhere that it goes off message?

❓Do you repeat yourself at all?

❓Is the language and tone suitable for the intended audience?

➒ Give it a snappy title! The title is the first thing a potential reader will see, so you want it to grab their interest and encourage them to read your article.

    Alliteration or rhetorical questions often work well in titles. Check out some examples online and see what grabs your attention and what doesn’t.

Structure of an article

⏩ Title – should be snappy and interesting to grab the reader’s attention.

⏩ Introduction – this should outline the main point of your article, and should engage the reader so they want to read on.

⏩ Middle – Make your points or argument. Back up any statements with facts and figures if you have them.

      Try to ensure your points are clear and interesting, and don’t get side-tracked!

⏩ End – A concluding paragraph that summarises the article, and references the main point of your article that was stated at the beginning.

E.g.

Title: Books Beat Films... Right?

Introduction:

The argument of which is better, books or their film adaptations, probably started as soon as books first started to be made into films way back in the late 19th century in some of the first motion pictures.

I have always come down firmly on the side of the books, but are there exceptions?

Middle:

  • Examples of films being adapted badly
  • Pros and cons of books being adapted
  • Examples of films getting it right

End:

Conclude that while the time restraints of films means quite often they can’t do the details of a book justice, there are advantages to films over books, and sometimes the film can be better than a book if the pros outweigh the cons.

Simplify!

Of course this isn’t the only way to structure an article.

You can use the list structure to compare or rank things within your topic, in which case you need an introduction, the list and a few sentences or short paragraph about each one, and then the concluding paragraph.

The list article can be a fun and easy way to practise!

Your Turn!

 So why not have a go at writing your own article? We’re looking forward to seeing what you write about!

 

🌟🌟🌟 Back for 2024, Young Writers' Annual Showcase 🌟🌟🌟
which celebrates all writing styles and has a 1,000-word limit.

Open to all 4-18 year-olds to showcase their best piece of work; this could be something that's already written or a new piece created especially for entry.

It's a fantastic way to appreciate extended writing on all themes, and a great opportunity for young writers to write at length.

From song lyrics and blog posts, to stories, scripts or an article, we cannot wait to read the work we receive... Find out more here!

 

Published: Mon 15th Aug 2022

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