Do you like to write articles or short stories?

If you enjoy putting your thoughts on paper or in digitized formats, then writing articles could be an objective you will enjoy. There are many article directories an author can submit material for review. If approved, as a writer, you can immediately see writings published online.

One of the greatest factors of being published in article directories is the marketing and promotional capabilities included. For example, an author can embed hypertext links in the article written to their websites and or other areas of relevant content.

This enables a writer to establish a professional and knowledgeable presence. In addition, a writer benefits with more visitors to their website published on the Internet.

If you do not have a web page, there are excellent sites that can be created so an author can be regarded as an authority in their field or topics. See the section Free Sites below.

As established and reputable article directories are considered authority sites, Search Engines continuously access published article posts. In a short period a writer can receive outstanding popularity that can launch a newly found writing career.

An author can begin to earn extra income for their writing. More than a few authors became freelance writers for magazines, e-zines and Blogs. Moreover, you as a writer can develop into a full time eBook author and self-publisher on many of the publishing sites such as Amazon.com, lulu.com, Barnes & Noble, iBooks for iPads, Smashwords.com and others.

If you have stories in your head and you are absolutely dying to see them in some form of print, but have not actually taken the steps required to be published either in an ebook, Print on Demand (POD) book, magazine, blog, or articles directory online, then you should consider your first steps to achieve publication as soon as possible.

Free Sites

You can immediately publish a profile and other information to have a site that viewers can visit. Additionally, when you write your articles, you can then place hypertext links to these sites where readers can learn more about you.

The more popular sites are

01. WordPress.com

02. Blogger.com

03. Hubpages.com (This is also an article directory as well as sub-domain).

04. Squidoo.com (This is also an article directory as well as sub-domain).

These sites act a sub-domain with the title of your blog/site choice.

For example, http://performingsys.wordpress.com/, http://homebusinessrep.hubpages.com/ http://audiobooksez.blogspot.com/, http://creativedigitalproducts.blogspot.com/

You could name your site/blog any type name. It could be your first and last name with middle initial if it has not already been taken and is still available. I do recommend that you name it relevant to your topic or subject. It is possible to have a few different sites with different names.

There are more online sites as noted. However, this is more than enough to get you started.

There are alternative stand-alone websites. However, I am not recommending conventional type website as it will take a bit more time to start-up than immediately setting up with any of the above recognized blogging sites.

Each site provides all the necessary instructions to complete your Internet presence immediately.

The only time you actually require is to prepare your content. I suggest you review others and follow those you like best.

Below is a link to a listing for 50 of the top article directories to submit your articles.

http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php

Steps to consider for Writing Articles.

It is important that you prepare your subject matter prior to actually writing your articles. If you first set up a draft outline or summary, you will find it easier to write. Additionally, any research you will include in your article should be initiated and set-up for simple access.

Your writing will flow easily if you have all the tools available rather than halting your thoughts to stop and collect or gather research or any phrases you wish to include.

An outline always works skillfully as it is close at hand to utilize as reference. Setting up an outline is as simple as creating a table of contents. Once you have established and perfected your thoughts, and documented them into an outline, including completing your research, your writing can begin.

Most likely you will be using a word processor. If this is true, do not forget to utilize your spelling and grammar checker. This will be very helpful in nicely rounding out your sentences and paragraphs.

Your topic should always be stated in your first paragraph. It is always a very good idea to refer and comment with summary in your last paragraph with the same subject matter as your first.

Remember to review your article to be sure you have it as perfect as possible. You definitely want to portray your expertise in your writing.

After you have reviewed your material, you can then submit your articles to the directories of your choice.

You must join and log-in to submit any of your articles.

If you write about the issues you enjoy and are resolute about, you will have very little difficulty in preparing and completing your articles.

If you stay determined and committed to your writing with continuous efforts in submitting your material to article directories, you can quite quickly be successful in all of your writing endeavors.

Best wishes for a very successful and constant future with your writing achievements.

There are varying considerations in quality content for story writing and or articles of substance from start to finish. I will address only a few at this time.

Ask yourself the following; is it important to write quality content in your article or any type of written material?

Is it important to deal with the actual Title and or writing subject from the first paragraph, into the central core and finish of the material or story?

The answer is, there is an importance in writing quality content in substance from start to finish in any material you produce.

Nonetheless, sitting down to write an article, newsletter, blog or a book with contents of quality substance is easier said than done.

There are certain standards that you can adhere to that will help to write quality content.

One of the first significant standard lessons when writing your works is to keep it simple. There is a principle that applies to almost any type of entertaining readership, (KISS), meaning Keep It Simple Stupid.

Whether your content is fiction or non-fiction, being sure to address the central core of your story, point or issue without complexity is primary to your successful authorship and loyal readership.

If you are writing non-fiction referencing a specific topic, be precise in your paragraph statements. Additionally, be sure you address the issues first noted either positively or negatively depending upon the crux of your subject.

Too often, I read articles that begin with a specified topic in the first paragraph, yet never mention the subject throughout the entire article. Too often, the article ends without ever addressing any specifics to its Title and beginning paragraph. Seemingly, it appears there are different worlds from the Title and body content, and it leaves me with questions with no answers, and references that have no content statements.

It will be of great consequence that your writing and its contents satisfy your readers by subject continuity throughout to maintain quality material.

It can be of assistance to know who your readers are including their interests and desires. Additionally, you should understand what general style your readers enjoy most. These types of considerations can be essential when writing creative ideas or informative research.

Another noteworthy consideration to maintain quality content is ‘do not plagiarize’.

There is no harm in reviewing others ideas and building upon your own creativity to address the same issues in your own writings. You can also review successful writing styles and develop your very own upon that. The critical concerns are to never directly copy from others words and exacting stories. If you have plagiarized someone else’s material, although it may be of quality content, once you are found out, you will be judged as a person who writes unworthy and insignificant less quality content.

Once you have been characterized as a plagiarist, you may never be able to rise above the labeled categorization. You could find it very difficult to remove the categorized put on label. Therefore, it is best to always write your own quality material.

Another consideration to quality content writing is the topic and subject. It is possible that you may write on a subject with very little interest. It may be that a few of your following readers have purchased or reviewed your material. Yet, they find it boring. Although, they are your loyal readers, they may question your quality of subject matter that could brand the work as being of low quality material. For this reason, it is always more effective to research your topic of material and its perceptive interests prior to your publishing it.

An additional consideration to writing and publishing quality content is providing descriptions and defining words for your reader’s understanding. Sometimes big words don’t always qualify as appropriate or useful when trying to get a point across in an article or story. Many times a word that requires looking up in a dictionary interrupts the reading flow and could cause frustration.

Remembering that your reader is your first and primary consideration, amongst the varying concerns, can introduce many insights into writing and publishing quality content material of substance.

There are many other considerations; however, it was my intention in this article to address only a few.

If you have further questions, please contact me.

How does a writer become blocked from writing?

Could it be burn out? Maybe it is simply stress! Is it fatigue? Then again, can it be a writer does not have any more to write?

Depression and confusion in a writer’s life can have a great deal of influence on their writing. Even happiness and busyness can play an important part in a writer’s ability to convey words in print!

Whatever the reason, there is only one thing that can overcome “Writers’ Block”! It really is not very difficult to overcome! It turns out to be quite simple! Write! Sit down and either pen or type anything that comes to your mind. It does not matter what the topic, issue or subject is about. A writer must write!

A journal for the day could be recorded; the emotions experienced for the moment or day can be conveyed. Writing about someone else’s life experiences can be the cure for “Writers’ Block”. Throughout the day many life occurrences, events, and incidents shape a writers’ daily living encounters. Unless, a writers sits in one place all through the day, week or month there is going to be a great deal to write about!

Ah, you say – daily encounters are not what you want to write about! You have a mental image of what you want to write, yet you block-out when you sit down to put your thoughts into words! This is the perfect time to write any or all your experiences.

A writer must write! When a writer writes, even if not what they exactly want to write about, the act of writing manifests itself capabilities into greater works and material!

The one thing a writer cannot do is ‘not write’. Waiting for the moment or the thought in words written will only lead to greater writer’s block!

Be sure to include the details of the journal even if that is the only writing you may do for a while. Sometimes a writer must take a rest in writing their fiction or non-fiction material! However, a writer must never take any rest from simply writing anything!

Continue writing your emotions and experiences of daily living until all of any confusion causing “Writers Block” is overcome!

Look back into your writings during “Writer’s Block” and evaluate the nature of your material! There is a great probability that your words written at this time in your life with have an effect and influence on your writing and future!

There is a belief common among novices that because they are unknown, their work is likely to receive little or no consideration from editors. As a matter of fact, in the majority of news and magazine offices all unsolicited manuscripts are considered strictly on their merits. The unknown writer has as good a chance as anybody of having his manuscript accepted, provided that his work has merit comparable with that of more experienced writers.

With the exception of certain newspapers that depend entirely on syndicates for their special features, and of a few popular magazines that have the staff system or that desire only the work of well-known writers, every publication welcomes special articles and short stories by novices. Moreover, editors take pride in the fact that from time to time they “discover” writers whose work later proves popular. They not infrequently tell how they accepted a short story, an article, or some verse by an author of whom they had never before heard, because they were impressed with the quality of it, and how the verdict of their readers confirmed their own judgment.

The small number of amateurs who undertake special articles, compared with the hundreds of thousands who try their hand at short stories, makes the opportunities for special feature writers all the greater. The number of professional writers of special articles is comparatively small.

It is not too much to say, therefore, that any writer who is willing (1) to study the interests and the needs of newspaper and magazine readers, (2) to gather carefully the material for his articles, and (3) to present it accurately and attractively, may be sure that his work will receive the fullest consideration and will be accepted whenever it is found to merit publication.

Women as Feature Writers. Since the essential qualifications just enumerated are not limited to men, women are quite as well fitted to write special feature and magazine articles as are their brothers in the craft. In fact, woman’s quicker sympathies and emotional response to many phases of life give her a distinct advantage. Her insight into the lives of others, and her intuitive understanding of them, especially fit her to write good “human interest” articles. Both the delicacy of touch and the chatty, personal tone that characterize the work of many women, are well suited to numerous topics.

In high demand of interest stories in some fields, such as cooking, sewing, teaching, the care of children, and household management, woman’s greater knowledge and understanding of conditions furnish her with topics that are vital to other women and often of interest to men. Ever since the beginning of popular magazines and of special feature writing for newspapers, women writers have proved their ability, but at no time have the opportunities for them been greater than at present.

PREPARATION FOR SPECIAL FEATURE WRITING

Qualifications for Feature Writing. To attain success as a writer of special feature articles a person must possess at least four qualifications: (1) ability to find subjects that will interest the average man, woman and child and to see the picturesque, romantic, and significant phases of these subjects; (2) a sympathetic understanding of the lives and interests of the persons about whom and for whom he writes; (3) a thoroughness and accuracy in gathering material; (4) a skill to portray and to explain clearly, accurately, and attractively.

The sense of news values commonly called a “nose for news,” whether innate or acquired, is a prime requisite. Like the newspaper reporter, the writer of special articles must be able to recognize what at a given moment will interest the average reader. Like the reporter, also, he or she must know how much it will interest the readers. An alert, responsive attitude of mind toward everything that is going on in the world, and especially in that part of the world immediately around him, will reveal a host of subjects. By reading newspapers, magazines, and books, as well as by interaction with persons of various classes, a writer keeps in contact with what people are thinking and talking about, in the world at large and in his or her own community. In this way he or she finds subjects and also learns how to connect those subjects with events and movements of interest the country over.

Not only should he or she be quick to recognize a good subject; but must be able to see the attractive and significant aspects of it. Additionally, he or she must realize and understand which of its phases touch most closely the life and the interests of the average person for whom he or she is writing. A writer must look at things from “the other fellow’s” point of view. A sympathetic insight into the lives of readers is necessary for every writer who hopes to quicken his subject with vital interest.

The alert mental attitude that constantly focuses the writer’s attention on the men and women around him has been called “human curiosity,” which the famous writer, Arnold Bennett says “counts among the highest social virtues (as indifference counts among the basest defects), because it leads to the disclosure of the causes of character and temperament and thereby to a better understanding of the springs of human conduct.” The importance of curiosity and of a keen sense of wonder has been emphasized as follows by Mr. John M. Siddall, then editor of the American Magazine, who directed his advice to college students interested in the opportunities afforded by writing as a profession:

A journalist or writer must have consuming curiosity about other human beings—the most intense interest in their doings and motives and thoughts. It comes pretty near being the truth to say that a great journalist is a super-gossip—not about trivial things but about important things. Unless a person has a ceaseless desire to learn what is going on in the heads of others, they won’t be much of a journalist—for how can you write about others unless you know about others?

In journalism men and women are needed who have a natural sense of wonder…. You must wonder at a person’s achievements, at their stupidity, at his or hers honesty, crookedness, courage, cowardice and everything that is remarkable about a person. If you haven’t this sense of wonder, you will never write a novel or become a great reporter, because you simply won’t see anything to write about. People will be doing amazing things under your very eyes and you won’t even know it.

Ability to investigate a subject thoroughly, and to gather material accurately, is absolutely necessary for any writer who aims to do acceptable work. Careless, inaccurate writers are the frustration of any editor’s life. Whenever mistakes appear in an article, readers are sure to write to the editor calling his attention to them. Moreover, the discovery of incorrect statements impairs the confidence of readers in the magazine. If there is reason to doubt the correctness of any data in an article, the editor takes pains to check over the facts carefully before publication. An editor is not inclined to accept work a second time from a writer who has once proved unreliable.

To interpret correctly the essential significance of data is as important as to record them accurately. Readers want to know the meaning of facts and figures, and it is the writer’s mission to bring out this meaning. A sympathetic understanding of the persons who figure in the article is essential, not only to portray them accurately, but to give a story the necessary “human interest.” To observe accurately, to feel keenly, and to interpret sympathetically and correctly undertake to write about, should be a writer’s constant aim.

Ability to write well enough to make the average person see as clearly, feel as keenly, and understand as well as the writer does the persons and things that is portrayed and explained is obviously the outcome of success. If a writers’ work is to have distinction, ease, fluency, and originality of diction, either natural or acquired, must be apparent.

Training for Feature Writing. There always in an ideal preparation for a writer of journalism and or specialist writer of articles, reports, information, how to’s and other featured writings. This could include a four-year college course, at least a year’s work as a newspaper reporter, and practical experience in some other occupation or profession in which the writer intends to specialize in the writings. However, not all persons who desire to do special feature work will be able to prepare themselves in this way. It is possible most of them will be not able to obtain any part of this type preliminary training in writing.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Where newspaper and magazine is noted apply the additional terms electronic format, ezine, online electronic news and Internet web sites

INTRODUCTION
This information is the result of years’ experience in teaching university students to write special feature articles. By applying the methods outlined in the following pages, men and women have been able to prepare articles that have been accepted by many editors.

The success that these students have achieved leads the author to believe that others who desire to write special articles may be aided by the suggestions given in this book.

Although innumerable books on short-story writing have been published, no or very little attempt has been made to discuss in detail the writing of special feature articles.

In the approach to the subject, it has been necessary to define and record classifications for the various types of articles and of the different kinds of titles, beginnings, and similar details, as well as to supply names by which to identify them.
Examples taken from representative newspapers and magazines are freely used to illustrate the methods discussed. To encourage students to analyze typical articles, the second part of the book is devoted to a collection of newspaper and magazine articles of various types, with an outline for the analysis of them.
Particular emphasis is placed to show methods that will teach the student to present discoveries, inventions, new methods, and every significant advance in knowledge, in an accurate and attractive form.

To train students to write articles for newspapers and popular magazines and most recently the electronic format may, perhaps, be the unusual under-taking, as most students and teachers prefer to encourage what is commonly called “literature.” The fact remains, nevertheless, that the average person, writer or student cannot create anything that approximates literature, whereas that same person or student can write acceptable popular articles.

The majority of worldly people only read newspapers, magazines ezines and online content. Therefore, there is a great need to train writers to supply the steady demand for well-written articles.

Special feature stories and popular magazine articles constitute a type of writing particularly adapted to the ability of the novice, who has developed some facility in writing, but who may not have sufficient maturity or talent to undertake successful short-story writing or other distinctly literary work. Most special articles cannot be regarded as literature.

Nevertheless, they afford the young writer an opportunity to develop whatever ability he possesses. Such writing teaches him four things that are invaluable to anyone who aspires to do literary work. It trains him to observe what is going on about him, to select what will interest the average reader, to organize material effectively, and to present it attractively. If this book helps the inexperienced writer, whether he is in or out of college, to acquire these four essential qualifications for success, it will have accomplished its purpose.

For permission to reprint complete articles, the author is indebted to the editors of the Boston Herald, the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Evening Transcript, the New York Evening Post, the Detroit News, the Milwaukee Journal, the Kansas City Star, the New York Sun, the Providence Journal, the Ohio State Journal, the New York World, the Saturday Evening Post, the Independent, the Country Gentleman, the Outlook, McClure’s Magazine, Everybody’s Magazine, the Delineator, the Pictorial Review, Munsey’s Magazine, the American Magazine, System, Farm and Fireside, the Woman’s Home Companion, the Designer, and the Newspaper Enterprise Association. The author is also under obligation to the many newspapers and magazines from which excerpts, titles, and other material have been quoted.

To Be Continued in Chapters