By: Steve Patterson
Submitted: 2010-12-20 17:06:17 | Word Count: 878
Why I Decided To Write Myself
I was overwhelmed when my first article was accepted by a renowned article directory. I still find it amazing every time I read the article right from the directory. I have never thought I would ever write an article after I left school, let alone got it published in a famous article directory. In fact, essay writing has always been my weakest subject during school days. I just managed to make the grade. After graduating and joining the work force, my job never required me to write more than 100 words. In fact 50 words were already too much.
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When I first started building content for my website, I went straight to a recommended article writer to buy articles for my niche. It was a disaster as the content barely met one percent of my expectations. My next thought was that my grandmother can write better than them. Of course I did not ask my grandma who is six yards below to write. I decided to write myself.
Look Around You for Content - It Is Plentiful
I started to think what people like to read, but the more I think, the more my thought going to nowhere, so I decided that it is easier to think what I like to read. As my niche is internet marketing, I decided to write something in this niche and this “something” must be helpful and informative to the reader. Just about the same time I had to do my quarterly review of the goal I set in the beginning of the year, I serendipitously chose “goal setting as my first topic to write. A lot of people always say they do not know what to write but if you start looking around you, you will find there are plenty of titles you can write about. As of now, do not be bothered that you cannot write. Just look around you and identify a few titles you want to write.
Start Writing in Point Form
Although I have been doing the goal setting exercise for a couple of years, when I lifted up my pen and wanted to write, I found that I could not do it. I told you my English was no good from the beginning. For the past few years, when I needed to write, I always wrote in point form, be it a troubleshooting report or taking down notes in training. This is the exact method I used to come up with for my first draft. I sit back and think about the topic and write down in point form every thought that comes to my mind. As of now, do not be bothered whether the points you wrote are worth writing. More importantly, let your thoughts flow freely and if they run wild, let them be. Who knows, this might the next viral article.
Expand Your Points
The point items will become your sub titles for the title you have chosen. What you have just done is broken down an intimidating big essay into many smaller essays. The logic here is it is much easier to write a little memo than writing a book, therefore the smaller the article, the easier it is. All I need to do now is to expand on each sub title with content and I will have an article when I am finished. As of now, do not let the misspelling and lousy grammar bother you. What you need to do now is to let those raw ideas flow to the tip of the pen and to the paper.
My Grammar Sucks Big Time
I do a word count on my completed unpolished draft and surprisingly, it has exceeded the word count that I have planned. Writing an essay is much easier than I thought. This is the third time I am going to tell you, my grammar really sucks big time. I had attempted to polish up my article but after reviewing and correcting the article for a few times, I was still not satisfied with it. I keep stressing that content is important when actually grammar and spelling are equally as important. If I see an essay with a lot of these mistakes, I will not finish the article. Do not let the grammar and wrong sentence construction ruin your article. You could send your article in for proofreading. The proofreader will fix your bad English problems.
If I Can Write So Can You
My experience is that no matter how clearly you try to explain your requirements, it is hard to have another individual think like you. Writing an article makes you think and do research so it helps you to understand your niche better. As such, I encourage you to write. Do not let your handicap in English deter you from writing, you can always find help online. If you have good content, do not waste it, start writing now.
The first time is usually difficult because you are doing something unfamiliar and outside your comfort zone. Once you start doing it and are persistent with it, writing will get easier. Writing need not be a chaos anymore if you know how to make it easier to write.
