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How To Keep Your Readers Enthralled With Your Articles

March 13th, 2008

by Marsha Maung

Many people don’t have problems putting their thoughts into words – that is precisely why the market for freelance writing is so competitive. With basic grammar skills, knowledge and the willingness to learn, just about anyone can make a decent living with a freelance writing career. But the difficult part is writing a piece that both the writer and the real owner of the article can be proud of. Something that can keep readers from running off into the great beyond.

It’s not a trick and it’s not exactly an insider secret either. It’s a skill one acquires with experience.

A big bang Intro is a must
Well, you don’t exactly have to make an appearance with confetti and a champagne bottle to pop. The intro to any article is essential to giving the audience the right idea about what you’re going to say in the article. For instance, look at the beginning of this article. Reading it gives you a basic idea about what is about to appear in the following lines. If the reader thinks that they’re interested in the content, they will continue reading it.

Imagine you have your readers tied to the end of a string. What you’re trying to do with your article is to reel them in. But by nature, they want to run off. So what you do is to give them something to keep them from running off by dangling something a little bit more interesting in front of them. How about a couple of surprises and helpful tips? Maybe you can make a statement that captures their attention?

Divide your articles into sections and define each section with appropriate sub-headline
You know how people often read the headlines before deciding to read the article or not? Headlines and sub-headlines play an important part in enthralling your readers. If your article has different types of content throughout, it makes sense to put some sub-headlines into the article so that your readers find it easier to scan the article through. This also helps the readers of your article focus on parts of interest to them. Trust me, they’ll appreciate it a lot more than you think!

Losing your readers by the third paragraph
Inevitably, it happens to even the best of writers. Sometimes, by the third paragraph or a third of the article, you’re starting to lose some the interest you generated earlier. What you can do is to perform some damage control and minimize the loss by making a REALLY LOUD STATEMENT. (like this one, yes!)

Wind-up and clean-up by the fourth paragraph of your article
If your article is within the 400-500 range, this is the perfect time to start concluding your article. This is where you balance everything up, give a round-up, an overview and perhaps add a few opinions about what you’ve said earlier on in your article.

Finally, the conclusion. Choose your own ending
You can end the article in such a way that it makes people laugh, cry or think….it’s your call. Some of the best articles I’ve read end with a very strong opinion which not only makes me think a little deeper into the issue the writer has thrown at me, but also made me remember the writer. The purpose of the conclusion of the article to let the readers go just that little bit more informed.

Marsha Maung is a Malaysian-based freelance writer who has been in the search engine marketing business for more than 8 years. Today, she spends her time alternating between being a mother to her kids and mother to her clients' websites and blogs! Now, she is a popular SEO blog content writer and service provider. Visit her website http://www.marshamaung.com for more info and if you want dirty personal details, visit her blog at http://www.marshamaung.blogspot.com .