An Article Writing Philosophy - Do You Have One
Do you have a well thought out reason for writing articles? That
is most likely your article writing philosophy, but in case you
don't have one, let me make a few suggestions for developing one.
Thousands of articles about writing articles are bouncing all
over the internet and the printed media at any given time. Most
of these articles are tips and advice, a few are about grammar
and clarity and yet others are about subject matter and how to
find it. A philosophy for writing articles is none of the above.
Simply put an article writing philosophy is not about how you
write but why. Although it is acceptable to write articles for
publicity or hits to your website it is not the strongest
motive. Then there are those who write by researching the most
sought after keywords on the net and write articles that lead
people to those words, thus to their sites. This also qualifies
as a reason to write but only in the most strained sense of the
word.
Writers are somewhat like preachers, they have a soap box called
the printed page and they have a message just like the minister,
even if the subject matter is not homiletically inclined. As a
young preacher I overheard someone say that "young preachers
just have to say something, but older preachers may actually
have something to say." The first step in developing a writing
philosophy is to ask your self this question...do I have
something to say?
Professional people can quickly answer yes to the question of
whether they have something to say. Years of study, training and
experience put them ahead of others and all they may lack is
just a bit of priming to know how to convey their knowledge by
the written word. For those who are not professionals the next
question should be "how do you see." Some people are naturally
endowed with a good eye. They don't need to be politicians to
have a good grasp of politics. They can predict, criticize,
evaluate and comment on the whole sphere with great clarity and
in some cases may affect the outcome of politics in some way.
They weigh in so to speak on the subject. In case you think that
isn't so check out the vast opportunities for op-eds (opinion
editorials) on the internet today. Thousands of political right
and left wing sites are looking for people with good political
vision. In this "of the people" society John Q Public is still
sought for his view of political figures and things done in the
political theatre.
Having a good "minds eye" applies to any field of interest
whatsoever. Technicians put together complex electronic and
telemetering devices in spacecraft but some people are weighing
the result of all that space hardware on people, the environment
or the future of man and their insight may be just as needed as
the tiniest circuit board any techie can produce.
The motivation for writing an article may only be to provide
information; at other times it may be to provide inspiration.
Even anger could qualify as a good motive if you are
particularly incensed over some injustice or bad behavior. It
may sound all to rudimentary or perhaps old fashioned to say
that if you are seeking a higher good to be done through your
writing then you will always succeed. Sound corny? Think again.
No one will ever reject an article that attempts to right a
wrong, lift people up or provide a little light and comfort in a
troubled world. If that is your motive then that is your
philosophy. Good writing.