Write a Better Technical Article in Half the Time

Good technical articles are challenging to write. They're time-consuming, demanding to research and hard to organize. But they're valuable weapons in the PR and marketing arsenal, and you need them.

If you can outsource the article, great. That's what writers like me are here for. But if you can't ? or don't want to -- then read and apply the tips below to save time and energy on research and writing, and come out with a much better product.

Get Ready

1. Review your resources ? hard copy like books and articles, Web access, interview contact information.

2. Arrange for interviews if you need them, it always takes a while to track down the interviewees. Note: If you're ghostwriting an article for a company, you may not have an interview past the initial meeting.

3. Make sure you know the following: a) the reader's challenge, b) the key message relating to their challenge, and c) the type of reader you're writing to.

4. Understand the main message the client want to communicate. Many technologies are similar, but your client will have a defined slant on their implementation. (If they don't, they should ? this is your chance to offer them your strategic message building services.)

5. Even "vendor-neutral" articles are written with a point of view ? either the writer's or the company the writer is working for. This is only a problem if the article bias makes for a misleading article, or tells a whopping big lie.

Outline

6. Never skip this step, for your own or your readers' sakes. Outlines speed up your writing, and readers will follow your argument much better.

7. Organize your research into three themes. Some thematic organizations are obvious ? for example, I wrote an article on three steps to optimizing your storage. In other articles, there may be several possibilities. There is probably no one right choice, so if two or three seem fine to you, just pick one and go with it.

8. Remember your junior high school/high school/college outline lessons? They apply. If you don't remember your lessons, here's a reminder: I. Introduction (Outline problem, introduce solution, state theme) II. Body A. 1st major point B. 2nd major point C. 3rd major point III. Conclusion (short case study/example, restate solution, concluding paragraph)

9. Put your outline on paper and let it guide you as you go. It's not iron-clad ? if a new organization presents itself while you're writing you can change it ? but don't do it too much or you'll defeat the outline's purpose.

Writing the Rough Draft

10. Here's the key to writing your rough draft: Just Do It. Write without thinking about it. Paste in random chunks of text from your research. Write some more. Write in any bizarre, random order. All you want to do at this point is get down large masses of information onto paper.

11. Keep going until you've got 2-3 times the words you actually need, then you can stop.

12. Once you have your mass of information on paper, you can organize it into your outline. No big deal ? just cut and paste paragraphs under the points they best fit.

13. Now that you've slapped all of your rough text and research into your outline, guess what? The draft is done. Congratulate yourself and take a break.

Subsequent Drafts

14. Now it's time to whip this rough mass into shape. Start by saving your rough draft under a different name. You're going to be doing a lot of deletions in this stage, and you don't want to accidentally delete something you meant to use.

15. Working with the new copy, start your edits. Paraphrase the notes you have from other sources -- memos, product briefs, other articles, brochures. (Journalists do it all the time. It's called "research.")

16. I'll often download online research but mark it in a different color, so as not to commit the embarrassing ? not to mention illegal -- mistake of repeating someone else's writing. When I've learned what I need to from the research, I capture the facts in my own words and delete the original notes.

17. Borrow freely from your client's Website and other materials. Don't repeat the text ? that's bad policy and bad writing ? but you're not going to be accused of plagiarism. Laziness maybe, but not plagiarism.

18. Music can be helpful on writing assignments. Personally, I like Vivaldi for drafting and movie scores for revising. Quite the combo. (As I write this sentence, The Last of the Mohicans is playing. Baroque is better for the draft stage.)

19. You might find that dictating works better for you at the rough draft stage. Probably not the old-fashioned kind, where the hard-bitten boss called in his trusty secretary to "Take a memo!" You're more likely to use an application like Naturally Speaking. This type of application needs a lot of training beforehand ? the application, not you ? but can be very helpful for writers who try to critique themselves out the gate.

Writing the Final Draft

20. You've done the rough draft, 1st draft, and are into the 2nd draft. You've put everything in your own words and are observing your outline structure. The article is starting to sound less like something you'll get blamed for, and more like something you might actually claim.

21. Edit for readability, grammar and style.

22. Use active voice in all your writing. "Active voice" is a sentence construction where the subject performs the verb action. Don't go to sleep on me, this is important. Example: "The dog bit the boy." Quick, active, easy. Here's an example of passive voice: "The boy was bitten by the dog." Yikes!

23. Technology writing is full of hideous passive voice construction. Here's another example from a technology marketing document: "This successful vendor interoperability was demonstrated at the Summit in Chicago." Ack! Instead, write: "Vendor teams successfully demonstrated interoperability at the Summit in Chicago." See how easy that was? PLEASE use active voice. Everyone will be so much happier.

24. If you learn nothing else about business writing in all your born days, learn to write in active voice. Subject all of your sentences to this simple little exercise and you will improve your writing 100%.

25. Please don't be boring, but don't get too cute. I will stick in something funny every once in a while -- mostly because I get a big kick out of myself -- but don't get too chummy.

Final Draft

26. You're almost there ? you see light at the end of tunnel, and it isn't a train. Now is the time to polish sentence structure and word choice, and punch up your paragraphs.

27. Polish your opening paragraphs. Add a snappy lead, define what you're talking about and why it's important, and list the three or so points you're going to make.

28. Read through your article and make sure you've made those points. If you did an outline, the main points should already be subheads. (See why an outline is so great?)

29. Polish your conclusion. The conclusion doesn't have to be undying prose, but do restate your points and conclusions.

30. Read through one more time for overall readability.

31. Run your spelling and grammar check.

32. Save and send ? but be careful to send the right file! I accidentally turned in my rough draft once instead of the completed final. Luckily this was with one of my oldest clients, so they contacted me and asked me for the real article. A new client would simply have assumed complete incompetence on my part.

33. And for the final tip: everything gets easier with practice. Good thing, too.

About The Author

Christine Taylor is president of Keyword Copywriting, which helps marketing and PR pros leverage their relationships with technology clients. E-mail her at chris@keywordcopy.com, call her at 760-249-6071, or check out Keyword's Website at www.keywordcopy.com.

---

How to Effectively Hire a Ghost Writer

In today's busy world, whether your business is large or... Read More

How To Write Persuasive Articles

You may be wondering what persuasive writing has to do... Read More

Exposing Your Expertise

Writing and leveraging articles is my most successful strategy for... Read More

How To Massively Multiply Your Web Exposure AND Position Yourself As An Expert

What's the quickest, easiest way to get exposure for your... Read More

10 Ways To Generate Highly Read Article Ideas

1. Participate in chat rooms related to your targeted audience.... Read More

Theres More Than One Way To Carve This Turkey

Although this may sound like a funny metaphor, if you... Read More

Article Marketing 101: The Perfect Author Resource Box

If you want to really make your article "SELL" then... Read More

A Writers Glossary (Part One)

Find definitions from A to G! A About... Read More

How to use Articles to Boost Your Online Presence

Writing articles is one of the best ways to get... Read More

Writing Articles that Get Read

Writing articles is one of the best and most effective... Read More

Interviews with Well-Known Ezine Writers #2: - John Colanzi

MS: John, you must be one of the most prolific... Read More

How To Edit Your Articles As You Write

Increase your ezine subscribers by submitting articles once or twice... Read More

Why You Need an Article-Marketing Strategy before Posting a Single Article Online II

This is Part 2 of a 2 part article -... Read More

Get High Quality Traffic by Writing Articles

One of the best ways to promote your website is... Read More

Do I Really Need To Write Articles For E-zines?

When I was first advised to start writing articles, this... Read More

The Benefits of Publishing Articles to Build Big Ticket Marketing Relationships

Ok, today we are going to talk about one of... Read More

Writing for the Internet - How to Market Yourself on the Web

Writing articles for online newsletters and websites can be a... Read More

Why Internet Marketing Free Articles Traffic Can Earn You More Sales Than Pay-Per-Click Leads

To be successful at any affiliate marketing program, you not... Read More

Checklist for Writing Articles That Get Read

When writing articles for publication, it is important that you... Read More

In Search Of Ideas For Articles

Finding something to write about can be frustrating for all... Read More

Powerful Article Marketing Tips

If you have submitted your articles to EzineArticles.com you have... Read More

Create An Article Reference Box That Calls To Readers

There are two primary factors in creating a successful reference... Read More

How To Write an Ezine Article

Writing can be fraught at the best of times but... Read More

Bugaboos of Article Marketing in Web Content Management Systems (CMS)

One of the most common blunders by those using article... Read More

Promote Easily With The Two-Step

Here's a really simple way... to promote your online business... Read More

How I Manage My List of Where I Post Articles Online

Article Marketing Connects you Directly to Readers Even brilliantly-written articles... Read More

Free Reprint Articles That Will Interest Publishers - 4 Tips

Have you been writing and submitting your free reprint articles... Read More

Interviews with Well-Known Ezine Writers #3: - Shelley Lowery

MS: Shelley, you're an excellent person to talk to about... Read More

13 Techniques That Boosts The Power Of Your Resource Box!

***What is the Resource box?'Resource box' is an information box... Read More

Top 7 Tips For Submitting Articles Online

Online PR in the form of website and ezine article... Read More

Writing Articles, But Still Not Getting Traffic? Your Articles Suck ? But I Can Help! (Part 2)

Last time on "Because your articles suck" ? we discussed... Read More

Article Marketing Benefits Online Retailers

Strategically developing online content helps to ensure a small-business owner's... Read More

Promoting Your Affiliate Programs with Articles

If you are not creating articles for your website and... Read More