Just now I was reading my email and I have someone asking me how to write a good English article. She is Nadia from France (Salut Nadia, Je suis très heureux de vous aider). And this is the third email I’m receiving this month concerning that topic. This time instead of replying to the email, I decided to make a post about it.
Making An Analogy
Before I give some steps, I want to make an analogy to help you better understand the idea first.
Let’s say that Sadiya from Mauritius is going to stay forever abroad since her mum says she needs to wed a foreigner. What should be her responses? One of the first reactions, as a future wife, would be how would she dress up. Then she is worried about what she should be cooking, how she should talk..etc, etc. (Urm, I’m a male so obviously I might not get those female points right, but this is for the sake of Nadia)
Conclusions:
1) Before actually getting worried, she should decide where, in which country, she would be going – Decide about the ‘type‘ or ‘nature‘ of the place
2) Once selected, go and observe the lifestyle – ‘Observe the present styles‘
Ok, I just wanted to stress on 2 main points: ‘type‘ and ‘present styles‘
Steps To Write Good English Articles
1) Before actually writing good articles, you should first understand what type of article you are planning to write; is it a journalism article, a professional article, a review article or an article for a blog?
Because each of these types of articles have their own required writing styles, just as different countries have different lifestyles. That is, you cannot write blog articles the same way as you would write an article for a journal and vice versa..etc.
2) Once you know what kind of article you will be writing, search for related articles (google is your friend) and see how they are being written. Try to come up with a general style and try adapting your own. Make sure you respect any requirements/guidelines, if there are any.
3) Now, you need to confirm on what ‘title’ or ‘topic’ you will write
4) Brainstorm your own ideas + research on the net or any other sources
5) Finalise all main points on paper
6) Sit down and write your article in good english.
Here there’s another step of great concern. Do you actually know how to write good english? Do you possess good writing skills? It’s up to you to judge yourself. If you are confident enough, it’s great since you just need to sit down and write.
In case you are not really fluent in writing good english. You need to read some good english articles/tutorials and practice a bit. Then after your level of condidence rises, go back to writing your english article.
I have a series of articles which you can serve as referrence to write good english and writing in general:
How To Write Good English
Effective Writing Is A Key Ingredient To Success
Method For Presentation Of Topics
Writing the GP Essay – Write to convince!
Writing A Pillar Article – Know What Is A Pillar Article And What It Takes!
Good Writing Skills – The English Language basics
One Important thing: => You absolutely need to keep a good english dictionary handy and/or a translation dictionary.
7) Make sure you respect the number of words generally desirable for writing the article, proofread your work several times + make sure what you have written is indeed convincing and on track.
Voila! It appears simple, but the work and effort behind writing good articles, is enormous to be honest. Since writing good is not a simple task; it needs patience, passion, practice, practice and practice.
What are your approach to write a good english article? Do you share the same point of view as mine? Use the comment form below to add your part, I’ll be eager to hear from you.
