How to approach writing an article?
When you purchase a gift you do it fo, someone. When you design a product, you do it for someone. Even when you write an article, you’ll have to write it for someone. Which means you need to gather ‘who are you writing for?’.
Determine why you are writing an article.
Let’s swap writing with gifting. ‘Why would you gift someone?’ It is to express how you feel about them and hence you’d be very careful in choosing your gift. Is it to say sorry, farewell, thank you, happy birthday, teacher’s day or proposing for a date, or to get the other person to say ‘I do’ 😉 So, be very careful about why you want to write an article and for whom.
Did your agency or content manager just prescribe that you should 8 blogs in a month? There is enough shit out there for people to consume. Do not add to the noise that is already out there.
Develop a structure that encapsulates the thinking of your target audience.
Don’t miss the fact that your article is a lengthy argument that you want to win. You add sources, quotes, validations, use cases, proof of concept, vision, bundled belief systems, a customer’s quote, or whatever. But at the end or even the middle of the article, the idea is for you to win the argument. Convince the other person that you are right. Influence them to make a decision that you want them to make.
Determine the length.
Long vs short.
Not either one would work for all scenarios. Not everyone will enjoy a pop-up card, a jack in the box, or a box-in-the-box where you keep opening until you find something too small. If you are gifting a car, just give the key and the job is done. If you are gifting a bouquet of flowers, don’t create a treasure hunt just to find out that the flowers are dry and whittled 😉
Create it for the channel where your audience exists.
If you had to say ‘thank you’ to your sister, boss, husband, or your kid, you’d choose a completely different gift. Also, you would choose to wrap it differently and have it delivered in a way that it is found and appeases them.
Writing is only a form of expression. End of the day you are telling a story. Learn more about how to transform your writing into storytelling.
Follow ‘Off the Record’ a series that addresses topics that are only spoken in the break-out area for real, and not in a meeting. Published every Wednesday on Linkedin.