How to write articles on unfamiliar topics
Writing articles is one of the best ways for you to get yourself exposed on the Internet. Through writing articles and placing them at content sites and articles directories, you build for yourself a reputation as an expert in your field or on a topic. This in turn drives people to your website or blog. But some people have questions about how to write articles and they aren't sure how to go about it.
Some people wonder what to do when they're attempting to write articles about a topic which they know little if anything about. The simple answer to this is: do a lot of research first.
But to elaborate on that a little--begin by choosing words and phrases that are associated with the topic and entering them into a search engine like WebCrawler or Google. Click on the websites that they come up with and start doing some reading. You may also want to use the search box at some of the articles directories you'll be submitting to and see if they have any articles on your topic. Use your instincts to tell you which sites are offering the better information.
You'll want to keep an electronic notebook or notepad open to jot down passages and ideas that you find to be good ones. During the note-taking process don't worry about "plagiarism". Just cut and paste whatever good stuff you find at this point.
After you get a feel for your topic and get the sense that you've gained some understanding of it, you can competently write about it.
Some writers wonder, at this point, how they can avoid accidentally just copying from their source material. Here, the answer is: read your notes, but then minimize your notebook or note pad and write off the top of your head. When you are doing the actual writing of your original article, don't even cut and paste from your notes into the body of your text unless you are going to be using a quote. Then, if you do quote a source, put the quote in quotation marks and make sure you give credit to the original source for the statement, such as by beginning with, "According to X..." and then placing your quote.
Just keep in mind that notes are for referencing; the way you stay original is by writing in your own unique style as you convey the information. If you feel that you may have got some information wrong you can always double-check and make necessary corrections in the same way.
Remember that information is information and it can be shared but it can't be plagiarized. What get plagiarized are others' unique styles (through word-for-word copying) and others' ideas about information. So just stick to the facts and write from your own head, and in your own way and you'll never have any problems.
Some people wonder what to do when they're attempting to write articles about a topic which they know little if anything about. The simple answer to this is: do a lot of research first.
But to elaborate on that a little--begin by choosing words and phrases that are associated with the topic and entering them into a search engine like WebCrawler or Google. Click on the websites that they come up with and start doing some reading. You may also want to use the search box at some of the articles directories you'll be submitting to and see if they have any articles on your topic. Use your instincts to tell you which sites are offering the better information.
You'll want to keep an electronic notebook or notepad open to jot down passages and ideas that you find to be good ones. During the note-taking process don't worry about "plagiarism". Just cut and paste whatever good stuff you find at this point.
After you get a feel for your topic and get the sense that you've gained some understanding of it, you can competently write about it.
Some writers wonder, at this point, how they can avoid accidentally just copying from their source material. Here, the answer is: read your notes, but then minimize your notebook or note pad and write off the top of your head. When you are doing the actual writing of your original article, don't even cut and paste from your notes into the body of your text unless you are going to be using a quote. Then, if you do quote a source, put the quote in quotation marks and make sure you give credit to the original source for the statement, such as by beginning with, "According to X..." and then placing your quote.
Just keep in mind that notes are for referencing; the way you stay original is by writing in your own unique style as you convey the information. If you feel that you may have got some information wrong you can always double-check and make necessary corrections in the same way.
Remember that information is information and it can be shared but it can't be plagiarized. What get plagiarized are others' unique styles (through word-for-word copying) and others' ideas about information. So just stick to the facts and write from your own head, and in your own way and you'll never have any problems.
