Okay, so I got a call from the client saying that the article needs to be submitted in half an hour. I have worked really hard all day and am dead tired. What do I do? Well, I could always say no, but let us assume that I really need this assignment. So, okay, I say ‘Sure!’…
You could ask me why any article could be that important. There are a few reasons for that. One is that article submissions on a blog or a site need to be very regular. Consistency is the key. If the articles aren’t submitted in regularly, it affects the ranking.
My client might also want to be the first (or one of the first) to write about some event. This could drive a lot of traffic his way. Time may be of essence here.
Either way, ours is not to question why, ours is but to do or die! So I plough on and plan my strategy!
1) Know what you want to write about: This must be based on the client’s brief. If I have been given a brief, I try to follow it as well as I can. If I haven’t been given a brief, my first step is to plan what I want to write and how I want to write it.
2) Research: Writing always comes easier to me if I know what I am writing about. When it is a subject I know well, it takes me less time and less effort to write about it. If I don’t know anything about it, I try to read up as much as I can, so that for the next 20 minutes, I can claim to be an expert on that subject (Never mind that I might not remember anything about it the next morning!)
3) Plan the Story: I always start writing it out in my head before I put it on paper (or on MS-Word). This makes it easier to start, and believe you me, starting is the hardest part! Once I start, I can go on… and on… and on!
4) Break it up into points: I often list the points and then start building them up. This helps me keep the flow of the story, helps me remember everything that I need to include, and makes it less daunting.
5) Write it!: I have realised after so many years of writing, that the only way to get a story done is to write it!
I am sure that most writers would be looking at these points and going ‘Wait a minute! That’s how you would write ANY story!’. But see, the trick is to break it down into steps, and that makes the entire process of writing when you are half-asleep so much easier!
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