How To Write Fail-Proof Articles

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Overview

Sarah Cy writes as a contributor to a blog called The Writing Cooperative, with suggestions on building an article fit for impatient readers and social sharing.

Who's this for?

This checklist is for writers, content marketers, and anyone else who needs to write good, quality articles. If you have a blog or are looking to make one, you'll need to build a habit of writing, this checklist will help build a routine where you create, edit, and revise before hitting that publish button.

How to use this template

Scan the contents of the checklist and decide whether this may provide value to you. If you would sincerely commit to some or all of the tasks, you can COPY and PASTE the checklist into any Todoist project, section, or task. Or you can IMPORT this project directly into your Todoist account (requires Todoist Premium).

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Fail-Proof Articles (Checklist Inside)
Writing is half science, and half art. Writing brilliant, popular articles does involve a dose of luck, maybe, but luck is like salt — it has to be sprinkled ON something to taste good. In other…
The Writing CooperativeSarah Cy

The Checklist

Everything you need to write exceptional articles that grab readers like sumo wrestlers and spread like viruses

How to Select Your Brilliant Idea (And Discard the Clunkers)

  • Do I have interesting research or a personal breakthrough on this topic?
  • Do I have an opinion on this topic?
  • What valuable thing do I want my readers to take away from this?

How to Hit Your Headlines Out of the Park

  • A) Headlines MUST promise a mouthwatering benefit
  • B) Headlines need Power Words to pack a punch
  • C) Headlines must be shareable
  • Why should my reader share my article?
  • Who could they share my article with?

How to Write Introductions and Conclusions That Bear-Hug Your Readers and Don’t Let Go

  • Inspiring Introductions
  • Crafting Captivating Conclusions

How to Sculpt the Body of Your Article

  • Organizing Your Ideas for Best Effect
  • The Subtle Significance of Subtitles
  • The Power of Quotes
  • Visually Appealing Articles Matter
  • Use short(er) paragraphs. No more than 3–4 lines per paragraph, ideally.
  • Use white space wisely (Medium allows you to separate sections with three dots … )
  • Include relevant, interesting images, not just at the top of the article, but throughout the article if need be.
  • Supplement your ideas in visual form, either with photographs, infographics, embedded videos, or diagrams for easier processing

After You’ve Written Your Article: DON’T HIT PUBLISH!

  • Send your article to a trusted friend or two for feedback.

  • Alternately, read the article out loud to yourself.

  • Or put the article into a software that can read it aloud for you (Google translate can help with this) and listen for mistakes or awkward phrasing.

  • Keep track of the types of mistakes you are repeatedly make (typos? overly-long sentences?) and pay special attention to those when you edit.

  • If you’re really serious about making this your best article ever, repeat this wait-then-edit process, until the article is as polished as you can make it.

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