Is There Art In Your Articles?

Even though I originally trained as a journalist I regard myself as a creative writer and my scripts for theatre, radio and TV outweigh my journalism in print and radio by a stretch. So, when I approached the writing of online articles to promote my website I had to ask myself which hat to wear.

On the surface this seems obvious, an article is a work of non-fiction, transmitting information from the writer to the reader, and therefore the journalistic hat should be taken from the closet and dusted off. But, being the obtuse bugger that I am, I tried to inject some creativity into my articles, so that the reader would have an enjoyable experience rather than just an informative one.

On analysis the article splits into three convenient sections and it is amazing how often this structure appears in writing, especially in the three act drama. Superficially this is simply the beginning, the middle and the end. An introduction with a strong hook to catch and hold the reader’s attention, a middle containing the body of the information you wish to transmit, and a memorable ending that will linger in the reader’s memory.

Within a longer dramatic piece one would have the space to create a three part sub-structure within one’s beginning, middle and end, but in the 500 words I limit my articles to, this is impractical. Rather the knowledge should be passed on as simply as possible in the voice the writer chooses. For me, I try to write in as light-hearted a fashion as possible as I think this is appropriate when my subject matter, writing, is not a matter of life and death. If I were to write something of more import I’m sure I would aspire to be more sombre.

In the end run my articles should be designed to encourage the reader to browse to my website and consider taking one of my creative writing resources and I therefore have to write to a standard that would let my readers know that I can write well. At the same time I can’t write so well that I scare of potential clients. Again, my website stats show that most of my readers are American and I live in fear that they’re not going to understand my British English. Please do let me know if I’m failing to communicate. It’s a hard enough job trying to second guess your readers.

The rules that article directory sites impose can be daunting and I’ve run foul of a few in trying to be creative within the article context. I always strive to make my style match my content and my most successful was about the writer’s voice, where I adopted three voices to show what could be achieved. That, being a little different, hung about a few pending folders for a while, but the readers vindicated me.

And in the end run that is all that matters, the opinion of the readers. If I inform you, great. If I entertain you at the same time, even better. If decide to let me train you, best of all.

By: Gurmeet Mattu

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Gurmeet Mattu is a comedy writer with an award winning 25 year writing career. He currently offers free factsheets, critiques and online writing training at www.scriptschool.co.uk