Tackling The Article: How to Write a Piece

So you’ve picked up an article – now what?

In the words of the great Douglas Adams, Don’t Panic! I approach almost every 200-800 word article in the same fashion and it seems to work pretty well for me. You can extend this framework for larger pieces, obviously, but I find after about 800 words or so, the piece suffers without a common linking thread running through it.
Step 1: Take the total number of words and subtract 100. Take the remaining amount of words and divide by 100. (e.g. for a 500 word piece, 500-100 = 400, divided by 100 gives you 4)

Step 2: Take that number (4, in our example) and come up with that many unique subheader titles/concepts on the subject you’re writing about.

Step 3: Use those initial 100 words we set aside and split them – 50 goes to the intro, 50 goes to the closing.

Step 4: Write your piece, using your subheaders as a guide, and come up with 100 words to go under each.
This is what the finished product will look like, more or less (please ignore the terrible grammar and completely unprofessional tone here, I’m just attempting to show structure):

***

This Article is about Cats! (< THIS IS THE TITLE)

It’s hard to deny that cats are pretty darn awesome. They are fluffy, pee in a glorified sandbox, and bring you mangled rodent halves to express their love. Words….  (< THIS IS THE INTRO)

Cats: Fastidious Felines (< THIS IS A SUBHEADER TITLE)

Cats clean themselves often and cover their own poop, making them a clear winner in the race for coolest companion. Words word words… This is 100 words here even though it really doesn’t look like it no really it truly is

The Marvelous Meow ( < OH HEY LOOK ANOTHER SUBHEADER)

Cats love vocalizing, especially at 3am and for no reason because hey, you didn’t really need sleep did you, silly human? This is another 100 words, believe it or not words words words…

In conclusion, cats are amazing, graceful creatures that can instantly have their dignity compromised with the addition of a laser pointer. Words… (< THIS IS THE CLOSER)

***

If you follow this rough outline, even tricky subjects can be navigated with ease. Concentrate on each step, one at a time, and don’t let the thought of THE WHOLE ARTICLE (dum dum dummmmm) overwhelm you. You can do it!

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Freelance Writing Site Info: Constant-Content.com Review

Freelance Writer Guide Asks: Is Constant-Content.com legit or is Constant-Content.com a scam?

If you freelance with any frequency, sooner or later you’re going to end up with orphaned articles – pieces of writing that, for whatever reason, haven’t moved on. Sometimes a client ends up flaking out or rejecting a piece, or maybe you were itching to write about underwater basket weaving and the words just flowed. Sure, you could keep these on your hard drive in the off chance that you’ll find a use for them, but where’s the fun in that? Getting your pieces out there can only help your credibility and wallet in the long run.
Constant-Content.com is set up to be an eBay-like sales platform for prewritten articles. You’ll need to click a button on the left (circled in the picture below) and  pass a short 5 question quiz to prove you know what you’re doing.

Take your time. Read each question carefully, Google grammar rules to double check if you have to. These aren’t easy questions for the rule-impaired.

Once you’re in, you can start putting up your stray articles or writing fresh ones for the marketplace. All articles need to be in 12 pt Times New Roman and in a word doc, so convert if you need to. I recommend adding as many “tags” as you can possibly think of, as this will help your work pop up in search results within the site. Submitted articles can take anywhere from a single day to the better part of a week to approve and be posted, so be patient.

Once your work is up on the site, market your heart out! I give all of my posted Constant Content works the hashtag treatment on Twitter at least once a day, more often than not. Doesn’t take long, and if I sell an article a month it’s more money than I had before. I also use my Constant Content portfolio to demonstrate to clients what I’m capable of – the image-based writing preview system closely mirrors my own and the site’s “log in to view” requirement helps scare off the scrapers and thieves.

Is selling through Constant Content going to produce a liveable income by itself? Probably not.

Is it, however, a vital part of a diversified approach to finding freelance work? You bet!