Year+10+Writing

 http://jayjones.edublogs.org/

Writing a Feature Article

**What to do before writing your article:** 


 * 1. Choose a topic**

Sometimes it's difficult to come up with a topic that you feel inspired to write about. If I still don't have a subject I feel passionate about, I will visit forums, read newsletters or the newspaper or magazines related to my field of interest. I may also talk to friends to see what they are interested in reading about. **2. Keyword research** 

Another goal of article writing is to make your article search engine friendly. This means including searchable keywords that search engines will spider. Therefore researching appropriate keywords before weaving them into your article is crucial.

Use the keyword suggestion tool at http://www.digitalpoint.com/tools/suggestion/ to find which words or phrases are searched on most often. It will display the top results for both overture and wordtracker.

Include your researched keywords into your article being careful not to repeat them so often that it won't read smoothly. You want to your article to appeal to your readers also.

article of 500 words than one of 1000 words.
 * 3. Article length** - begin with just writing out your article without worrying too much about the length. It's more important to let all your ideas flow out of your mind first. If you think it's getting too long split it up into two or more articles. It's often easier to write a short

Most article publishers prefer articles between 500 to 800 words and will not accept articles any longer than that. Others prefer longer articles over 800 words so check with the publisher before you submit your article for publication.

You can easily check how long your article is by placing it in MS Word. Then go to "tools" - "word count" to get a read out of the length

HOW TO DO IT... **1. Create an outline for your article**  Your article should include a headline, introduction, body and a conclusion.


 * Headline** - make this as catchy as possible because your reader will read this first then decide if he or she will continue reading the rest of the article. i.e.

"7 Highly Effective Ways to Gain Instant Traffic to Your Web Site".

with the problem.
 * Introduction** - introduce the problem you will be discussing in your article or write a short story of your experience


 * Body** - discuss all the solutions to the problem you outlined in the introduction. Break up each point into separate paragraphs and keep them to about 5 lines. You may want to create a sub-heading for each point. This makes it easier to read as most people will scan your article when reading it.


 * Conclusion** - this should include a brief summary of your article and may be a call for the reader to take action.

the reader to quickly access the resources without having to re-read the article. **Write with style**  - write in an informal style, like you would explain your topic to a friend. Don't worry too much about correcting mistakes or how it sounds. This may interrupt the flow of thoughts you want to write about. You can always correct them later.
 * Resources** - I sometimes include this section if I haven't included it already within the body of the article. I want


 * 3. Take a break**

After you have written the article, come back to it afterseveral hours, a day or several days. This will enable you to take a fresh look at it, find new mistakes or even want to rewrite a paragraph or two to make it flow better.


 * 4. Check your article**

After writing your article, run it through a spell checker first, then read it through a few times to check for spelling mistakes the spell checker may have missed and to correct the grammar and punctuation. Make sure it flows well by clearly identifying the problem, providing a solution and concluding with an action step or steps. Get someone else to read it over. Often they will find the mistakes that you missed.


 * 5. Format your article**

You will need to format your sentence length at 60-65 words per line before submitting it for publication. This will enable people to read it easily.

Writing an Editorial  You need to organise your information in 4 steps. Don't use "I believe". Reword the sentence to make a strong statement.   4. Draw a conclusion You need to develop a strong conclusion which may be your proposal of a good idea or a solution to the issue.
 * 1)  State the subject and your position on the subject in the introduction.
 * 2)  Discuss opposing points of view.
 * 3) Prove your position with supporting details.

Here is a good link to look at http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/pbmiddle/environment/editor.htm

Writing Activity - Remember there are many different types of writing, known as genres.

Writing to describe an event will be different from writing to describe a person and their characteristics. But these will be completely different again from a report in Science or recalling events for a news article.

We will try to cover as many of these as possible in our continuing writing programme.

A rule of thumb when beginning a short writing task is to specify a clear PURPOSE, AUDIENCE and FORM: 1. PURPOSE What language you will use. E.g instruct, explain, describe, argue, persuade, recommend, propose, invite, seek advice…. 2. AUDIENCE Who are you doing this for or to. E.g. 3. FORM What shape the writing should take. E.g. a letter, memo, dialogue, skit.
 * a member of your class
 * your parents
 * for an adult to apply the knowledge to a practical problem
 * a professional academic

JUST FOR FUN - Try this activity

See if you are allowed to access this site - it is very good for thinking practice. http://pbskids.org/sagwa/games/tangrams/