Article Writing Research and Idea Tips — Going Beyond Wikipedia — Part 1

By Dana Prince

Some people who slag off web content writers claim that there’s too much garbage content online and that too many people who write for money do it just for the money and couldn’t care less about the quality. Some ghostwriters have low work standards when selling writing that won’t have their name on it. In fact, I once hired a person to work on my writing team but found a comment by her on a writing forum that said she couldn’t be bothered to put much effort in when the work was ghost written. I cringed and promptly lost her email address.

Too many people rewrite, spin, and regurgitate information that’s already out there and it gives hard-working writers a bad name. Too many people pad their articles as they’re getting paid by the word, know nothing about the topic, and can’t be bothered to take the time to write something that’s worth reading so they just re-phrase basic articles that are already out there. Today’s post isn’t really a rant (despite how it sounds so far). Today’s post is intended to provide some food for thought for those starting out in freelance writing, especially ghostwriting.

I try to remember two things when writing:

1. Write tight. It’s on the bottom of every project brief for one of my regular clients.

2. A quote by Stephen King, “You must not come lightly to the blank page.” Enough said.

I’m not going to say that everything I write online is worthy of a Pulitzer. I know that’s not true but I will say that I do my best to give a ghostwriting client work that they won’t be embarrassed to put their own name on.

If you’re a freelance writer, you know that time is money so it might be tempting to just whip an article for a client together but if you’re not going past basic sources like Wikipedia for information… you’re doing your clients, your own writing career, and the blessed Internet an injustice.

Sure, Wikipedia is useful and if that’s all you use, your article might even get earn you a “good job” from your client because your article is free of typos, but if you want your articles to be better than okay, I say…”Write it like your own name is on it.”

Writing Research and Article Writing Tips:

For new writers, I suggest you use at least two and preferably more than two sources to come up with content for an article. Sure, there will be times when you can write off the top of your head or when the client’s directions make it clear that they’re just looking for search engine fodder but if you make it a rule to try to write articles that provide actual value to readers you’ll develop a great reputation and get new clients through word of mouth referrals, too.

Almost anyone can get paid to write a 500-word article about something but it usually takes more than just Wikipedia as a research source to develop a reputation and profitable writing career. In my next post, I’ll share some of my own sources of writing inspiration and research.

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(photo credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Szorstki)