Writing an article and distributing it, in the press or on the web, is never easy. However, you just have to get started to get there. We must learn to dare to publish! Each expert in his field has a sufficient knowledge base on which he can rely and from which ideas can emerge. All professionals are trained in their daily exchanges or in meetings to argue and defend their points of view. Knowing how to convince your audience is an essential skill. Building an article is based on the same principles!
Steve Jobs said: If you’re a carpenter and you’re making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood for the back of the cabinet, even if it’s against the wall and no one is going to see it. You will know it will be there. So you are going to use a wonderful piece of wood. For you to sleep well at night, aesthetics, quality must be imperatives from start to finish.”
To write, it is not necessary to have done advanced literary studies but to rely on a base of solid ideas! To convince your readership, you have to show your convictions and find an original angle. Communicating offers opportunities for exchanges with other professionals, it’s a chance to seize!
1. Find an idea
Steve Jobs said: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is to live with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And above all, have the courage to follow your heart and your intuition. »
Before starting to write, you have to ask yourself about the interest of the subject and how it will stand out from previous publications. The ideas will arrive in rebounds, you must not be afraid of the obstacles that will arise. Writing them down allows you to enter a cycle of permanent creativity. Flanges will assemble or generate other publications. Do not hesitate to abandon some of them.
Identifying your target readership is essential to bring value to it. Whatever the medium of communication, whatever the audience, the way of dealing with the subject will be its strength. To stand out, do not hesitate to leave the traditional framework by finding an original approach. Once the theme has been found, it must be given time to mature in order to enrich it. Don’t hesitate to talk about it to test your interest and don’t be stubborn if it turns out to be a dead end.
2. Make an impression
Steve Jobs said:Quality is more important than quantity. A home run is much better than two doubles.”
In the modern world, impact on social networks is the key to being relayed. Thus, they cultivate the art of title and conciseness. Words have a formidable weight and offer multiple possibilities of relay. The title will serve both to attract readership but also to correctly index the article in search engines. In the art of sobriety, the Japanese have shown the way with the Haïkus, these very brief poems that mark the spirits.
Depending on the distribution media, the target readership, the tone must be different. These few words must carry the message according to the times and trends. Through his imagination, the author finds the way that makes the difference.
3. Be convinced
Steve Jobs said: Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your inner voice. »
Like a conductor, you have to guide readers through the flow of your ideas and be convincing. Relying on concrete facts, examples, reinforces the effect of conviction. Originality should not lead to error, it is through the prior acquisition of skills that the ability to train others in its wake passes. With digital, writing still has a strength. The weight of the words allows them to be transmitted to the greatest number.
An article is organized around a few strong ideas and despite the development of conversational agents like ChatGPT, there is still an infinite space to share ideas. To emerge, you have to succeed in finding the group that will accompany the broadcast. Collective strength is essential to send a message in a network. Finding the heads of nodes that will propagate it is essential.
4. Use supports
Steve Jobs said: Today, Apple will reinvent the telephone “.
By catching the eye with an object, a quote, an image, a video or any other medium, attention awakens. Confucius believed that ” a picture is worth a thousand words “. Free image banks are available because care must be taken copyright associates. Citing your sources is essential to avoid any problems.
On social networks and in search engines, the image associated with the article will be transported, especially if relevant keywords are associated. During reading, the user experience is enriched thanks to these supports. You have to know how to play it to catch the eye. Everyone remembers the object presented by Steve Jobs at the launch of the iPhone. He knew how to create the event and make it unforgettable.
5. Impact through words
Steve Jobs said: This has been one of my mantras – Focus and Simplicity. Keeping it simple can be harder than making it complex because you have to work hard to clear your mind and design a simple product. »
As with the title, development also involves simplification. Do not hesitate to cut the sentences into several parts. Shorten them to increase their readability and impact. Before publishing, proofreading the text to rework it is essential. The first times, you have to share it to optimize it. Very often, from conciseness comes clarity and fluidity. Deleting sentences is essential to avoid overly long texts which sometimes get lost in a maze of ideas.
A phrase or idea that sounded good and ended in a dead end can be saved for a later article. Terms that are too technical or complex must be forgotten or accompanied by explanations.
6. Limit parties
Steve Jobs said: People think that focusing means saying ‘yes’ to the important things. But this is not its deeper meaning. It’s about saying ‘no’ to the hundred other good ideas out there. You must choose carefully. I’m as proud of the things we didn’t do as the projects we accomplished. »
An introduction, between 2 and 4 parts, then a conclusion are sufficient for most articles. Each party must develop an idea with sentences that can be extracted on social networks. In many cases, readers will only read the title and the introduction. To make you want to continue, you have to heal them and reveal enough elements to attract. The shorter the article, the more impactful it should be. We must never forget that an article is the gateway to other articles and that the reader will come back if he has been satisfied with the content.
The more technical the subject, the more explanation it will require. A subject of this type is intended above all for experts who have mastered the elements and need to find a complement to their knowledge. Competition is important with the mass of items already produced, knowing how to stand out is key. General subjects meet a wider audience. An original approach will facilitate its dissemination.
7. Playing with time
Steve Jobs said: I am convinced that the half that separates successful entrepreneurs from unsuccessful ones is purely persistence. »
Many American magazines do not hesitate to republish articles long after, to position them in ” best of or to share them in foreign versions. From the construction of the article, its temporality must be defined. Either it will focus on a topical subject which by definition will be ephemeral, or it will have the will to stand out from a temporality and will be able to remain alive as long as the subject does not age. It is still not uncommon today to re-read articles on management, communication, social networks which many years after their first publication remain credible.
To remain active, timeless items must above all be qualitative. Sometimes they require minor adaptations but often they can be shared and remain online for years.
8. Tell stories
Steve Jobs said: “The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. The storyteller defines the vision, values and commitment of an entire generation to come. »
By including an article in a story, it is likely to make more of an impression on readers’ minds. Do not hesitate to use an unexpected context or quotes that will enrich the sentences. Concrete examples are also effective in explaining complex elements to the reader.
In my articles, I don’t hesitate to rely on my hobbies such as comics or on the books that I like such as the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. They are a source of inspiration and of a different contextualization. It’s a great way to grab attention. The only rule is to integrate these elements into a coherent whole.
9. Conclude
Steve Jobs said: Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It’s best to admit them quickly, and focus on improving your other innovations. »
The conclusion must allow both to conclude the question posed in the title or the introduction, to open the dialogue with the reader and to bounce towards new articles. The reader can also use it to search for other information related to the article. Its size should be proportionate to the previous paragraphs.
Do not hesitate to end with a strong message or a question that will mark the spirits. As in a movie, it’s the last seconds that will make you want to talk about it.
10. Interact
Steve Jobs said: “My role model for business is the Beatles. It was four guys who kept each other’s negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other out, sort of. And the total was greater than the sum of the individualities. Great things in business are never done by one person. They are accomplished by a team. »
The promotion of an article is essential. Limiting the action to the publication is like making a cheesy bellow that will fall quickly. Especially given the mass of productions available on the internet! Interacting with readers on social networks creates a dynamic of rebounds. Like a ricochet, as long as the stone is not definitively buried in the water, it can bounce back.
By making items timeless, their lifespan will be longer. They can even be republished several times on different media that do not require exclusivity!
Writing articles is like a marathon. An editorial line is built over the long term and expertise is not enough to arouse interest. The short-term audience made up of peaks that come down immediately must be supplemented by a lasting objective. You have to know how to maintain a relationship with the readers. Social networks offer multiple solutions to interact and facilitate the construction of a personal brand. By giving of yourself, the ricochet lasts even longer. Memory retains a qualitative activity. The creative process must therefore be built to avoid turning it into a sandcastle! Steve Jobs said: He who does not invest in the long term will only know the short term.. »
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