Top Ten Things to Check Before Posting an Article

1. Check for awkward sentences, or sentences that just don’t sound right, and try rewording them. You want your sentences to be clear and precise so that the reader can understand you. It may help to read them aloud.

2. Avoid using too many clichés, you want your article to be interesting, but not over the top. Furthermore, don’t overdo it on the exclamation points.

3. Be careful to avoid humorous comments that may be offensive to some. Remember, just because you think it’s funny, doesn’t mean your readers will.

4. Certain words go together. For example “a person needs to spend time doing the things he loves.” NOT “A person needs to spend time doing the things they love.” Make sure the pronoun and the noun agree.

5. Avoid writing articles that you know are from a biased perspective, unless it is clearly an opinion article.

6. Keep the article interesting. Find ways to add creativity to a sentence. For example: instead of “Mrs. Jones paid her bills” try “Mrs. Jones tackled the towering stack of bills on her desk.” Which sentence sounds better?

7. If you are defining something, don’t use the word you are defining in the definition of it. For example, don’t say “A virtual assistant is an assistant that…” Find a different word.

8. Use a thesaurus. Try to find different ways to say something. Using the same words can make an article dull. For example, instead of saying “helpful” more than once try words such as “beneficial, advantageous, profitable,” etc.

9. Don’t always trust spell check to fix your grammatical errors. If you know you have trouble with grammar, ask someone else to read your article before posting it. Feed off of each other’s ideas.

10. Integrate things like quotes, or anecdotes into your article to keep it interesting. For example, if your article is about music, include something like: Victor Hugo once said that, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.” Try www.thinkexist.com if you can’t find a quote. ]]> http://www.tlcservicesonline.com/2008/05/newsletter-tips/feed/ 0