Writing Articles (Part 11 of 21)

Don't distract readers.

Let's look again at reading two magazines. As you focus on each article, here’s another question to ask: Is there anything that distracts me from a single focus? Less experienced writers tend to provide too much information and thus divert the power of the message.

Once you have a single-focused idea, you can state it in one sentence. Here are examples:

* If you’re considering adoption, here are seven things you need to know.

* People see the patient, but the caregiver becomes invisible.

* I didn't want to forgive Betty, but Betty forgave me.

If I can't reduce an article, scene, or chapter 

into one statement, 

I probably haven't focused.

Writing Articles (Part 4 of 21)

What is a good article?

Let’s start with a definition. An article is a short piece that focuses on one idea; a chapter is a short piece that focuses on one idea. In the chapter of a novel, several things may happen but the chapter has a single purpose and stays with it. It's just as true with a chapter of a nonfiction book in which you may explain five ways to avoid a heart attack. All five methods stay with the same theme.

Many writers don't understand that simple premise: Focus on one idea.

Here’s an easy way to see how this works. Pick out two magazines. (I suggest you avoid ezines. Many of them are badly written and poorly edited.) Read three articles in each magazine.

As you read, ask yourself: What is the one point the author makes? The title should help. If it’s a how-to article called "Three Ways to Lose Weight," that points the direction. If it’s something such as "The Day Dad Cried," everything in that piece needs to point to a single, poignant event with no distracting information about where Dad lived when he was fifteen (unless it’s relevant) or the fact that he went to school with Brad Pitt's mother's younger brother.

Open a novel at the beginning of any chapter and the principle works. If you look at books from 100 years ago, they often had a table of contents for fiction that told readers what they were about to read in each chapter.

When I complete an article or chapter, 

I will have focused on one idea.