Want to become a successful writer? Easy. Just write an article a day.

Writing is a skill that demands the easy interaction of various parts of your brain. This interaction isn't developed without practice, nor does the interaction seem to remain steady unless you consistently practice --- unless you write every day.

=> Please write an article a day for seven days

I promise you, at the end of the seven days you will be a better writer - a writer primed for success, no matter what kinds of writing you do. You've been reading articles in newspapers, magazines and online for years. You know how it's done. Doing it will bring out that hidden knowledge you have and make it consciously usable.

Use the BEST formula below to get your articles written.

The BEST formula is an easy way to remember basic article structure. I discovered it in June Duncan Owen's book How To Write And Sell Articles, and I've been forever grateful, because it makes writing articles easy.

==> The BEST formula for writing articles

BEST is an acronym for ---

B --- Bait

E --- Explanation

S --- Step

T --- Termination

Let's take this step by step.

==> The BAIT

The BAIT is also known as the hook. It's an intriguing beginning for your article.

Pick up six different magazines, ones you have at home, or ones you go and buy. Look at the baits, the first couple of paragraphs, in each article in those six magazines. All the baits in the articles will be different.

Don't spend too long writing the bait for an article. I often write the bait after I've finished an article. When you're writing your seven articles for the next seven days --- and forever afterward --- don't be too enraptured or concerned with the bait paragraph or paragraphs. Your bait is important, but not so important that you stall over it, and never get around to writing the article.

==> The Explanation

This part of your article explains the article's subject, or thesis. If you're writing about a computer program, you can explain what the program does in a nutshell, or why the program is important. If you're writing a personality profile,

Sometimes you won't need an explanation, it will be covered in the article's headline and the bait.

==> The Step (s)

The Steps are your argument. They can be individual anecdotes, or pieces of evidence. If you're writing about a computer program, the Steps could be various ways of using the program, or how to get started with the program. If you're writing a profile, the Steps could be your subject's career, his family life, the details of his run for office, or the details of how he won the tennis championship, what others say about him, and so on.

I usually write the steps in any order, and then rearrange the order with appropriate transitions as I work through later drafts.

In a short article of 300 words, you won't have space for more than one Step.

==> The Termination

The ending of the article.

In the case of the article about the computer program, it could be how many people have bought the program, when the next version will be available, or where you can buy it.

In your personality profile, the ending could be a final quote from the subject.

A circular ending, when you manage to refer to the bait or the explanation in the ending, is satisfying, and is an easy way to wrap the article up without working too hard.

Although the BAIT formula seems like a simple formula, it will release your creativity. It gives you a structure, which is always the hardest task in writing an article. So go ahead. Write an article a day for the next seven days. At the end of the seven days, you'll be a successful writer. I promise.

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