But, if you are writing about an unfamiliar topic, or having trouble getting started, or just want to streamline the process, an outline can be the answer to your problems. Outlines are also great for collaborative efforts, such as group projects for work or modern day classes, which encourage group participation.

Some people shy away from outlines because they seem complicated. After all,  how often do we usually use Roman Numerals?  But, the truth of the matter is, using an outline can streamline your writing process, and jump start your writing, with an easy to replicate methodical process.

Outlines usually have four main components.  The first component is parallelism. For instance you will create headings using Roman Numerals, each heading will contain at least two sub headings, which you can mark with capitol letters. It is your goal to preserve each heading and subheading with parallel structure, which means if your first heading is a verb, your second heading should be a verb.

You also want to coordinate between your headings, which means that all of the headings should have the same amount of significance. All of the subheadings should have the same amount of significance as well, but it should be less significant than the headings.

Subordination is where the information in the headings is more general and the information in the sub headings is more specific. Proper division should be used as well, which just means that each heading should be divided into two or more parts.

Creating an outline will help you organize your thoughts and present them in a logical fashion. This can be useful for creating logical papers and speeches. The outline will also help you to define boundaries, and groups, and construct an ordered overview of your work.

When creating an outline it is helpful to determine the purpose of your paper, your audience, and develop your thesis. If you have trouble getting started just break everything down into easy logical steps.

First start your brainstorming. You can do this in your head, on a digital file, on a notebook, or you can use mind mapping software such as freemind. Then group related ideas together to get organized.

Then it is easy to arrange your material in subsections, from general to specific, or abstract to concrete. Once you have all of your information down, you can label it by creating your main headings and sub headings.

When creating an Alphanumeric Outline the following formatting is used in this order:

• Roman Numerals
• Capitalized Letters
• Arabic Numerals
• Lowercase  Letters

To the uninitiated the thought of creating an outline may seem like more work than actually writing the article. But, once you begin to use it as a tool to make your writing easier, you will discover that your research is faster and your writing is easier. You will get more done and procrastinate less when you have an easy to implement process for each writing task.

The most time consuming part of this is the content creation and frankly creating content for niche sites can get pretty boring. So most of us turn to outsourcing for a lot of our content. Unfortunately this is much more difficult than it sounds.

My adventures in outsourcing article, is long overdue and I’ll come out with it soon. But for now, I just need to explain a couple of things that many niche writers just don’t get.

A smart marketer will put a lot of thought into the main keyword of their article and supporting keywords to attract as much search engine traffic as possible.

A skilled and clever writer should be able to incorporate many of these words without repeating themselves over and over and saying nothing.

Keyword Density

You really don’t want to have a keyword density over 3% you just want your main keyword in the title and then used towards the beginning of the article and if the article is long enough it can be used at the end of the article and maybe once in the middle. 

To calculate keyword density just take the number of times your keyword is used in the post and divide it by the number of words in the post. Then multiply that number by 100 and you will have the keyword density expressed as a percent.

If the article isn’t very long then you don’t want to over do it. Then take the supporting keywords and work some of them into the article if possible.

I have dealt with so many outsourcers who just seem to keep repeating the main keyword over and over, even if this is unintentional don’t do it. Your a writer for goodness sake, you should have a vocabulary large enough to not repeat the same term over and over in a 300 word article.

Say Something Unique

The next important step is to not bore the readers to death even though it may be about a boring topic, say something unique, spice it up a bit. I have had people tell me that they have written this and that and are over educated and over experienced. Yet, they write  niche articles telling me what a candle is or what a Teddy bear is.

We all know what these things are, can’t you think of something else to say. After all you are a highly credentialed experienced writer. Heck you even asked for a raise before even creating one article for me.  Nobody wants to read a 400 word essay on what a candle is. Just because that is the keyword doesn’t mean the article can’t take a unique position.

If your keyword is candle use the word in the title and once at the beginning of the article, then sprinkle in some other words as you explain, why you like candles, or how they add ambiance to the room, or how Sting used a million white candles in his music video. It’s OK to have an opinion and write something human for humans. You are not a dictionary robot and no one wants to read your boring drivel.

Easy Research

An easy way to research a niche article is to go to Amazon or some other product site and look over the product and some of the reviews, then in your own words write some unique opinion or idea that the product has inspired.

Please don’t give me a rewritten version of the ezine articles I wrote last week. Or don’t create an ezine article for me that is a rehashed article of the posts on my blog. You may not know my sites or articles, but I sure know when you are giving me a rehashed version of something I have already written.

I’m not saying that you have to waste hours researching the topic or creating breakthrough articles. Just try to get a quick overview of the topic. Then take a moment to form an opinion and write something unique. No one wants a rehashed definition of what a candle is. Plus when we pay someone for an article we don’t want to have to rewrite it. We already created emails and keyword lists and instructions, these things take time and effort, then to get an article back and have to rewrite and pay for it, prompts people to write long angry posts like this one.

Keep It Positive

Another thing to keep in mind is the tone of the article. If it is going on a site or article to promote a certain product, that means we want the reader to get a positive feeling about the product. Please don’t decide that you are a Pulitzer quality writer and you are going to go negative about the product we are trying to promote. Your writing skills are not that good. Leave the Psychology to the real Internet Marketers, and just create an article that is either impartial or positive.

Don’t Suggest Going To The Mall

Another filler paragraph that I find in a lot of the content is something like this; “if you want to buy brown Teddy Bears the first thing you need to do is decide the style of Brown Teddy Bear you want. There are many different places you can buy Brown Teddy Bears such as the Mall or Target or many other specialty stores.”  WTF, I don’t want the reader buying their Teddy Bear at the Mall, they are supposed to buy it from the link on the site! What in the world do you think we do with this stuff we ask you to write?

Keyword And Other Words In Title

The next thing is the title. I have tried to give the writers leeway to create their own titles, that way the title will reflect the direction they choose to take the article. That doesn’t mean I want you to title the article Candle. That’s not a title that is the keyword!

I know there are some really fast and creative niche writers out there. The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter how educated or smart you think you are. All we really want is some decently written unique content, that can incorporate a few keywords, without repeating them excessively, and not sound like you are writing the new unabridged dictionary for Amazon. It’s OK to have an opinion and express it, you don’t have to be an expert to write something about a product that is interesting enough for someone to actually read.

Niche articles are great for creating content for specific targeted sites. They are also good for article marketing purposes to generate traffic and backlinks. Often times when people attempt article marketing they will create content and publish it on directories. This still goes hand in hand with my original premise that these should be interesting articles.

“When my 13-year-old son recently used the word schadenfreude in casual conversation, I snapped to attention. “Where on earth did he learn that?” I wondered. This marvellous but obscure German word, which means “to feel joy at another’s misfortune,” is hardly everyday fodder for teenagers.”

Daphne goes on to say, that although she is a fan of concise writing and using short words whenever possible, having a large vocabulary will enable us to use the best word when we need it. Then she adds this quote from William Zinsser’s, On Writing Well.

“You have to strip your writing down before you can build it back up. You must know what the essential tools are and what job they were designed to do. If I may labor the metaphor of carpentry, it is first necessary to be able to saw wood neatly and to drive nails. Later you can bevel the edges or add elegant finials.”

All of this is build up for a new site called Free Rice, which consists of vocabulary tests. There are different levels but the tests adjust to the vocabulary level of who ever is taking the test. Get one right the next word is more difficult, miss one the next word is easier.

Besides exercising your brain, the best part about Free Rice is that when you get a word correct, the site sponsor donates money for rice to the UN World Food Program.

• Catalystblogger
• Copyblogger
• Copywriter Underground
• Copywriting Maven
• Freelance Parent
• Freelance Writing Jobs
• Get Paid to Write Online
• Golden Pencil
• Heather Strang, Writer
• Ink in my Coffee
• Renegade Writer Blog
• The Urban Muse
• Web Content Writer Tips
• Web Writing Info
• Write From Home
• Writer Mama
• Writer’s Resource Center
• Writing for Writers
• Writing the Cyber Highway

If you are an actual journalist or someone who can get an article published in a newspaper or magazine, you might be eligible to enter the 50,000$ Preventive Journalism contest. The site defines preventive journalism as;

investigative reporting and writing that analyzes wrong-headed policies, incompetent leaders, weak enforcement, and bureaucratic foul ups before they end in disaster. It includes discussion of potential solutions, including the role of government.

Even if you don’t have the credentials or the inside scoop to compete for this prize. At least being aware of it will help us understand what some of those rebel rouser journalists are up to. I’m sure this will be a very sought after prize.

• Google Directory - Not a huge secret, but a large compilation of resources.
• Resources For Writers, By Jack Lynch, of Rutgers University – Packed with a lot of useful links.
• Internet-Resources - More links for writers.
• IWCA – Resources For Writers - More useful Links
• WritersWrite – Research Resources - Research is my favorite topic. This is a great list of resources.

Hi kids today’s post is brought to you by the word mean. Sometimes when I’m writing I wonder if I’m using mean correctly. Well here’s the skinny on mean.

• Mean – As a Verb. To have in mind as one’s purpose or intention; intend: I meant to compliment you on your work.
• Mean – As an Adjective. Offensive, selfish, or unaccommodating; nasty; malicious: a mean remark; He gets mean when he doesn’t get his way.
• Mean – As a noun. Usually, means. (used with a singular or plural verb) an agency, instrument, or method used to attain an end: The telephone is a means of communication. There are several means of solving the problem.

Also I’ve added a New Word Monday Word; Au Contraire – Which means on the contrary in French or English. Just away of spicing things up a bit.

Also there is an unanswered Bonus Question floating around in a previous post. The first person to answer it correctly gets a spot on my blogroll. Now there’s some easy Link Love.

I’m always open to quality information on writing. Especially when it’s about getting more done and saving time. Daphne Gray-Grant,  offers a weekly newsletter with quick tips, to help people write better and faster. Sounds good to me Daphne.

I just received her 20 ways to prevent writer’s block newsletter and # 15 really stood out.

15. Break your writing job into a number of smaller tasks. This is the oldest time-management trick in the book — use it because it works. Do many small jobs rather than one big job and the work will feel less onerous. Here’s how you can divvy up your writing work: print out research from Google; go through your research with a highlighter or sticky notes; interview people; make a mind-map; write a rough draft; rewrite an early draft; copy edit.

This is only one tip. But, I think it is great advice. She ends with “while writing can be awful, having written is the most wonderful feeling in the world.”, I always feel better once I’ve gotten my daily post finished.

Here is the link to Daphne’s site, if your interested in learning more about her or subscribing to the newsletter. Till next time, Emma

I like Helium. I wrote a few articles for them, when I first began looking for internet writing options. I havn’t done anything in a while, and yet the residual value of the articles continue to accumulate.

If I ever have time, I would love to add to my Helium article stockpile. For some reason, It’s Write Now, seems to take up a lot of my time.

Yet, I am still a fan of Helium. It can be really addictive. There’s endless new information. You get an opportunity to rate other people’s writing. Articles are ranked by member ratings. Hence, the theory of Helium rising to the top.

Not to mention, you get to write, and see yourself published.  You can choose from preselected topics or create your own. There is also a debate feature.

They have also added new features; such as, publishers looking for specific articles, and contests, where you can improve your weekly earnings substantially. I think Helium has a lot to offer. Here are some ways to get the most out of your Helium experience.

• Participate in the community forum. – This forum has tips for success. General guidelines. Tips on being a better writer. The latest contest information. Plus answers to your questions.
• Participate in the contests. – You might as well get the largest payout possible.
• Keep current on the publisher offers – They now have a marketplace where you can write for certain publishers looking for specific content.
• Try to make sure your articles rank in the top 5 on any given topic. -The top 5 articles are the ones listed on that topic page. Other ranked articles get somewhat buried. If you want a payout try to keep it in the top 5.
• How to be in the top 5. – Be the first person to write about a topic. Start a new topic. Make your article so amazing it will be ranked well.
• Take advantage of your about page. – When people read your articles, they may click on your name, to find out more about you. Use your about page to establish yourself as an expert, and link back to any relevant sites you want to promote.
• Brush up on your writing skills. – Provides great practice, with feedback. Plus they have workshops and tips and hints.
• Have Fun. – I doubt you will get rich writing for Helium. But it is a good learning opportunity. So have fun and enjoy it.

When I was in High School, my active social life, caused me to have a shortage of credits. An enterprising High School counselor, suggested that I take a College course during my Senior year.

One College unit was worth about four High School units. So one College course, would give me credits to spare.

I went to the local Community College and browsed their schedule. They offered tons of classes and I could choose whatever I wanted.

Naturally, I chose English 1A. I had no idea, this was a required course, or that some people dreaded it. I just thought it sounded fun.

The teacher was a woman named Diane Prime. I will never forget Ms. Prime. She was smart and well traveled. It seemed like she knew something about everything. Plus she told the most interesting stories.

One day, she wanted to explain to us, the importance of taking English Class. She passionately explained, the importance of being able to communicate.

She said, we could accomplish anything, if we developed effective communication skills. I can’t remember her exact words, but at the end of her monologue, she was in tears.

I’ve never forgotten her passion. Plus her lessons on the importance of communication have served me well.

At this time, most of us were still using typewriters, to create our homework. I would turn in messy, smudged essays, covered in white out.

She would always give me a good grade. But my paper would be covered in red ink, saying comma splice, over and over again. Apparently she loved English, but hated comma splices.

What is a comma splice? A comma splice is two complete sentences joined together by a comma. Creating a run on sentence. Here are five methods for fixing a comma splice.

5 Methods of Fixing Comma Splices

1. Replace the comma with a period, making the two independent clauses two sentences.

2. Replace the comma with a semi-colon.

3. Replace the comma with a co-ordinating conjunction (and, but, or, for, yet, nor, or so).

4. Replace the comma with a subordinating conjunction (after, although, before, unless, as, because, if, since, until, while).

5. Replace the comma with a semi-colon and a transitional word (however, instead, also, therefore, otherwise).

After this, I assumed all College teachers were as smart and talented as she was. Later on, I discovered this wasn’t so. Ms Prime taught me passion for communication and what a comma splice is. I’ll always be grateful.