Writing on a Topic You Know Nothing About Part 3
Compile
Now for the fun part, actually writing the article. This is when you take all the knowledge you gained while familiarizing yourself with the topic and all research you’ve done, and compile it into an organized article. There are a few dos and don’ts when it comes to the actual writing. As mentioned in Part 2, you’re basically writing a very short research paper, and that means there are some rules.
Some basic Dos and Don’ts
Don’t
Copy everything word for word. Having a quote or two from an authoritative source is great and can really enhance your article. But the point here isn’t to simply regurgitate what everyone else has said. Your goal is to gather the information your audience wants and put it all together for them so they don’t have to go do the research themselves. So keep quotes to a minimum.
Do
Summarize all the information you’ve gathered in a meaningful way. Try to organize your article in a way that makes sense, reads easily, and helps your audience understand the topic. Just remember, even some summarizations still need to be sourced! Just because something is in your own words, that doesn’t mean it’s your idea. Give folks the credit they deserve.
Don’t
Source forums. This may seem counterintuitive, since some of our research was from forums. But remember, the main point of that was to gather info and look at what folks on the forums actually linked to. The reason linking to forums is not recommended is simply because of how they’re set up. If you link to a topic in a forum, the individual post you were looking at may have moved, may have been taken down completely, etc. When you link to something, you need to make sure it will stay there and stay relevant.
Do
Source your information correctly. If you took info straight from another source, you need to say that. There are many ways to link to other content online. This right here is an example. I haven’t written anything myself about how to properly link to sources, so I’m going to send you somewhere else for that information. (Find article on doing so.)
Compile the info and Start Writing
Determine paper layout – step-by-step, listicle, order of importance, etc. (more information on these coming in a future post!). Once that’s determined, you can compile all the information you’ve gathered in the appropriate layout.
Take your time as you put your thoughts onto the paper (or screen). For assistance getting started, check out our other 3 Part series, Writing Online Content. Go through the writing, editing, and finalization process… then go live with it.
