how to write article for school

How to write an article

The complete guide to writing an article.

THE CRAFT OF ARTICLE WRITING

Writing is a complex skill. A very complex skill.

Not only do we put students under pressure to master the inconsistent spelling patterns and complex grammar of the English language, but we require them to know how to write for a variety of purposes in both fiction and nonfiction genres.

On top of this, writing is just one aspect of one subject among many.

The best way to help our students to overcome the challenge of writing in any genre is to help them to break things down into their component parts and give them a basic formula to follow.

In this article, we will break article writing down into its components and present a formulaic approach that will provide a basic structure for our students to follow.

Once this structure is mastered, students can, of course, begin to play with things.

But, until then, there is plenty of room within the discipline of the basic structure for students to express themselves in the article form.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING NEWS REPORTING IN 2022

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With over FORTY GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS in this ENGAGING UNIT, you can complete a WEEKLY journalistic / Newspaper reporting task ALL YEAR LONG in 2022 as classwork or homework.

These templates take students through a PROVEN four-step article writing process on some AMAZING images. Students will learn how to.

WHAT IS AN ARTICLE?

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The Cambridge Dictionary defines an article as, “a piece of writing on a particular subject in a newspaper or magazine, or on the internet.”

An article’s shape and structure will vary depending on whether it’s intended for publication in a newspaper, magazine, or online.

Each of these media has its own requirements. For example, a magazine feature article may go into great depth on a topic, allowing for long evocative paragraphs of exposition, while an online blog article may be full of lots of short paragraphs that get to the point without too much fanfare.

Each of these forms makes different demands on the writer and it’s for this reason that most newspapers, magazines, and big websites provide writers with specific submission guidelines.

So, with such diverse demands placed on article writers, how do we go about teaching the diverse skill required to our students?

Luckily, we can break most types of articles down into some common key features.

Below we’ll take a look at the most important of these, along with an activity to get your students practicing each aspect right away.

Finally, we’ll take a look at a few general tips on article writing.

KEY WRITTEN FEATURES OF AN ARTICLE

The headline.

The purpose of the headline is to capture the reader’s attention and let them know what the article is about. All of this in usually no more than 4 or 5 words!

There is an art to good headline writing and all sorts of literary devices (e.g alliteration and metaphor) can be used to create an eye-catching and intriguing headline.

The best way for students to learn how headlines work is to view some historical samples.

Newspaper headlines especially are known for being short and pithy. Here are just a few examples to whet the appetite:

You could encourage students to find some pithy examples of their own. It’s amazing how much information can be condensed into so few words – this is the essence of good headline writing.

Headlines Practice Activity:

Give students opportunities to practice headline writing in isolation from article writing itself. For example, take sample stories from newspapers and magazines and challenge students to write new headlines for them. Set a word limit appropriate to the skills and age of the students. For example, younger, more inexperienced students might write 9-word headlines, while older, more skilled students might thrive with the challenge of a 4-word limit.

THE SUBHEADING

Subheadings give the reader more information on what the article is about. For this reason, they’re often a little longer than headlines and use a smaller font, though still larger (or in bold) than the font used in the body of the text.

Subheadings provide a little more of the necessary detail to inform readers what’s going on. If a headline is a jab, the subheading is the cross.

In magazines and online articles especially, there are often subheadings throughout the article. In this context, they let the reader know what each paragraph/section is about.

Subheadings also help the reader’s eye to scan the article and quickly get a sense of the story, for the writer they help immensely to organize the structure of the story.

Practice Activity:

One way to help organize paragraphs in an article is to use parallel structure.

Parallel structure is when we use similar words, phrases, and grammar structures. We might see this being used in a series of subheadings in a ‘How to’ article where the subheadings all start with an imperative such as choose , attach , cut , etc.

Have you noticed how all the sections in this ‘Key Features’ part of this article start simply with the word ‘The’? This is another example of a parallel structure.

Yet another example of parallel structure is when all the subheadings appear in the form of a question.

Whichever type of parallel structure students use, they need to be sure that they all in some way relate to the original title of the article.

To give students a chance to practice writing subheadings using parallel structure, instruct them to write subheadings for a piece of text that doesn’t already have them.

THE BODY PARAGRAPHS

Writing good, solid paragraphs is an art in itself. Luckily, you’ll find comprehensive guidance on this aspect of writing articles elsewhere on this site.

But, for now, let’s take a look at some general considerations for students when writing articles.

The length of the paragraphs will depend on the medium. For example, for online articles paragraphs are generally brief and to the point. Usually no more than a sentence or two and rarely more than five.

This style is often replicated in newspapers and magazines of a more tabloid nature.

Short paragraphs allow for more white space on the page or screen. This is much less daunting for the reader and makes it easier for them to focus their attention on what’s being said – a crucial advantage in these attention-hungry times.

Lots of white space makes articles much more readable on devices with smaller screens such as phones and tablets. Chunking information into brief paragraphs enables online readers to scan articles more quickly too, which is how much of the information on the internet is consumed – I do hope you’re not scanning this!

Conversely, articles that are written more formally, for example, academic articles, can benefit from longer paragraphs which allow for more space to provide supporting evidence for the topic sentence.

Deciding on the length of paragraphs in an article can be done by first thinking about the intended audience, the purpose of the article, as well as the nature of the information to be communicated.

A fun activity to practice paragraphing is to organize your students into groups and provide them with a copy of an article with the original paragraph breaks removed. In their groups, students read the article and decide on where they think the paragraphs should go.

To do this successfully, they’ll need to consider the type of publication they think the article is intended for, the purpose of the article, the language level, and the nature of the information.

When the groups have finished adding in their paragraph breaks they can share and compare their decisions with the other groups before you finally reveal where the breaks were in the original article.

Article Photos and Captions

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Photos and captions aren’t always necessary in articles, but when they are, our students must understand how to make the most of them.

Just like the previous key features on our list, there are specific things students need to know to make the most of this specific aspect of article writing.

The internet has given us the gift of access to innumerable copyright-free images to accompany our articles, but what criteria should students use when choosing an image?

To choose the perfect accompanying image/s for their article, students need to identify images that match the tone of their article.

Quirky or risque images won’t match the more serious tone of an academic article well, but they might work perfectly for that feature of tattoo artists.

Photos are meant to bring value to an article – they speak a thousand words after all. It’s important then that the image is of a high enough resolution that the detail of those ‘thousand words’ is clearly visible to the reader.

Just as the tone of the photo should match the tone of the article, the tone of the caption should match the tone of the photo.

Captions should be informative and engaging. Often, the first thing a reader will look at in an article is the photos and then the caption. Frequently, they’ll use the information therein to decide whether or not they’ll continue to read.

When writing captions, students must avoid redundancy. They need to add information to that which is already available to the reader by looking at the image.

There’s no point merely describing in words what the reader can clearly see with their own two eyes. Students should describe things that are not immediately obvious, such as date, location, or the name of the event.

One last point, captions should be written in the present tense. By definition, the photo will show something that has happened already. Despite this, students should write as if the action in the image is happening right now.

Remind students that their captions should be brief; they must be careful not to waste words with such a tight format.

For this fun activity, you’ll need some old magazines and newspapers. Cut some of the photos out minus their captions. All the accompanying captions should be cut out and jumbled up. It’s the students’ job to match each image with the correct accompanying caption.

Students can present their decisions and explanations when they’ve finished.

A good extension exercise would be to challenge the students to write a superior caption for each of the images they’ve worked on.

HUGE WRITING CHECKLIST & RUBRIC BUNDLE

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TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO WRITE AN ARTICLE

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The content for this page has been written by Shane Mac Donnchaidh. A former principal of an international school and English university lecturer with 15 years of teaching and administration experience. Shane’s latest Book, The Complete Guide to Nonfiction Writing , can be found here. Editing and support for this article have been provided by the literacyideas team.

A FULL-YEAR of NONFICTION WRITING RESOURCES for busy teachers.

A whole teaching unit on writing news reports ..

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Journalism Center

How to write a school news article.

News articles are designed to relate the news. The article is written to inform readers. It is factual, meant to present information in a quick, digestible form. The following elements of writing a newspaper article are important, so heed them well.

Research and Fact Gathering

Perhaps the #1 rule of writing a newspaper article is that you are factual. You do not want to make assumptions or fabricate information. Before you can write your article, you must have as many of the facts as you can gather. Here are some facts that you will need to find out:

You will also need to gather as much detail as you can. This will involve:

Once you have all your facts, you can begin to write your article.

The Headline or Title

For a news article, this is where you have most of your creativity. The headline must grab the attention of the reader. It needs to be catchy, emotion evoking, or creates curiosity. Be creative with it. In many instances, you will spend more time trying to come up with the perfect headline than you will in the actual writing.

The Article Body

The main news article itself is written from bottom down. In other words, the most important information comes first and each paragraph gives less and less details. Whereas a novel, for example, starts you out with little information and you must read to the end to get all of it.

In news article writing, however, you want to provide the key information right up front. You start with the 6 questions you should have already answered in your research:

Your first two paragraphs need to answer all these questions. For example:

The Varsity football team beat Smith High School last Saturday, 21 to 7, in a rematch that vindicated Coach John’s prediction of a win during Friday’s pep-rally. Our first home win this season at our very own Jane Doe Field was a morale booster to the entire student body. Quarterback, Joe Baker completed 18 out of 24 passes to cement the win.

This was only a simple example, but almost all the questions are actually answered in the first two sentences. From here you can add more inconsequential details, such as receiving yards, rushing yards, and so forth. You will at some point include quotes from people such as the coach, the quarterback, a receiver, a fan in the stands, and perhaps the principal. Although for quotes, you don’t want to include too many, but having two or three is important. By the time you get to the end of the article, you are simply expanding upon what the reader already knows from the first two paragraphs you wrote.

Don’t make your paragraphs long—two to three sentences each. Your word count will need to stay around the 500 word count or less, generally speaking.

SEE WHAT OTHER SCHOOLS ARE DOING

Below are just a few examples of what other schools are doing with their newspapers. Take a look and become inspired and find ideas.

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How to Write an Article for Your School Newspaper

Last Updated: March 6, 2023 References

This article was co-authored by Gerald Posner . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed 580,989 times.

Writing an article for your school newspaper can be exciting and rewarding, especially once you see your name in print! If you don't already belong to your school newspaper, you may need to try out or talk to the editor about submitting some sample pieces. To write an article, you'll need to decide which type of article you'd like to write, check on submission guidelines, research your topic, interview sources, and write it in the proper newspaper format.

Joining the Team and Writing Different Types of Articles

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Check to see if there are deadlines for turning in mock articles, what the editor is looking for in a new staff member, and if there are any meetings you can attend to get more information.

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If you've been on staff for a while, you may have the freedom to choose your own article topics. But until you know your position, it's always a good idea to ask for assignments.

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News articles are generally more straight-forward than feature stories or opinion articles. They convey relevant information in an unbiased way.

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For example, you could write an editorial about school rules, events or groups on campus, sports, programs, or teaching methods.

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If you want to be a regular columnist for your school newspaper, present a plan to your editor for a series of articles that you'd like to work on. For example, you could propose a 4-week series about starting a club or practicing self-care.

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For example, you could write an article called “Top 10 Tips to Manage Stress,” “How to Develop Good Study Habits,” or “How to Get in Shape before Tryouts.”

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For example, if you review a new movie that came out, you could write about who would most enjoy the film. Perhaps it would be great for someone who likes action movies but not as enjoyable for someone who prefers comedies.

Researching, Interviewing, and Fact Gathering

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Talk to your editor, production manager, or faculty advisor for more information.

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Ask if you have someone's permission to use their name and words in your article, and write down their quote verbatim. You can use anonymous sources, but quotes are more compelling when they can be traced back to a specific individual.

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Fact-checking makes you a more trustworthy writer and ensures that you're taking the time to communicate as truthfully as you can about any particular subject.

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Some reporters dictate notes to themselves or write out daily logs about their interviews and research. Figure out what works for you and your lifestyle, and then stick to it.

Writing the Article

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A lot of times, readers will decide if they want to continue reading an article based off of the first sentence or two.

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Sometimes you'll come up with a great headline before you even write the article, but most often you won't know exactly what you're presenting until after you've written it. Try waiting until after you've written your article to come up with the headline, and then make sure it fits in with the given topic.

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People who want to know more about the topic will continue reading past those first 2 paragraphs, but people who just wanted the basic information will get their answers without having to search through the entire article.

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For example, instead of saying, “Principal Miller comes from rainy Washington state and had been teaching before becoming a principal for 15 years,” you could say something like, “Principal Miller previously lived in Washington, and she has over 15 years of experience in the educational system."

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Always ask for permission to quote someone when you're interviewing them.

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Being able to proofread your own work is an essential part of being a successful member of the newspaper staff, and the more you work at it, the better you'll get.

Community Q&A

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about writing as a career, check out our in-depth interview with Gerald Posner .

About This Article

To write an article for your school newspaper, start with a lead paragraph that explains the who, what, where, when, and why of what you're writing about. Then, for the second and third paragraphs, include any additional facts and details that your readers should know. You can also include quotes from witnesses or school officials in this part of your article. Finally, conclude your article with the least important or relevant information. To learn how to research and come up with article ideas, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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The Secret to Writing Engaging School News Articles

Categories: Latest Websites , Top Tips , Website Design

Posted: 16/03/2017

By not regularly updating your school website with the latest news, you may be missing an opportunity to engage with your school community. So, where do you start and how do you create a news item people actually want to read?

Grab their attention

Just like a printed news article, website users skim websites for information, so be sure to make your headline stand out.

Structuring your article

Once you’ve created a powerful headline, you’ll need to create the article itself. There’s an art to capturing and retaining a reader’s attention:

Images speak a thousand words

A newspaper without images would be quite overwhelming to read – the news blog on your school website is no different.

So there you have it. Follow our top tips next time you update your school news for improved engagement and readability.

If you need help creating a new website that is designed to engage or for ideas to update your existing Cleverbox website, please get in touch with our expert team at [email protected] or by calling 020 8466 7222 .

Pilinut Press, Inc. TM

Publisher of Advanced Readers and How-To Books.

Writing Articles for the School Newspaper

Writing articles for the school paper can be fun and interesting. You can be the journalist who covers the school’s basketball game or spring concert. Maybe you will go to school board meetings and report back to your fellow students on the decisions the board made. You might interview the principal about the new classrooms being built because the school is expanding. There are all kinds of stories waiting to be told by you. But writing stories for the newspaper is not the same as writing an English paper or poetry. Journalism has its own guidelines. The following will give you the basic guidelines and some ideas on how to make your stories shine.

The first paragraph. The first paragraph is the most important paragraph in a news article for it gives the most critical information about the story. Space is limited in newspapers so news articles present the most important information first. Subsequent paragraphs contain information in order of descending importance. This allows the editor the option of shortening any story to fit the space available by cutting from the bottom.

Who, what, where, when, and, maybe, why, and how. In the first paragraph include all the basic facts of the news story. Who did what? Where did the event occur? When did it happen? Sometimes explaining why and how helps the reader understand more about the importance of the event or helps the reader connect to the story. For example, pretend you were covering your school’s basketball game last Friday night. Here is how the first paragraph of the story might appear. The comments in parentheses show the basic facts.

In a knuckle-bitingly close (how) game (what), the Cassadaga Cougars (who) topped the Independence 76ers (who) by 1 slim point last Friday night (when) on the 76ers’ home court (where). The final score was 68 to 67. Senior Langston Barnard led the scoring with 22 points.

Make the story interesting. There are several techniques you can use to make your story interesting to your reader which will be covered in the next few paragraphs. The first technique is quotes. People want to know what others have to say about the event. You can quote experts, celebrities, or the ordinary Joe. Following up on our example above, you might interview the coach, some of the players, the school principal, or people in the stands. You could also generate interest by explaining the importance of the event in relation to other things. Continuing on with our example, you could talk about where the team now stands in the rankings or how this game’s performance compared to other games this season.

After the game, Coach Humbart said, “I am proud of the way the team fought through to the very end. They just kept coming back each time the 76ers scored.” The team had struggled earlier in the season with consistency and keeping the pressure on through the entire game. The last three games have been narrow victories. The team still stands a chance to play in the county tournament if it can win three more games this season.

As an alternative you could tell the story from the point of view of a player. This alternative creates what is called a “human interest” story. People are interested in how others feel and what they do. Readers enjoy learning how someone overcame adversity to succeed or survive.

Use clean, crisp English. News writing should be short and to the point. News stories deliver the facts quickly. However, readers get bored when they see the same story with just the facts changed. Choose each word carefully and provide not only information but a sense of urgency and impact. Take another look at the first sentence in the example paragraph. In theory each time the school’s team played a game, the newspaper could use the same sentence and just change the essential facts. What if the newspaper ran a sentence like this each time the team played?

The Cassadaga Cougars played the Independence 76ers last Friday night and won 68 to 67.

Boring! Much better to run the original example sentence.

Add pictures. Find out if the school photographer will be covering the event as well. If not, take a camera with you. Take lots of pictures so your editor can choose the perfect one to accompany your story. Action pictures work best, but they need to be in focus and have good contrast between the lights and darks in the picture. If there is too much gray in a photograph, it will not print distinctly enough for your readers to tell what is happening. Get as close as you can to your subject by “zooming” the camera lens in or moving yourself. Make the subject fill the picture frame. Avoid background distractions. Take pictures in landscape format and in portrait format to allow for different layout options in the newspaper.

Be accurate. A news reporter’s responsibility is to accurately report on event. Double check the spelling of names, addresses, scores, dollar figures, and other factual information you collect for your story. If you have a recording device, record interviews. Write down details on a notepad.

Be fair. Remember to cover all sides of any controversial issue. Contact people who are advocating for different solutions to an issue and give them a chance to explain their stand on the issue. When you report the issue, clearly state the differing points of view. Allow readers to come to their own conclusions about how they view the issue. Journalism is about seeking the truth and giving unbiased reports.

Spell Check. Make a diligent search for errors, including using spell check and grammar check, before sending your story to the editor.

Bylines. A byline is the acknowledgement of who wrote the story. In some newspapers, the byline is simply your name. Other newspapers allow a little more space for lauding the author of the article. Bylines give readers some insight into the article writer’s expertise. Examples are “By Kevin Block, Sports Reporter” or “By Lucy Witt, covering education issues in the Piedmont”. Ask your editor about the newspaper’s policy on bylines.

Apply these guidelines to write quality articles that grip, inform, and entertain your readers.

Celia Webb, President of Pilinut Press, Inc., publishers of advanced readers for children and ESL students. Check out http://www.pilinutpress.com for more free articles on developing reading-related skills, word games and puzzles, and activity sheets for the company's entertaining and educational books.

Writing a Quality Article: Tips from a Teacher

Effective writing starts with understanding the basic conventions of writing..

After a decade of teaching high school English, I have graded more essays than I can count. And each year, I learn additional tips and tricks to help my students master writing conventions that can be used in college and beyond.

After coaching countless students through the writing process, I can confidently state that most writers benefit from following a specific formula. Creative writing teachers might throw their red pens at me in disgust, but the truth is that students (and adults) learn to write more efficiently when they understand the basic premise of writing persuasively.

Without further ado, here is what I teach my students when writing online articles.

Craft the Lead

Creating an interesting and compelling lead is no easy task. Many of my students struggle with exploring their idea through the lens of an anecdote, question, or description.

It is essential that the lead invokes the reader’s curiosity, which means the writer must first understand the audience and purpose of the article. Do not skip this step. Audience, purpose, and message are the first things we teach students when analyzing and writing articles.

The lead is the opening act to the article. According to Hannah Block from NPR , “it sets the tone and pace and direction for everything that follows. It is the puzzle piece on which the rest of the story depends.”

There are many types of leads, but I tend to favor anecdotal, scene-setting, and zinger leads. These leads tell a story, describe the scene, or shock the reader; respectively.

The Purdue Online Writing Lab , the go-to writing site for many English teachers, provides a how-to section for writing leads as well as quality examples.

Provide the Evidence

Once the reader is hooked by the lead, then it is the writer’s job to lay out the idea or message in a convincing manner.

I teach my students that all writing is an argument . The writer is ultimately trying to convey an idea to the reader whether to persuade or to inform. Therefore, when writing the body of a feature article, it is crucial to provide evidence to support the idea.

Evidence includes data, statistics, quotes from credible authorities, illustrations, and any other factual information to support the idea. The biggest error my students make is throwing in random quotes and statistics without tying the evidence to their purpose or message.

According to The Writing Center at UNC-Chapel Hill, “ what turns a fact or piece of information into evidence is the connection it has with a larger claim or argument: evidence is always evidence for or against something, and you have to make that link clear. ”

Clearly tying relevant evidence to support an argument is an art form and takes practice. The best practice is thinking critically while reading. What is the author trying to say? How is the author supporting his ideas? It will become easier to recognize solid evidence by first examining other writers’ works.

Before writing the body of the article, perform an internet search of the topic. Open up a few tabs of sources that might contribute to the message. Take a few quotes or stats and plop them into the article with a few more sentences that explain the purpose of the evidence . Hyperlink the source with the quote, so that the reader can follow the link for further information.

I repeatedly tell my students that unless there is evidence to support their ideas, I simply do not believe them. They must convince me.

End on a Powerful Note

Writing the conclusion can be tricky. I advise my students to tie back to the lead from the first paragraph. This creates a writing “sandwich.” By referring back to the lead, the writing becomes “tight” with an interwoven idea.

Most people reading online articles are looking for information relevant to their lives. Make the personal connection by following up the evidence with an interesting idea, question, or story.

The Writing Center at Harvard notes, “ the end of an essay should therefore convey a sense of completeness and closure as well as a sense of the lingering possibilities of the topic, its larger meaning, its implications: the final paragraph should close the discussion without closing it off. ”

The trick is to convince readers that the message was conveyed via narrative and not via a textbook. Readers might not remember all of the relevant data supplied, but they will certainly remember a powerful story or compelling idea.

Organize the Key Features

Online articles are not the same as academic essays. This is a shift for my students as we take a break from more traditional essays to write contemporary articles.

What makes an article an article are the key features and formatting. I often see errors when it comes to the key features, so take extra care to make the article look credible and interesting.

The Headline or Title

Relay the main idea in the headline. Readers should know what the article is about from the headline itself. Quality articles are not clickbait or written in all caps. Use title case. ThoughtCo . has examples of title case headlines, but the gist is to capitalize all of the important words in a title. This is imperative in my class, and as a reader, I avoid articles with carelessly written headlines.

The Sub-headline or Subtitle

If the main idea is not clear in the headline, it should be clear in the subheadline. It should be written as a sentence instead of in title case. Subheadlines are not always necessary and only my more advanced writers actually do this.

The Body Headings

Most online readers have a limited attention span, and the headings help us focus on the important points while reading. For my students, it forces them to break up their main message or idea into sections.

The heading acts as a topic sentence. Each heading should clearly indicate what the following section will discuss. I prefer headings that use title case (like the headline), but there is flexibility on this one.

Articles include interesting photos with captions, and they both must directly connect to the message.

I ask my students to choose photos that have an impact. I should have an idea about the message of an article from the photos alone.

As a teacher, I am concerned with plagiarism and copyright laws when asking my students to produce articles. Use the chart provided by Lifehacker to make a decision on how to use a photo without violating copyright laws.

Merely crediting a photo when lifting it from the internet is not always enough. Tread carefully!

The Paragraphs

Creating short and sweet paragraphs is a lesser known rule in article writing. For online consumption, readers prefer paragraphs to be two to three sentences long; I advise five at most. Readers need the white space to refocus attention, especially when reading on devices.

This is a rule my students struggle with as they are used to longer academic essays with seven to eight sentence paragraphs. However, the medium is different in online reading, and writers benefit from crafting shorter paragraphs.

Ann Wylie offers tips for breaking up paragraphs into smaller chunks and notes, “ this is especially important online, where readers skim even more than they do in print. ” She offers handy tips for chunking paragraphs into smaller bits.

Re-Read and Revise

I will be honest and say that my students love to submit their first drafts as their final drafts. It is ridiculous to spend so much time crafting an article only to cast it aside without a thorough review.

After finishing the first draft, the next step is to revise . Head back to the beginning of the article and re-read specifically examining how the idea is conveyed. Is the message clear? Is the evidence followed by an explicit tie-in to the main idea? Does the argument build?

During the first read , rearrange paragraphs, change any phrasing that seems awkward, and ensure each section supports the message. This first read is all about correcting the “flow” of the article.

After rearranging the flow of the article, head back for a second read . This time read aloud. The writer is the very first reader. Try to think like the audience. Finish up rearranging the ideas and the sections. Focus on the lead. Is it interesting? Does it relay the purpose? What about the conclusion? Is the idea still clear?

An article is nothing without a clear message.

Re-Read and Proofread

This is a separate step from the revision. This is when those pesky grammatical errors are tackled.

There are quite a few grammatical rules and errorless writing takes practice. However, the quality of an article is undeniably affected by careless grammatical issues.

Scribendi states: “ proofreading a paper is just as important as any other aspect of writing; in fact, the process is instrumental in getting your ideas across in an accessible and logical manner. ”

Admittedly, most of us are probably traumatized from sentence diagramming and endless worksheets on grammar from our time in school. Instead of asking my students to memorize a plethora of grammatical rules, I instead teach grammar in the context of writing.

Here are the most common errors:

Here are a few other easy improvements:

Effective writing takes practice, but it can be learned. Even after years of teaching writing, I still rely on a writing formula to convey my ideas.

I regularly tell my students that once they have mastered the writing formula, they will be able to quickly compose and edit articles and essays without added worry and stress.

Most importantly, the best writers are avid readers . There is no cheat sheet for improving as a writer that does not include beefing up a reading practice. Spend time cruising the internet for interesting articles that strongly convey a message.

Consume content to create content. Follow these steps. Rinse and repeat.

Class dismissed.

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Jennifer Osborne

Educational Leadership Policy Ph.D. Student ⎪Editor of Educate. medium.com/educate-pub

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