Somebody bet me $10 that I wouldn’t get through this series with my sanity intact. Since I’m not much of a gambler anymore (had a real problem at one time LOL) I passed on the challenge. But I am determined to make it through my article writing A-Z series. We’re up to the letter C which stands for clarity. I’m going to clearly explain the importance of this and how to avoid having your article get lost in the soup.

Clarity in your article is critical. If the reader doesn’t understand what you’re saying or can’t follow where you’re doing, they’re going to get lost and ultimately abandon your work. There are many ways to lose a reader.

For example, one way to lose your reader is to jump from one thought to another with absolutely no setup for the following thought. One second you’re talking about hunting lions in Africa and the next you’re talking about the dinner you had with your Uncle Abe. Unless you can clearly show what the connection is, you’re going to lose your reader. It’s that simple. Stay on topic. Don’t stray.

Another way to lose your reader is to ramble. For example, you’re writing about cooking a turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. In the middle of going over the steps, you suddenly start rambling about how the one dinner you cooked came out absolutely awful because of whatever reason. Now, it’s fine to bring this up if you want to stress the importance of some ingredient. Then it’s perfectly acceptable. However, if your tirade comes out of the blue, is not linked to the part of the process you’re discussing, and then goes on for an eternity, forget it…you’ve lost your reader.

Finally, there are the actual words that you use to convey the message. You have to know who your audience is in order to communicate with them properly. For example, if you’re writing an article for 10 year olds, you’re not going to use college level words. Your audience isn’t going to know what you’re talking about, no matter how clear YOU may think you’re being. Yes, not talking over somebody’s head is just as important to clarity as anything else. You’re not going to talk ghetto slang to a bunch of 65 year olds who want to learn about curing arthritis.

Okay, got it? Stay on topic, don’t ramble and make sure you understand who your audience is and how you have to communicate with them. Do these things and you should have no trouble being as clear as day.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people’s attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html – This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.