I was clearing out a shelf that hadn’t been touched in a long long time. Among the many treasures that I discovered...
TIPS ‘N’ TRICKS
I was clearing out a shelf that hadn’t been touched in a long long time. Among the many treasures that I discovered was a crumbled piece of paper that had some very useful information which I would like to share with all of you. A while ago, someone asked Guru to guide them so that they can see their work published. Well, this might be helpful for them as well.
The article that I found was titled “What Makes Readers Read?” published in The English Journal, May 1979. It provided with the concept that, what people love to read or attracts them towards reading and writing basically depends upon the presence of following five principal elements. They not only give pleasure to the reader, but also make them want to follow the writer for his/her writings in the future.
1) Information
A specific piece of information attracts the readers. They feel their knowledge being increased when they read facts and figures, descriptions and details or any information that they can convey to other people. So, an article becomes interesting when it is informative.
2) Significance
A piece of writing interests the readers when they can relate to it. The joy of reading is increased manifolds when each piece of information becomes coherent with each other and the reader sees things written down in words that signifies a real happening but had not been able to talk about it themselves.
3) People
People connect best with people. They like to hear them talk, live a life in a particular scene, go through an experience by putting them in their shoes. Sometime, they get lost in that world often becoming a character in it. This means that the words of the writer fully captivated their thoughts and transported them to a place and time unknown yet fascinating to them.
4) Order
A piece of writing may have different forms. It may be based on an experience, problem solution based, facts based, sports, etc. Be it in any form, an article can satisfy a reader’s hunger in a comprehensive way only when it is in a particular order and gives a complete meaning to the issue being addressed. When written so, the writing avoids confusion and gives a feeling of satisfaction.
5) Voice
A powerful piece of writing can become a source of a strong voice for the readers. Readers connect to the writer when they see a message being efficiently spoken to them with enthusiasm, concern and authority. Enthusiasm comes from an honest opinion, concern through a valid and realistic point of view and authority via a firm command on facts and information provided in the article.
Having said all of this, the art of writing an effective piece comes with practice. The more you write, the more you discover your capabilities as a writer. Some people are excellent storytellers. Others give good advices and solutions to problems in their articles. Some belong to a specific field and can give good information based on their expertise. When writing for a newspaper or a magazine, one should go through previous issues to get a good idea regarding the contents and submission criteria as well. It is also wise to show your writing to someone you know can give you an honest feedback. This will further improve your skills as a writer because as a rule, those who are willing to accept criticism are sure to gain a lot in future.
