Imagine you get an email notification, and on opening it, it's a request to write an article about food, politics, art and culture, faith or any topic. How would you go about it? What would you start with? What would you end with? Would you carry out the necessary research?
Racheal Kizza - Writer
I will share the stages of my process when creating an article or a piece of writing:
The ideation stage (What)
I always start with an idea, the conception of all things. Recently, I was in CarreFour buying chocolate and tampons, an idea struck me-period care package. I have never written about anything to do with the menstruation cycle, I pulled out my phone, opened my Google Keep app, and wrote the idea down so that when I am less occupied, I will flesh it out.
You should always ask yourself, what do I want to write about, is it photography and what aspect of it? Get the idea fleshed out, and list the things or the angles to which you want to approach this idea.
Define the goal for writing (Why)
The why for writing an article is vital. It will determine how you write the article. Is your goal to inform, educate or entertain? When this is clear, you`re able to choose the tone, language, choice of words, images and examples to use in your article.
In my Period Care Package article, I wished to inform and educate, therefore my language was simple but laden with examples and images of what I was sharing. I was drawing the ladies in to get their opinion as much as I was sharing mine.
Implementation phase (How)
How you implement your writing is equally an important aspect when writing your article. The what and why are clear but how do you go about it? Does your writing need to be backed by research? What level of research? Is it an interview, journalistic writing, or autobiographical? In the article I have been alluding to in the previous point, I chose to use first-person narration. I told my story which was inspired as I shopped things in Carrefour over the weekend. It was my experience. I researched the origin of tampons and the E.Wedel chocolate but I chose not to add it to the blog post because I wanted it to be a light article not weighed down by history.
Audience (Whom)
I always find writing easy when I know who I`m writing for. For example, if I was writing an article on why reading among kids is important. My target audience would be the kids and their parents and thus I would use simple and concise words.
Therefore when writing an article, know who your target group is and write for them. Anticipate their reaction to your article. You will write better and with clarity.
Editing & Publishing (When)
At this stage, the article is ready but share it with a trusted friend and ask for their opinion and candid thoughts on your writing style, content and execution. I always do this. I have two trusted friends with whom I share every piece of writing. Once they make suggestions and recommendations, I review them and choose whether to make changes to my work or not.
I send it back to them for the final thoughts and fact-checking. Then I finally publish the article on my blog or share it with the company or people who commissioned me to write it.
Bonus tip: Have timelines for writing and submitting your article either on your website or to the client. For this particular article, we agreed on the first week of October and I had it scheduled for 7 pm on my Monday to-do list. Respect your craft and that comes with meeting timelines.
Racheal Kizza is a content creator, avid reader and blogger (rachealkizza.com). She is an events host and moderator. She hosts the Meet Your Author podcast which spotlights and celebrates African authors through collaborative discussions and author interviews.