Becoming An Industry Guru – Articles

Writing The Article

Article Shape

Like press releases, articles are usually written in a certain format they have a shape. Typically the shape of an article might be:

Title. Attracts reader attention and indicates the subject.

By-line. Author’s name, plus title, qualifications and organisation where appropriate.

Introduction. Two or three lines before the main article begins, setting out the general theme (but note: not all publications use introductions).

First paragraph. This introduces the main points to be discussed and/or the main tenor of the argument. It may also hint at the conclusion.

Second paragraph. A good place for useful background information, e.g. how a situation or market has developed over a period of time and where it stands now, results of independent surveys, forecasts of future development. This is the paragraph you can use to feed editors’ love of facts and figures, and hopefully it will also provoke reader comments such as ‘by heck, this chap knows his stuff!’

Further paragraphs. Move on from the facts to develop the subject/argument in a logical, factual and easy-to-follow way, working up to the:

Conclusion. Summarises the author’s views and/or recommendations.

Article Planning

Once you’ve got a number of successful articles under your belt, you may find that you can stick to a brief, develop an argument logically, keep within wordage limits, etc., almost without thinking about it. However, in the beginning – and for some people, for the whole of their writing careers! – it’s highly advisable to map out a plan for the article first. When you’ve done it, check it carefully to make sure it fits the brief. Then try to stick to the plan as far as possible while you are writing the article itself.

Get some scrap paper and jot down the points that you will want to cover in the article. Think carefully about the arguments you intend to make and the factors you intend to include. As the various points occur to you, list them. Also list any facts and figures or references to sources of information that you might use; these could include quotations from speeches or recent newspaper or TV reports, government statistics, professional market surveys, books, and so on.

Now you’ve assembled the kit of parts, you can start putting the plan together.

At this point, you may experience an overwhelming temptation to begin by composing a clever, memorable title for your masterpiece. Resist this. A title is not necessary at this point. It can take ages to devise one that you’re happy with, and you really need to focus on the priorities, i.e. the shape and contents. If a title hasn’t already occurred to you beforehand, leave it until you’ve finished the article; by that time, one may have come to mind. The same goes for the introduction, if you are going to have one.

Begin by dividing up the proposed article into broad sections. A good way of doing this is by establishing section headings, called ‘cross-heads’, and listing under them the relevant points you intend to make in those areas. It’s also a good discipline to include, in your notes for each section, an approximate wordage allowance.

Article Planning – Example

We were commissioned to write an article on behalf of a firm of hydrological engineers on the subject of flooding and flood control, especially in urban areas. The case we had to make was for a greater involvement of hydro-logical engineers (of course!) in the urban planning process, and improved flood control and drainage systems. The magazine’s readership consisted mainly of professional engineers and surveyors.

The first section talked about rivers being natural waste water disposal channels, the increasing strains imposed on them from urban developments, a quotation from a DEFRA report about the number of properties located in flood plains, and a bit about the damage caused by flooding.

The second section was given a cross-head: ‘Urbanisation encourages flooding’. Under this we developed the theme of how urbanisation creates flood control problems, listing reasons such as rainwater being less able to soak away into the ground in a town as it does in the countryside, reduction of natural areas available for water storage, and so on.

The next sections, now that we had detailed the problems, needed to point to possible ways to minimise the problems of flooding in urban areas, relevant regulations, and the latest developments in this area. The main lines of approach were (1) Development Siting and Planning, (2) Sustainable Drainage Systems, and (3) River Engineering and Management, so we used these three approaches as our next three cross-heads, listing various ways forward under each of them.

Having stated the facts and made our case, the last paragraph drew the conclusion that flooding is not a simple problem with one simple answer, but that the effects of flooding can be minimised if developers, planners, engineers, etc. combine to take a holistic approach to it.

The article was to be by-lined to our client company’s managing director (the by-line also to include his academic and institutional qualifications) and his pic. No introduction was needed; we looked at the magazine and found that it didn’t use them.

And in case you’re on the edge of your seat wondering what we finally chose as a title, it was: ‘When the rains drain mainly to the plain’. Editors don’t always use the title you have so lovingly created (editors also get creative instincts sometimes), but he used that one!