Templates for Writing an Article People Will Actually Read
They will be drooling over your work like a puppy watching dessert.
Never reinvent something that you can steal.
It’s no use.
You don’t need to rack your brain, trying to come up with awesome article templates for stories that people will want to read.
It’s already been written about a million times.
Which one to choose?! Medium is so saturated with beginner articles that it becomes impossible to choose one without scrolling through 1,000 of them.
By that time your brain is numb and you’re totally checked out.
Let me save you a little bit of time. I’ve done some research and found some people on Medium who actually have success in the area of getting people to click on their articles.
If you’re going to learn from someone, learn from someone 1) who knows what they’re talking about (expert), 2) has had success with his/her skills (ROI — return on investment for you) and 3) explains concepts in a way that is easy to understand for everyone (teaches you).
It’s no use reading about something that you don’t understand by the end of the article. It doesn’t provide any use for you and you end up wondering if you’re lacking in cognitive ability (aka, “Am I just stupid?”).
An awesome writer I’ve managed to discover
I’m not going to overwhelm you by putting in an entire list of great articles. I’ve read through a bunch and chosen four authors that stood out to me.
Three of the authors seemed to be successful experts in their field. The fourth author I threw in there for controversy. His article is obviously based on satire, but there are a few points he makes that have some truth to them.
I’m only including the first author in this story. Check out Part 2 of this article: You’re Going to Defeat Writer’s Block with These Engaging Templates. I describe ideas here from the other three authors.
Tim Fenske — A template for your everyday, regular article
If you want a quick template for your everyday articles, this one will be great for you. It’s a no-brainer and easy to remember.
Article Template
Intro
What is the problem? What is the habit or mindset that thinking about this problem has put you into?
What is a quick solution? Self-explanatory!
What is a new viewpoint? Explain why they need to read the entire article and what extras you will provide.
Body
Know: what information does the reader need to know?
Feel: Which feelings do you want to be stirred up in the reader?
Do: What can the reader do next to make their lives easier?
Conclusion
Takeaway: One sentence for each main point, ending on a positive note
But will it work in real life?
Let’s make a sample outline and see how it would actually look.
Let’s say my audience is a bunch of cat-loving people whose pain point is that their pets are going through a toddler stage where they won’t eat their nice, expensive cat food.
Sample Article
Intro
Set up a problem: I am greatly distressed (state of mind) today. My beautiful Fluffy is behaving like a two-year-old and refuses to eat her cat food.
Find immediate value: Thankfully, I have found a solution! There is this lady on the internet who is the Cat Whisperer in real life. She offers Zoom coaching services, food products, cat toys and will even do a free consultation for free (brief, easy solution).
Present an outlook: If you read the whole article and don’t skip big parts (I know your short attention spans!) I will describe how to 1) change your cat’s food, 2) set up a free consultation 3) train your cat to eat using XYZ obedience training technique and 4) if you save this article and check back I will be writing more articles about picky cats (what they have to gain by reading the article and offering them something further).
Body
All of the research, information about the blog, how to train your cats, new cat food, etc (knowledgeable information to share with the reader).
This makes me so happy/sad/disappointed/angry because… (emotions to stir up).
Now that you know all this information, here’s what you can do next! Blah blah blah practical tips that may or may not include screenshots, data, links or anything else that provide value to the reader (what the reader can do now that will make their lives easier).
Conclusion
Takeaway: one sentence for each point , ending on a positive note
- Cat food blah blah blah
- This blog is amazing blah blah blah
- You need to put your cat through obedience training (lol) blah blah blah
- Do this to make your life easier blah blah blah
In conclusion, it looks like this template is pretty effective for writing a regular, everyday article.
I have about 300 words in my outline, so now I can flesh it out to whatever word count I want.
It was pretty easy to create my outline since I had prompts for every paragraph. It took me about 10 minutes to create.
It certainly beats staring at a blank page wondering what to write about!
Now let’s take the sample template above and add the ideas below to make it a little more interesting. Check out my story You’re Going to Defeat Writer’s Block with These Engaging Templates to see the rest of the ideas.
