The Four Elements to Creating Great Content
That people will read, comment, and share.
Creating great content is more about process than inspiration. For each writer, it’s a process of discovery to find what works, but certain fundamentals lay the groundwork for great content writing.
There’s a process to follow when crafting a blog post or a story for any publication— a recipe bloggers use to craft writing that grabs attention and has an impact on the reader. The process is flexible and will work better when you infuse it with your personality.
Using the four elements effectively works for fiction and prescriptive nonfiction literature.
Bloggers use it, as do journalists and copywriters.
Be intentional when you create a blog post and follow the formula. The elements may be obvious, but successful writers use the formula all the time.
The Four Elements
#1. Headline — That big piece of text.
The headline is the first piece of content everyone sees. For some readers, it is the only thing they read; they won’t read any further, that’s why it is so important to nail the headline, so they do read beyond it.
The title is the most significant piece of text and has to persuade the reader to click. It doesn’t matter if you wrote the most well written, interesting piece of content. If readers don’t click the title, it won’t get many reads.
The title is the first thing readers will see. Pack as much punch into creating a great headline — tell the reader what the article is about in your title. Your title should be intriguing and emotional, but not clickbaity.
Readers are smart; they recognize clickbait.
My best headlines with the most engagement:
The One Book That Will Change Your Life
Choosing Your Words Carefully Makes Love Last
Five Books and One Website That Will Teach You How to Write Better
How to Get Your Stories on Medium Curated into Topics
No Matter What the Giants on Medium Say, It Is Hard to Make It Here
These titles have one thing in common; they are specific and tell a story within the title. From the headline, the reader knows what the blog post will be dissecting.
Make sure you deliver what the title is promising, and follow through with the story in the body of the article.
#2. Write a great lead.
Don’t bury the lead. Journalists learn this in journalism school. If you don’t know what it means, read the first paragraph of all the front-page news stories in The Washington Post, The New Yorker or The New York Times, you will quickly understand what “don’t bury the lead means.”
The lead consists of the first one, two or three sentences telling the reader, “here is what the article is about.”
There are two purposes of the lead.
First, it grabs the reader; it has a hook. It can be a question or some startling statistic; it is immediately attractive and engaging.
The second part of the lead is to add a little intrigue or mystery to the story.
Another way to look at it is to think of the first five minutes of a great movie. Great movies start in action. Think of the opening scene in Jaws. A woman runs on the beach toward the ocean as she is undressing, within minutes of the start of the film we meet Jaws, as does the woman. Think of any one of the 26 James Bond movies, they all start with action in full swing; someone is being shot at, chased in a car, or dangling from the roof while being shot at.
The same idea is used in excellent writing or any great storytelling.
The writer doesn’t tell you the whole story in the lead; what is left out is just as important as what is in the lead. The second part leaves the reader hanging, enticing them to read more.
Writing a great lead is important; it moves them into the body of the article.
#3. The body.
Before we talk about the body, let’s talk about transition.
In between the lead and the body is some kind of transition. For example, “and now I’m going to tell you exactly how to do such and such,” (usually what the headline promised). This is the transition that moves you into the body.
The body is about five to seven paragraphs in length for a blog post. The body could be longer or shorter depending on what kind of publication or blog you are writing for.
It is the main chunk of the article where you move through your main points.
The body is where the writer structures the beginning, middle, and end.
#4. The Close.
The fourth element of a great blog post is the close.
It is now time to bring it all home. The close is where you accomplish your objective, where you prompt the reader to take steps to change a habit or learn a skill. It is where you compel and empower your readers to take action or persuade them to think differently about something.
You’re enabling them to do something.
The writer now lands the final bunch by asking the reader to take action, leave a comment, answer a question. You move the reader to a moment of decision, and that can be a take away from the piece — something they can chew on.
In addition to the four elements create tension in your writing.
That is the formula — the four essential elements to creating a blog post. In addition to these four elements, the secret to telling great stories is to create tension.
Throughout your piece, you want to create tension.
One way to create tension in writing is to be continually asking questions and then answering them further down the article, so the reader knows they’re getting something and aren’t wasting their limited time. It is implied that any question you raise, you will answer.
The whole shape of a good story is that you are throwing out questions and answering them along the way. At the end of answering a question, raise another one.
The close answers all the questions and compels the reader to action.
If you want to be a writer, these essentials will help you find your footing. If you create because you have a burning desire to make art that gets attention, informs, entertains, makes an impact, or all of the above try these steps.
Using this formula will help get eyeballs on your work in a market saturated with great writers and idea makers.
Now go practice writing a blog post that incorporates these four elements.
Jessica is a writer, an online entrepreneur, and a recovering type-A personality. She lives in Los Angeles with her extrovert daughter, two dogs, and two cats.
