Summary

This article provides a six-step template for writing an effective article, covering the introduction, main part, takeaway, and final structure, based on insights from two Medium articles.

Abstract

The article "The Six-step Article template" offers a comprehensive guideline for building an article using a six-step template. The introduction is based on a three-paragraph blueprint from Ben Le Fort's article, which includes setting up a problem, providing immediate value, and presenting an outlook. The main part follows the Know-Feel-Do structure proposed by Dianne Sullivan, covering the information to share, the emotion to induce, and the doable actions for the reader. The takeaway summarizes the main part in a brief manner, and the final structure is presented for easy reference. The article also discusses the benefits and drawbacks of using a writing template.

Bullet points

Introduction:
- Set up a problem
- Provide immediate value
- Present an outlook
Main Part:
- Know: Share information
- Feel: Induce emotion
- Do: Provide doable actions
Takeaway: Summarize main part
Final structure:
- Introduction
- Main Part
- Takeaway
Discussion:
- Benefits and drawbacks of using a writing template

The Six-step Article template

A Comprehensive Guideline to Build an Article

The Introduction

I got a blueprint for an introduction from this great article by Ben Le Fort. His proposal consists of three separate paragraphs, which each serve a certain purpose.

First paragraph: Set up a problem

Second paragraph: Provide immediate value

Third paragraph: Present an outlook

The first paragraph is about describing what facts or knowledge are influencing your reader's life. You can also describe a state of mind or a habit which you would like to address. Make sure that a connection to real-life is built.

In the next paragraph, you can give a summary of your main points and provide the solution without a lot of explanations. Make sure your reader gets answered the main question you set up in the paragraph before in a brief way.

In the last paragraph, you will create a connection to the rest of your article. Present an outlook on what your reader can expect from reading the whole piece. Tell him what else you have to offer him in the following.

The Main Part

The structure of the main part is proposed in this insightful article by Dianne Sullivan. I admit that I like to think this way, especially when drafting, because it clears the thoughts in a reader-focused way.

The main part is divided into three parts as well, where you will cover the Know-Feel-Do structure. Each part is designed to cover one element of this structure. Start with the Know-part:

Know: What is the information you want to share?

Which facts, insights, correlations, or observations you want your audience to know? Think of it as the descriptive part. In the second part, you are going to cover the Feel.

Feel: What is the emotion you want to induce?

If you are writing a How-To, you may want your reader to feel encouraged, empowered, and motivated. Show your reader in which part of his life your How-To comes in handy. Be as specific as you can when you describe which part of his life gets better when following your advice.

If you are writing an opinion piece, you might want your reader to feel provoked, challenged, and questioned. You want to rattle on his cage of beliefs and prejudices. Here you want to create a debate in his head when he defends his position against yours. He might take your article as a reason to debate with some friends about your article's topic.

The design of your Feel part depends highly on the topic and type of your article. Just make sure that you connect with the reader so that the feelings your article is inducing are addressed. The third part of the main is the Do-part.

Do: What are the doable actions that your reader can start to add value to his life?

In this part, you will have to translate the knowledge and the feeling into actions for your reader. If you created a How-To on Budgeting and Saving, after providing knowledge for your reader, addressing his feels, you need to tell him some easy steps he can perform right away to get started.

The Takeaway

When writing the takeaway, I try to sum up the main part with one sentence or two for each main point. This comes close to writing an abstract style, but I like to repeat the main information in a very brief way to make them easier to remember.

I like to follow the sum-up with some encouraging and friendly words to leave the reader in a happy and motivated state of mind.

The final article structure

There you go. This is an article template I condensed from two medium writing tips, which have helped me on learning this amazing skill of writing. I will show it again in a short manner for look-up purposes:

Introduction (Source)

Set up a problem
Provide immediate value by briefly answering the main question
Present an outlook of what your reader can expect from the whole article

Main Part (Source)

Know: What is the information you want to share?
Feel: What is the emotion you want to induce?
Do: What are the doable actions that your reader can start to add value to his life?

Discussion

What do you think about using a writing template?

In my mind, ‘free’ writing is more flexing for your creative muscle. I witnessed that I have a much higher output and better flow state when I am writing free. This way, the article might carry more emotion and engagement as it is more raw and unfiltered.

On the other hand, an article template works well for clearing and structuring my thoughts. It also ensures that I maintain a consistent style of my message. I think the clear structure helps me a lot to remain reader-oriented.

How do you feel about it? Are you using templates, or do you just let it flow? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.