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Texas ISD School Guide
Texas ISD School Guide







Writing and Public Speaking

What Makes An Article Readable?
By:Eric Hartwell

What makes an article readable? Many authors try to write articles which are too complex in their structure and too diverse in their nature, so that readers cannot easily go from the beginning to the end. By developing a simple structure to your articles, you will be able to increase the readability and usability of your writing. But how do we do this?

One of the simplest ways of developing a readable article structure is to divide the article into three parts. These parts consist of the beginning, the middle, and the end. Another way of looking at this is an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion.

The introduction, usually, should state what it is that you are about to talk about. In two or three short sentences, you should prepare the reader for what is to come. This should be like a taster or even a short summary of the article content.

That the main article content may consist of ten to twenty sentences describing the particular subject matter that you are talking about. Pretending that the reader has no prior knowledge of the subject helps you to develop a writing style, which is useful for all uses, regardless of their experience level.

When developing a conclusion that summarizing the main points of the body of the article is a useful way to wind down the article and exit at a convenient point. The conclusion needs not to be wordy or esoteric. Moreover, it should be a simple and punchy summary of the article as a whole.

Try to write in words that other people will understand. Successful articles are successful, not because they use obscure language or long and complex sentence structures, but because readers can read them easily and can understand and utilize the content productively.

A good book is often a good book, not simply because of the plot it contains, but because of the ease of which the reader can actually follow the plot progression. The same goes for article writing; try to write in relatively short sentences and break up long paragraphs into small snippets. Use lists or bullet points where appropriate. This helps to break up the monotony of pros and is also kind onto the eye and more user-friendly.

Trying, where possible, to give the reader answers to questions that they might be asking. Avoid complex jargon and slang, and try to speak to the reader as you would if they were sitting opposite you.

Eric Hartwell
http://www.theworldsbesthomepage.com/






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