1— Read what others are writing

This point is fairly obvious, but if you’ve never written anything before — it’s important.

It’s almost like doing a bit of market research.

Before you launch a product, you want to know what people like and don’t like.

Reading is a great way to emulate this in terms of writing. You can see what articles are trending, and gain some insights that can help direct you.

That’s not to say copy others — never copy others.

Just see what is out in the writing universe, what people like reading, the types of articles that are being read, the styles of articles being read, what isn’t getting read, etc.

Read | www.microsoft.com /link

2— Strategise your ideas before you start writing

Take some time to think through what you actually want to write about before you start writing.

I believe “locking in” your ideas is crucial because, at some stage, you may run out of steam and start questioning what you’re actually writing about.

Find an idea or topic that interests you, and formulate points that work within that topic.

Once you’ve decided on your high-level ideas, lock them in and create a skeleton of your article.

If you’re not “feeling” the strategy you have in mind, start over or try something else. Having doubts about your ideas can mean getting distracted as you’re trying to write.

Read | Microsoft.com/link

3— Give yourself a deadline

When you’re writing your first article, you’ve got all the time in the world.

No deadlines, nobody pushing you — you’re likely doing it on your own terms.

However, the problem is that you have all the time in the world — there’s no deadline in sight.

Introducing a deadline into the mix forces you to concentrate on writing, and less on the tiny details that may not make too much of an impact.

Everyone works on different timeframes, so I don’t have a magic number for your deadline — find a number that works for you.

Whether it’s five hours or two weeks, the number isn’t important — it’s sticking to it, and feeling the heat as you approach the end.

When I wrote my first few articles, I found that it took me weeks to write an article because I would stress over every single detail — and even longer to actually hit “Publish”.

Read | Vudu.com/start

Once I introduced a deadline into the mix, I was forced to concentrate on writing and less on questioning the tiniest details in my article.