How to Write for Squidoo – How to Prepare an Article for Publishing Online with Squidoo

Over the past few posts, we’ve brainstormed over subjects you can write about on Squidoo.  

Today we’ll get into the actual mechanics of writing an article. 

Are you ready to try to write an article to be published? 

All right!  Let’s learn how to prepare and write a simple article for Squidoo.

Simple Steps in Article Writing

Writing online may seem daunting to you at first, but like all things, there are ways to make the task manageable.  We’re going to begin by working not on the Squidoo website, but by using your computer word processing program.  By writing offline first, you’ll help to lower any stress you feel in association with the online learning curve.

There are several steps you’ll want to take in writing an article.  These are:

• ·       Decide on a subject
• ·       Research your subject
• ·       Write a first draft
• ·       Review, spell-check your work, put it in final draft form
• ·       Take or find photos to accompany your work
• ·       Decide if you’ll feature any products

I’m guessing that by now you can decide on a subject, research what you need to include, and write a first draft on your own without my help.  We’ve been through many ideas for subject matter in earlier posts.  It’s time to pick one idea and move forward.

But you may be wondering just how many words or how long you need to make this article, or “Squidoo lens”.  Let me help.

Note: I’m going to stop here for a moment, and give you a new term.  The term is “lens”.  Articles on Squidoo are called lenses, not articles.  This is one of the ways they differentiate themselves from other sites.   Whenever you see the word “lens” on Squidoo, they’re talking about “articles” and the terms can be interchanged. 

Introduction

Squidoo requires that you write an introduction to your lens, and this section be at least 300 words.  The introduction can include as many paragraphs as you’d like.  After that single stipulation, you’re on your own. 

You’ll want to make your introduction enticing to readers.   Your introduction is what determines whether people landing on your page will continue to read further or click off and move on.  Make your introduction memorable.

The Meat of the Story

Take as much space or as little space as it takes to write your article well.  Write for quality, not quantity.  That said, you want to keep your article as tight as possible.  Here’s what I mean by “tight as possible”.

Say you’ve chosen to write an article about your pets.  Consider this… you may not want to write a single article about all your pets in one article.  Try picking one pet and write an interesting story about just that one.  This gives you the ability to write a second article about the second pet, a third about the third pet, etc. 

Ask yourself, does that make sense?  Sometimes it will and other times it will not.  It will depend upon where you’re going with your article. 

There are some wonderful lengthy articles on Squidoo.  Some discuss art, history and music.  Others give information that can’t be cut short. 

But there are also some great short articles on Squidoo.  I’ve seen some great product review lenses that are short, quality pieces. 

The answer here is to keep the article sharp and to the point.  Write, edit, and end up with what you feel works.

Saving your Story in RTF

Once you’ve got a first draft done, I want you to save your draft in RTF (Rich Text Format) format because this format transfers well to most platforms. 

If you’ve never saved to RTF before, this is how you do it in Microsoft Word: 

• ·       Go to “File”
• ·       Go to “Save As”
• ·       Give Your File a Name as you would with any other Save
• ·       In the box just below File Name is a box called “Save As Type” – Click the drop down arrow box
• ·       Find the Rich Text Format (*.rtf) and click on it
• ·       Click Save

By saving your work in Rich Text Format, most systems will be able to read your work without having to reformat your article.  When you save using the standard Microsoft Word Save, you may run into formatting problems later.

Now we’ll rework your article. 

Modules

There are many ways to format your lens on Squidoo, but the most successful way is to break it into pieces, which you’ll put into sections that Squidoo calls “Modules”. 

Modules will be material you’d normally put under section headings.  If our article was on weather, these sections might be heat, cold, rain, storms, etc.  Each module has its own bold headline.   

Go back through your article and break it into modules.  Give each module a section name in bold type so you can easily determine where you'll break your article into new sections later.

 

Photos

Now is the time to determine how you’ll illustrate your Squidoo lens.  Will you be taking your own photos?  Or using a photo sharing site?  The easiest way by far is to take your own photos.  You own them.  You can get exactly what you want illustrated. 

How many photos will you use?  You’ll need at least one photo for your introduction, but you may want to illustrate each module.  Make sure you do the legwork before you go on to Squidoo.  It will save you a lot of time.

Will You Include any Products?

One of the easiest affiliates to showcase on Squidoo is Amazon.  Have you thought about any products you’d like to include in your story?  You can sort out the specifics when we get to the Squidoo site, but think about what types of products you’d like to include.  Would they be books, music, or products?

Spell Check Your Work

After you’ve written an article that is not a copy of anything else you’ve done or seen, make sure you’ve done the editing and you’ve checked your spelling and grammar.   

Save your work as an RTF file.

Now You’re Ready!

I’ve walked you through the basics of writing an article for Squidoo.   Next week, I’ll take  you through sign-up, picking a name, writing a profile, and finally how to publish your article on Squidoo.

See you next time!