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Writing is an essential tool in communication, especially when you cannot always meet with your clients and customers face to face. How do you get your point across to them clearly and concisely? You write articles for on-line forums, blogs, trade journals, magazines, and in many cases, you write a book on what you know. But how do you start? First, ask yourself, "What does my client or customer want to know?" I always try to visualize a single person when I do this because it helps me to stay focused on his or her needs and not on my struggle to get the words down on paper. This is where I make good use of keywords. A lot has been made of the use of keywords in SEO, websites, resumes, and advertising. But did you know you can use the same tactics to help you with your writing? By focusing initially on the keywords or points you want to highlight in your writing, you can create an outline that is very focused and yet easy to follow. I like to create outlines using only keywords without writing complete sentences. I even use this technique when I take notes at a convention, or when I'm listening to a speaker either on a DVD or CD. This way, I can pinpoint the most important points, and then when I go to write about them, I am only using the main keywords or key points that I found to be pertinent to my purpose. This way, when I write, I am not going to copy or plagiarize in any way. This is very important. You never want to take someone else's idea and claim it as your own. If someone, however, comes up with a very unique method of doing something, so unique that they almost define it, you really should give them credit. I have to give credit to Andrew Pudewa of the Institute for Excellence in Writing for the use of a Keyword Outline. I have modified his approach to some extent, but I learned how to write using keywords when I was homeschooling my kids and having trouble teaching them writing. (Yes! Even a homeschooling writer can have trouble teaching writing!) The use of writing using keywords has been around for a very long time, but Mr. Pudewa made it so simple that I cannot lay claim to the technique. Anyone can use it and be successful at it. I have no connection with the Institute for Excellence in Writing, but believe that anyone who is looking for just such a teaching tool should know about them. This technique of taking keywords and turning a source article into an original one is vital to anyone who makes their living as a writer. We are all inspired by things we hear and see. Here's how it works: Take a source article. Here I am going to take paragraph 6 I wrote for this article. I like to create outlines using only keywords without writing complete sentences. I even use this technique when I take notes at a convention, or when I'm listening to a speaker either on a DVD or CD. This way, I can pinpoint the most important points, and then when I go to write about them, I am only using the main keywords or key points that I found to be pertinent to my purpose. This way, when I write, I am not going to copy or plagiarize in any way. This is very important. You never want to take someone else's idea and claim it as your own. Taking notes using keywords, all you do is pull out three to four words per sentence, underline them, and then write them on lines like this: 1. Create, outlines, keywords 2. Conventions, speakers, CD/DVD 3. Important, points, pertinent, purpose 4. Write, not copy, plagiarize 5. Never, take, idea, own Then, what you do is you do not refer to the source article again! You use only your keyword outline and rewrite that paragraph. The beauty of this is that each person is going to choose different words, and as a result their resulting paragraph is going to be different. This is one of the most brilliant techniques I have ever learned and I wanted to share it with all writers out there who struggle with coming up with outlines and ways to rewrite material in their own words. best writing services internet site
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