Becoming publishable
Writing the How-to Article
Everyone knows how to do certain things others would like to know how to do. If you’re able to teach someone how to do what you know how to do, and to do it in writing, you can bring in a steady stream of
income. From making a turkey to teaching a child to clean his room, your knowledge is a wonderful source of writing material. Writing the how-to article is a great skill for writers to master.
It seems easy enough on the surface. You know how to do something important. It should be easy to explain, right? Actually, it isn’t. It takes practice and skill to write the how-to article successfully. It also requires you to be able to remember how it was for a beginner.
One mistake how-to writers often make is to write at a level that is too high. They use specialized vocabulary without explaining what they mean and they presume everyone will know to do certain things, so they skip steps.
Begin by deciding exactly what you want to teach by writing an article. Narrow the focus so it can be covered adequately in the space you have. For instance, you can’t explain how to teach a child to read in a single article. You can teach how to get a child excited about reading. Teaching someone to sew is too big a project for an article, but teaching how to make a pillow is manageable.
Now write down the steps you think it takes to do the skill you have in mind. After you’ve done this, actually carry out the project. Do it slowly and check each step against the list you made. If you do anything not on the list, even if it’s a small step, add it to the list. If you’re teaching someone to make a teddy bear, it may seem obvious to you that you should put the stuffing into a spot less noticeable, since you can’t stitch that section inside out. When I made my first bear, I didn’t even think that far ahead and ended up stuffing the top of the bear. Don’t take anything for granted.
Now it’s time to start writing. Go through each step slowly. Write each step in a clear and precise manner, but make sure the writing isn’t stuffy. Keep it simple, and if it fits the style of the publication you have in mind, make it personable.
After you write, go back and highlight every technical term. Did you explain the term in your article? You may know what it means to knead bread, but a beginner probably needs an explanation. You may want to test your explanations on people who are unfamiliar with the task you’re teaching. So many words and terms seem obvious to people deeply involved in a field, but are a mystery to others. For instance, as a writer you probably know the meaning of these words and phrases:
--tighten your writing
--plot
--protagonist
--target audience
Someone who doesn’t write may not know what the words mean, or may not know how to do them. Think like an outsider when you write.
After you’re finished, try carrying out the task using only the explanations you gave, or ask someone unfamiliar with the skill to try it. You may find you left out something critical. If you tell someone to put on his socks, you have to tell him what to put them on. Otherwise, you may have a reader with socks on his head.
Perfect your skill by trying to write instructions for ordinary, everyday events such as:
--Getting dressed
--writing the letter Q
--pouring a glass of milk
--planting a seed
--feeding a baby
As you practice describing these small tasks, you’ll learn to break everything down to the smallest level and your readers will have socks on their feet.