Except for a few eccentrics, most people think that writing anything is really hard work. They picture the school essays they hated or the tortured soul in her attic struggling by the light of a candle! But, that's all rubbish!

What folks never realize is that the heavy lifting has already been done by others. You don't need to come up with original content off the top of your head. You just need to look for what's already out there and ?improve' on it. Every topic you can think of has been covered and written on by someone. But, most of the time, these folk do it for the fun of it, which is headline news?for you.

Now don't mistake me. You mustn't steal these folk's hard work, (you wouldn't want to anyway; you don't want to be sued or banned) but no one can stop you picking up the ideas and creating your own ?take' on the facts. It's what academics call research!! In a world of browsers and huge repositories of information, anyone at all can become enough of an expert in any subject to write a 750 word article on it in minutes'if you know where to look.

Here's how you do it.

Step One: Generating Ideas?start from the end

Remember, you're in business. The article has to serve a business purpose. So the first step is to find a product you want to sell. If you don't have a product already, use standard affiliate thinking and find one with a reliable supplier and a good dollar commission.

Step Two: Find the content

Say you selected fly rods. Then your article needs to relate directly to fly fishing. Go directly to the source of the Internet's content. Online bulletin boards, FAQ pages and Article directories! Try?

http://www.groups.google.com

http://www.goarticles.com

http://www.faq.org

Everything you could ever want to know about nearly every subject on earth you can find there, and it's free if you're willing to dig for it.

Now, you're writing a 750 word article (this is the ideal length). You need an introduction, 3 or 4 points and a short conclusion. And, as a beginner, always try to give your readers information they can instantly use and implement. So you go through the content until you have filled your needs.

Let's take an example. You're writing about fly fishing. Well, go to Groups.google.com and see what themes people discuss about fly fishing ? techniques, fishing spots, fishing vacations, tying flies, equipment, and so on. Pick one and tilt it to relate it to fly rods. E.g. Cane versus carbon fiber in different fishing conditions, fly lines and different weight rods, laying a fly in tight conditions needs a particular type of rod?then conclude with suggestions on where to access suitable equipment; you'll get the idea.

Now go to Goarticles.com and type in fly fishing and see what articles are already written and how many people have viewed them so you can tell which article topics are the most popular. Always write on popular themes!

Then go to FAQ.org and look there for fly fishing Frequently Asked Questions on the selected theme and find content to flesh out the article.

You'll now have more content than you would have believed possible.

Step Three: Write the Article

Write as you would talk. Imagine the reader is across the table from you and tell them a story! People love stories. Personalize it if you can.

Step Four: Create a Snappy Headline

The most important part to your article is your article title; it will make or break your article. People browse headlines ? just like you do! So you need something that talks to their problem/fear/desires and promises a solution.

It you're writing about babies and colic, you need something like: "7 Tricks for Surviving a Baby with Colic!" Ok, that's not perfect but you get the idea.

Step Five: Edit Your Article ? Look Professional

The #1 reason why most articles don't get published (behind not following posting guidelines) is spelling errors. You simply must proof read and spell check. Even if you don't have a spell checker program on your computer, there are plenty of free web based ones.

http://www.spellcheck.net/

http://www.jspell.com/jspell.html

If you are having trouble with one or two words, why not try

http://www.dictionary.com

Read the article out loud to someone ? does it flow? Does it make sense? There is nothing worse than an article that doesn't make sense, people ? and publishers ? find it profoundly irritating.

That's it!

No deep secret. Writing is a step-by-step process ? anyone can do it.

Copyright (c) 2006 Michael Kay HBBReview.com