For instance, if you’re really crafty, you might write an article like “How to Turn Bottle Caps into a Picture Frame” or “How to Store Your Yarn. " If you work from home, you might write an article like “How to Manage Your Time Working From Home” or “How to find a Work-From-Home Job. " If you’re musical, you might decide to write something like “How to Write a Song” or “How to Learn to Play the Piano in 2 Weeks. "
Picking your title at the beginning of the writing process can help to keep your article on topic. For instance, “How to Play Guitar Like Hendrix” is a better title than “How to Play the Electric Guitar Like Rock Star and 27 Club Member Jimi Hendrix. ” Also, a title like “How to Change the Oil in a Honda Civic” will give the reader a clear idea of what to expect, whereas a title like “Car Maintenance” is too vague.
An article on farming corn, for instance, might have separate parts for the sowing process, caring for the corn as it grows, and harvesting the corn.
If you’re writing an article on cooking lobster, for example, you can have a method on boiling the lobster and a method on grilling the lobster.
For instance, an article on How to Make Paper Spitballs is probably going to be read by bored kids looking for a laugh. A lengthy section on the effects of air resistance on projectile motion could bore your audience to tears. Instead, keep the article short and lighthearted. On the other hand, an article on How to Solve Differential Equations shouldn’t have much in the way of jokes. People who read this article are likely trying to educate themselves or complete a homework assignment. The tone should be academic and professional. If you’re writing an article like How to Be Strong After a Breakup, try to keep your tone compassionate and understanding, and give the reader heartfelt advice on how to move on after the end of a relationship.
If you use sources to help you write your article, always rewrite the information in your own words. Copying from a source word-for-word is called plagiarism, which you should avoid at all costs. At the very least, your article will seem less authoritative, but at the most, you could get in trouble for copyright infringement. Avoid using sites that exist to promote a product or a service, as that’s considered content marketing. If the site has a shopping cart or a “Shop” tab under the main menu, it’s usually a good sign the source is content marketing. Check out the wikiHow guide on how to reference sources here: https://www. wikihow. com/Reference-Sources-on-wikiHow.
This can help you avoid missing any steps in your article, but it can also streamline the writing process, since you’ll just have to fill in the outline when you’re finished.
Your introduction should only be about a paragraph long. If it’s any longer than that, the reader might lose interest before they get to the steps. For instance, if you’re writing an article like How to Train Your Cat to Wear a Harness, your introduction might tell the reader the benefits of walking a cat on a harness, and encourage them that they’ll have a better chance of success if they’re patient and consistent. You might also indicate what materials are best for a cat harness.
For instance, in a recipe article, always tell the reader when they should preheat the oven.
For example, if you’re describing how to paint furniture, you would tell the reader to prime the object, let the primer dry, then sand the primer, all before you tell the reader to start painting. If you tell the reader to start painting, then mention that they should have primed the piece first, the reader might have to sand down the piece and start over.
If you’re writing a how-to on caring for damaged hair, for instance, your earlier steps could deal with conditioning your hair daily and washing your hair less often, followed by steps on using weekly deep conditioning treatments and protecting your hair from the sun, then finally less common options like visiting a salon for a keratin treatment.
Avoid using vague phrases for your step titles, like “Be prepared” or “Know what you want to do. ”
For instance, in an article like How to Drive, you might say something like, “Check your mirrors before you start the car. ” Then, in the wrap text for the step, you could detail how the reader can adjust the rearview and side mirrors in their car. In a baking article, you could say something like, “Stir the melted butter into your dry mixture. " Avoid making assumptions about the reader’s gender. For instance, the reader of an article on how to apply mascara isn’t necessarily a female. Also, don’t assume your readers necessarily live in the same country as you. Remember to include both metric and imperial conversions for any measurements you include in your article.
For instance, if you’re writing an article on How to Write a Thank You Note, your step might tell the reader to open with a direct acknowledgment of the gift you received. Your substep might then include scripting, such as: “Try saying something like, ‘Thank you so much for sending me flowers for my birthday!’”
For wikiHow articles, the Ingredients list should go at the beginning of the article, while a Things You’ll Need list for supplies would go at the end. Articles on cooking will often require both an Ingredients section (for the actual food) and a Things You’ll Need section (for supplies like a pan, wooden spoon, microwave, etc).
It can help to have a separate document where you keep your notes and reference information so you can easily refer to it when you’re adding in your citations.
You can even use bolded text to call extra attention to especially important warnings. For instance, in an article on how to install a fan in a computer, you might say: “Caution! Turn the power off and disconnect the power cable before removing the exterior casing to avoid serious electric shock. ”
If you have a good-quality camera or you know how to draw, you can provide pictures for the article yourself. If neither of those are good options for you, you might want to hire a professional illustrator.
For instance, if you’re writing an article on How to Play Guitar, but you spell it “giutar” throughout the article, your readers won’t be inclined to take you seriously. Try typing your article in a word processor with a built-in spell checker, or install a third-party spell checker like Grammarly or the Hemingway app.
For instance, if you’re writing an article on How to Play Guitar, but you spell it “giutar” throughout the article, your readers won’t be inclined to take you seriously. Try typing your article in a word processor with a built-in spell checker, or install a third-party spell checker like Grammarly or the Hemingway app.
Care for Permed Hair Get Rid of a Perm Straighten Permed Hair Style Permed Hair
To submit an article on wikiHow you can either click on “Help Us,” then “Write an Article,” or if you’ve already written the article, you can email it to the publishers at publish@wikiHow. com and they’ll post it for you.
