How To Do Research To Write Articles

by Bob Harmon on September 18, 2009

Articles come in many sizes and levels of complexity. There is no single set of rules that fits every project, but there are guidelines you should follow to keep yourself on track throughout the weeks as you prepare, research and write. You will complete your project in stages, so you must plan ahead and give yourself enough time to complete every stage of your work.

Your first step is to write down the due date for your article on a big wall calendar, in your planner, and in an electronic calendar.

Plan backward from that due date to determine when you should have your library work completed. A good rule of thumb is to spend:

Fifty percent of your time researching and reading

Ten percent of your time sorting and marking your research

Forty percent of your time writing and formatting

Timeline for Researching and Reading Stage: 1 week for short papers with one or two sources

It’s important to get started right away on the first stage. Give yourself time to collect many possible resources for your project. You will soon find that some of the books and articles you choose don’t actually offer any useful information for your particular topic. You’ll need to spend sometime online or make a few trips to the library. You won’t finish in one trip.

You’ll also discover that you will find additional potential sources in the bibliographies of your first selections. Sometimes the most time consuming task is eliminating potential sources.

Timeline for Sorting and Marking Your Research: 1 day for a short paper

You should read each of your sources at least twice. Read your sources the first time to soak in some information and to make notes on research cards.

Read your sources a second time more quickly, skimming through the chapters and putting sticky note flags on pages that contain important points or pages that contain passages that you want to cite. Write key words on the sticky note flags.

Timeline for Writing and Formatting: Four days for a short paper with one or two sources

You don’t really expect to write a good article on your first attempt, do you? You can expect to pre-write, write, and rewrite several drafts of your article. Don’t get held up writing any section of your article—especially the introductory paragraph. It is perfectly normal for writers to go back and complete the introduction once the rest of the paper is completed.

Finally, post your completed article in your blog, article directories, social networking sites, web sites, etc..

(ArticlesBase ID #1243406)

From The Minds Of Wharton
Wharton Business Foundation
www.WhartonBusinessFoundation.com
(888)4-WHARTON
info@whartonbusinessfoundation.com

Get Appointment Setters, Virtual Assistants, Telemarketers, Search Engine Marketing Specialists and more as low as $299 per month! Wharton Business Foundation is one of the foremost respected consulting firms helping companies to grow their business to the next level and beyond. With clients spanning across the nation as well as around the globe, our name has become synonymous with cutting edge expertise and timely intelligence. Though many of our clients know us for our business building experience and marketing and sales training expertise, we are quickly becoming known as the Premier Outsourcing Firm in the continental United States.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/social-marketing-articles/how-to-do-research-to-write-articles-1243406.html

Articles come in many sizes and levels of complexity. There is no single set of rules that fits every project, but there are guidelines you should follow to keep yourself on track throughout the weeks as you prepare, research and write. You will complete your project in stages, so you must plan ahead and give yourself enough time to complete every stage of your work.

Your first step is to write down the due date for your article on a big wall calendar, in your planner, and in an electronic calendar.

Plan backward from that due date to determine when you should have your library work completed. A good rule of thumb is to spend:

Fifty percent of your time researching and reading

Ten percent of your time sorting and marking your research

Forty percent of your time writing and formatting

Timeline for Researching and Reading Stage: 1 week for short papers with one or two sources

It’s important to get started right away on the first stage. Give yourself time to collect many possible resources for your project. You will soon find that some of the books and articles you choose don’t actually offer any useful information for your particular topic. You’ll need to spend sometime online or make a few trips to the library. You won’t finish in one trip.

You’ll also discover that you will find additional potential sources in the bibliographies of your first selections. Sometimes the most time consuming task is eliminating potential sources.

Timeline for Sorting and Marking Your Research: 1 day for a short paper

You should read each of your sources at least twice. Read your sources the first time to soak in some information and to make notes on research cards.

Read your sources a second time more quickly, skimming through the chapters and putting sticky note flags on pages that contain important points or pages that contain passages that you want to cite. Write key words on the sticky note flags.

Timeline for Writing and Formatting: Four days for a short paper with one or two sources

You don’t really expect to write a good article on your first attempt, do you? You can expect to pre-write, write, and rewrite several drafts of your article. Don’t get held up writing any section of your article—especially the introductory paragraph. It is perfectly normal for writers to go back and complete the introduction once the rest of the paper is completed.

Finally, post your completed article in your blog, article directories, social networking sites, web sites, etc..

(ArticlesBase ID #1243406)

From The Minds Of Wharton Wharton Business Foundation www.WhartonBusinessFoundation.com (888)4-WHARTON info@whartonbusinessfoundation.com Get Appointment Setters, Virtual Assistants, Telemarketers, Search Engine Marketing Specialists and more as low as $299 per month! Wharton Business Foundation is one of the foremost respected consulting firms helping companies to grow their business to the next level and beyond. With clients spanning across the nation as well as around the globe, our name has become synonymous with cutting edge expertise and timely intelligence. Though many of our clients know us for our business building experience and marketing and sales training expertise, we are quickly becoming known as the Premier Outsourcing Firm in the continental United States.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/social-marketing-articles/how-to-do-research-to-write-articles-1243406.html
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