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Some of you have a number of great ideas and information to share with the rest of us. As some of you have discovered, writing an article is quite a bit of work. Once you write the first article, however, they become easier to write, although it's not necessarily easier to find a topic.

Style and Audience
Before you start writing, identify your audience. That is to say, who is it that you're writing to? What level of experience will they have with the topic about which you plan to write?

With that in mind, consider the style you'll use to write your article. If you're planning to write a work-related article, your tone should be somewhat formal. Even for articles you may write for some of your volunteer organizations, especially professional organizations, you may want to select a somewhat formal style, depending on your audience.

Where to Send It
Determine where you plan to send the article that you write. That will also influence your style. Articles meant for peer-reviewed journals typically have a style that is extremely formal plus they often have strict requirements for format, length, and type sizes and typefaces, among others. Some magazines you may consider include Scientific Computing & Instrumentation, The Journal of GxP Compliance, or strictly online presences such as LIMSFinder. You may want to contact a journal in advance and find out if your intended article fits their needs.

If you are an end-customer, there are quite a number of journals that would like to hear about your experiences; some periodicals prefer articles from end-users rather than consultants or product vendors.

When you're looking for a home for your article, make sure you look at the publications first. See what types of articles they publish and ask these questions:

1. Do you think your article's topic fits the types of topics they seem to publish?



2. Do you feel comfortable having your article and name appearing with the other articles they seem to publish?

Determine Your Motivation
Why are you writing this article? Do you want to get information out to people? Or, maybe you'd just like to see your name in print. That's not a bad thing if you've got something valuable to tell the rest of us. If you think you'll get instant recognition from masses of people, lots of consulting work, or multitudes of job offers, think again. You have to write a number of articles before people start to recognize your name.

Assistance is Available
It's always useful to have someone else read your article before you send it out. Even if that person has no knowledge of the topic you're writing about, a careful reader can usually find at least several fairly obvious mistakes in your article that you'll miss simply because you are too close to the subject and the words you wrote.

If you have poor writing skills, especially in the language in which you'd like your article to be published, consider using an editor. An editor can review your article not just for spelling and grammar mistakes, but will also point out where the tone of the article doesn't come across properly or where the intent isn't clear.

In fact, even if you're a decent writer, try using an editor. You'll be surprised at the difference it makes and how much it improves the professional tone of your words. Some publications will also review your article before it's published but, even then, an independent editor can still make a world of difference.

Writing Under An Alias
There are pros and cons in writing your article under a pseudonym. On one hand, some people work for companies that won't allow them to write articles, as the company may be afraid that individual's views could be mistaken for the company's views, for example. Using a pseudonym allows writers to publish their ideas and information without upsetting their employers.

On the other hand, people tend to be a bit skeptical about articles that take strong stances on issues, but come from anonymous sources. Without knowing if the writer is a software vendor, consultant, or end-user, it's easy to become suspicious of the person's motives. Additionally, it's easier to be bold and opinionated when it can't come back to haunt you, and that can be particularly offensive to readers, as well as coming across as being unprofessional.

Be Cautious With Humor or Outside References
It's a challenge to make a joke that is understandable to what has become an international audience, plus few of us could make a living as stand-up comics. This is enough of an issue when you're speaking; when you're writing, you can't see your audience to know if they took the joke the wrong way. There's no way to just smile and say, "Well, I was just joking," to diffuse the situation if they take offense. It's there in print to be read and re-read, potentially making some group of people angrier and angrier.

While it's true that anything you write can be misunderstood and is not something you can entirely prevent, it's also a good policy to specifically avoid subjects that you know have the potential to be misunderstood. If you think it can be misunderstood, it definitely will be misunderstood by someone, somewhere.

Referring to events or people outside the scope of some of the people reading your article is an opportunity to confuse your readers. Once again, you can't see their blank looks to explain what you're talking about, nor can they raise their hand to ask who or what that was that you just mentioned.

Let Your Temper Cool
As far as I'm concerned, this is the most important point in this article. Write when you have information or opinions to give, not as an immediate reaction to something that angered or aggravated you. Let's face it-most of us can recognize an article that was written as a quick reaction to something else. It never comes across as professional or informative. Sometimes, we take that article's-and that author's-information or ideas less seriously than we might have otherwise.

Whenever you're writing as a reaction to something that angered or aggravated you, wait until you've cooled down. If you truly believe that you still have a valuable counterargument, do it after you've become "cool" and try hard to prevent your writing from making you "hot" all over again.

Finally
Looking at the blank page or computer screen seems daunting, but once you get started, you may be surprised by how much you have to say.

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