• By Andrew Morris
• Published 03/24/2008
• Article Writing

If I want to write an article, I simply research, then open my favorite word processor. However, there are programs available that say they will take care of the “heavy lifting” or tedious processes for you. If this is true, then what is left for us professional writers? Should we simply pack up the trusty laptop and head for the hills, perhaps getting a job as a transcriber? Speaking for myself, I am going to continue to write, and “damn the torpedoes”, no piece of software is going to send me packing. There is now software that greatly helps with the research process. In the normal course of events, I will head over to one of the major search engines, type in a keyword phrase and begin the process of gathering information (researching) on the topic I am writing. When complete, I will take the information, sort, sift, toss, then begin the process of transferring random thoughts into a well written article. To be honest, I would not mind some help with that process. It would save me a lot of time if that information were simply and easily delivered to my in-box; allowing me the freedom to write, saving the time and trouble of detailed investigation.

Doing a quick search for “article writing programs” I found dozens of relevant results, and I wondered if any of them were worth their salt. Looking down the page, I saw numerous programs mentioned. I also noticed multiple people asking for help saying, “Help me write

a good article or essay, possibly even a book”. There is an adage coined from the early days of computers, “garbage in, garbage out.” This means what you put into something, is what you will take out. Writing is a skill, and like any skill, it can be refined over time and with practice. And while there are multiple programs that claim to help you write, the secret of good writing remains the same: research, write, revise. That said, there are a few programs I have used that help greatly with the research part, and I will admit, that is not the fun part, at least not for me. Typically, once a keyword or key phrase is input using one of these programs, it scours the web, returning snippets from multiple sources. These sources can be individually checked, digging further into topics if necessary. That part done, these various snippets can be selected or discarded, with the selected ones copied to your clipboard for further research, refinement or writing. One caution I will give to anyone using this process to write their articles, books or essays: be very careful about copyright infringement. you do not want to spend quality time writing an article, only to find yourself involved in a copyright infringement litigation.

The best writing come from the heart, mind and soul of the writer. This combined with good grammar, in-depth research and a flowing style, make for something unique and readable. Content is what drives the web, but unique content is what make a particular article or website rise to the top of the search engines.