Article length

Do you find writing shorter articles easier or longer ones? Are your articles naturally shorter or longer?
Anyone have ideas on making articles longer or shorter [Depending on the situation and requirements]?

 

Write until the job's done - the topic is covered at the level of detail your readers will like.

To make an article longer you can:
-broaden your topic (sometimes)
-use examples
-say the same thing multiple times in different ways
-add quotes from other sources

To make an article shorter you can:
-make your topic more specific (sometimes)
-say things simply in a few words
-cover the topic in less detail
-forget the fluff, get straight to the point

 

I personally feel that an article of 250-400 words is sufficient enough as longer can be very boring..More over instead of writing it in old style of paragraphs follow points and highlight the key points so that it become easy for the reader.So write in points and thus only focus on important points rather than writing those essays

 

When writing for someone else article lenght is often narrowed around a client's requirements and terms you pacted.

When you write on your own for any given reason, I prefer keep my articles between 250 and 500 word count.

Shorter are often worthless, longer can be boring unless you are expert in a field and keep proper grammar and punctuation.

Plotting a long article like if it were a novel can often help keeping readers' attention.

 

It honestly depends on what the article is for-- if I am writing something for my personal blog or on a topic that I am invested in, the articles will tend to be a little bit longer, mostly because I am jazzed about the topic. For things like article marketing and website content/copy, I like to tell my clients that the 300 word mark is a good target and that to go over 500 words is on the excessive side.

I like what Latoya said. It's reminiscent of...somebody (the caterpillar?) from Alice in Wonderland: "Start at the beginning and when you come to the end, stop" (or something to that effect).

 

Is that a trick question?

I write until the job is done. It could be a 50-word item or a novel.

The only difficulty would be getting a client to understand that a 300-word article about the coming fee decline in the freelance writer market isn't going to work.

Oops, I've said too much.

 

Lots of interesting ideas. I was primarily thinking of writing for own websites or those for clients who don't stick to word lengths and say that let the article be as long as it needs to be or to use the writer's personal judgement as to article length.

Most of the articles i tend to write for my personal purposes seem to be 200-300 words.

 

I usally keeps my article length 250 and 500 words...

I will feel uncomfortable, if I write those articles that require 1,000 words and above.

 

For most projects I usually target 350-500 words, but it all depends on the situation and the requirements. For articles that just keep going and going, I'll often break them up so they can stand on their own and be titled as part I, part II, part III, etc. This seems to work well.

 

I usually start with a target article of standard number of words... but when I get to motivate myself enough I start typing, and typing, and typing then it ends up as a long article. Then I edit it and trim it down.

 

I feel articles under 200 words are not articles at all but product/service description.

I feel comfortable writing articles between 250 and 350 words and often doing extensive research when they are above 400 word count.

However I can rarely round such numbers going usually over 10/20 words per article.

 

I don't agree. Let's say a person is going to write an article on "How to stop cats from fighting each other". It may be under 200 words, because of narrow focus. But it's still an article.

 

In general, I would agree with this. Even though brevity is a good skill for a writer to have, sometimes when articles are too short it looks like the writer doesn't have enough information, skill, or expertise on the subject matter to write a better article.

 

Take a look at the newspaper some time.

If the topic is narrow, it could be 200 or fewer words. It's about what needs to be said and how you say it.

I've seen many 500-word articles floating around here that I could rewrite into 100-word articles, because they are so bloated.

 

True, there are 400 word articles that are far too long, just as there are 400 word articles that are far too short. I can write articles that are less than 200 words if that is what is required by either the subject or the purchaser, but as a reader I prefer to have a little more to chew on.

 

Good point, I have never realized this fact... or I should better say I have always thought that news are one thing and articles are another, but now I see it's just the same and certainly would be hard make a 1000+ project on how stopping cats on fighting

 

It is rather easy and sometimes tempting to add needless filler to articles. I am sure you would agree as you would have doubtless seen such things happening. Even if you haven't, you can be certain of their existence. Believe only that which you are 100% sure. I am sure you understand clearly now

 

A written "article" is a format, which consists of items (text, pictures, etc) on a subject.

Article examples:

The Battle of the Bulge
Six Ways to Explode Your Freelance Writing Business
Man, Wife Found Dead in Dryer
Exploring the Romantic Restaurants of Rome
Microsoft CEO Found Guilty of Extortion
Knitting Granny Sets World Record

and so forth.

Articles can be found in newspapers, newsletters, magazines, Web sites, etc.

 

Needless filler is boring and frustrating to encounter as a reader, so too is shallow content.

 

But certain writers have a stylish, flashy and/or humorous way of writing that you sometimes don't even notice or feel those things.