If I write an article and have say 3 long tail keywords that I want to tie into it, does it detract from any of my words to use multiple long tails in one article, using each one a few times as opposed to just picking one long tail and putting it in a few times?
If you get the ratio right then you should have no problem with this method. 1-3% is about right for keyword occurrence in an article
One keywords is enough. Try to find some popular keywords with less competition. There always be some good keywords that people haven't discover.
Well - the keyword in your title should be your major one, then again you might be able to combine 2 in the title. Then have the main one in first line, italics i think are accepted for ezine - not bolded. Then include your main long tail 2 more times in the body and again in the final line. Include you others throughout the body. If it gets rejected then play around with it, should be alright though.
I think if the other keywords all tie together fine, you can get away with it. Let's say the keyword was "Durpa Doo" < For the sake of a post. Let's say another keyword is "How to Durpa Doo" and another one is "Durpa Doo Fast". Putting them together for a three keyword combo would be easy.