Professional writing never involves stealing, of any kind. In processing a piece of writing, always pay attention to the importance of reliable sources, citing those sources, and the effects of plagiarism. When the goal is to provide good content to readers, the outcome would not exist without any one of these three requirements.

As a journalist, the number one rule is to use trustworthy scholarly sources. A scholarly source is known primarily for academic research, often exhibiting the methods of and having the demeanor of a scholar. When deciding if a source is scholarly, keep in mind the authors are experts in the field and/or are individuals who have done the research in the field. Journals that have a scholarly status always cite their sources in either bibliographic or footnote format. Finally, the purpose of a scholarly article is to report the original research and experiments, all in an attempt to provide useful information to fellow scholars.

Equally essential is citing your source. Understand that it is necessary to both know how to cite a source properly and provide a works cited or bibliography at the end of the article. Providing citations gives your writing credibility; it gives the original author credit for supplying the content; and it gives your readers an optional outlet for further knowledge of the topic. Most importantly, citing sources prevents the writer from plagiarizing other authors.

Which brings me to plagiarism. Plagiarism is the worst offense in the academic world of content writing. As stated on Dictionary.com, plagiarism is, “the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work.”

Plagiarism can even occur when people aren’t trying to steal content. Typically what happens is the writer rewrites the original content thinking they haven’t plagiarized, but when they don’t give credit to the original writer, it becomes plagiarism. Another consequence arises when, “Some unscrupulous individuals in the blogsphere are only out to scrape your content for their own websites, ripping off your material and claiming it as their own.”(Blog Plagiarism Q & A, Stephen)

I have a quote that helps me remember the importance of following these three simple requirements to ensure credibility as a writer. As quoted by Lao Tzu, “Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.”

Good copywriting evolves around numerous strategic essentials. Whether selling a product, pitching an event, or voicing a controversial article, certain steps must be taken to produce well written copy.

To begin, ask yourself what the dominant objective of the headline is. Also follow through asking yourself what is the main goal of your fonts, sizes, graphics and all other sections of the content.

The answer might be surprising, but it is as simplistic as getting your first sentence read. Each previously mentioned element of content goes into obtaining this scheme. When successful, the momentum of the first attention grabbing sentence will push the reader onto the second sentence. If this process of readers anticipating the next content filled sentence continues, a chain reaction is created.

It is always important to give your readers something to look forward to. Make sure you provide reliable information when providing content. Also be sure to answers any questions that might arise from your readers.

An absolute must for readership is the headline. The first word of the headline should be a powerful verb that requests action. As written by Brian Clark of Copyblogger, the headline should also take fifty percent of the time to write, while the content takes the other fifty percent.

Another important trait to keep in mind is the length of the headline. Typically the headline has eight words or less, but if and when itâ??s longer, the only guideline is whether the full thought is conveyed through the fewest needed words.

The next step to take is knowing how to structure and compose your content. You must keep the content straightforward. Strive for your copy to use simple words to illustrate your point, be concise, written clearly, as well as communicative.

When this method of organization is provided, you ensure readers youâ??re focusing on their understanding and are benefiting from the piece.

Also, donâ??t be afraid to occasionally bend the rules of grammar. If you are struggling with the conformity of content writing, have some fun with your structure keeping in mind it has to help the piece. Play around with paragraph lengths, fragmented sentences, starting and ending with conjunctions and prepositions, even try using bullets and lists.

The last thing to consider when copywriting it the length of content. The usual length for blogs is short and to the point, about 250 words or so. Although, there are exceptions to this norm. Three main points to consider as stated in The Copywriterâ??s Handbook written by Bob Bly are:

1. The Product: the more features and benefits a product has, the longer the copy.

2. The Audience: Certain people want as much information as they can get before making a purchase. This is especially true of people on the Internet, and especially true with information products.

3. The Purpose: Whatâ??s the goal? Generating a lead for a service business requires less detail, but an ad that aims to make a sale must overcome every objection the potential buyer may have.

In summarizing your piece, remember the previously listed steps it takes when copywriting. The headline, language, grammar, organization, attention grabbers, and length are all imperative to a good piece

When I ask myself this question, I often rattle off a few different answers. The first aspect to making a good blog is grabbing the reader’s attention with great headlines and repetitive keywords.

Some pointers that I find helpful in attaining reader concentration are starting with a quote, referencing a relevant statistic, illustrating word pictures in reader’s minds, and telling a story. All of these aspects are imperative when achieving readership, but also keep in mind that at the same time you must not overload your readers’ minds.

A second component that makes a blog good is to write what you know. By saying this, I mean to provide your readers with real opinions written from the heart, as well as real information written from reliable resources.

A third facet is to use an active voice to get your content across from the beginning. Don’t be afraid to explain things, rather get into depth on discussing your opinions and any controversial topics within your blog.

A final element to consider when creating a blog is the saying “practice makes perfect”. The more you write and the more you practice voicing yourself through text, the better your writing style will evolve into. It is not until you can be self analytical of your work that you will become a successful blogger.

And so I ask you, the readers, what do you think makes a good blog?