Some basic writing tips for your articles💅
Tags: writing, watercooler, career, beginners
Published: 2020-08-10 07:20:52

<h4>Hello, users! 👋</h4>

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<img alt="A Star Wars Gif saying hello there" title="A Star Wars Gif saying hello there" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3ornk57KwDXf81rjWM/giphy.gif">

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I hope you're about to enjoy your vacation any time soon, (like me!), but today I'm still writing about a matter of **online presence**, **career development**, and **writing tips**.
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Growing as a designer or developer (or any role inside the tech industry) could mean **sharing online** for you. Internet is wide and wild but **online presence** is a good thing, since many people will get to **know you** and **know your work**.
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That means, for example, writing some articles, tutorials, guides, create some videos, etc.
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I'm creating this piece because some people asked me *"how to improve their writing style online"*, and I wanted to share some tips on **how I improved mine**🙌.
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I'm not giving away a **magical recipe** because there isn't any. **Just some tips** that I follow and that you could follow to see if they work for you.
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Let's see. 👇
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<h1>🟣Use titles, subtitles and other HTML elements.</h1>

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Using **titles**, **subtitles** and etc., is very important to create the organic atmosphere of your text.
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You can use **markdown** to achieve this, or HTML tags directly in your text (h1, h2, h2, a, img...).
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While writing an article for example in this platform, in your right side you will find a **markdown cheatsheet** that will help you organize your text:
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![Markdown Cheatsheet](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/hvgozh26ld45f3yfjj9n.PNG)
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Using this, readers will have the impression that the **text is organized and visually clear**.
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<h1>🟣Use mark and bold to highlight important parts of your text</h1>

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Explaining something important or writing the steps of a guide/tutorials, etc., **without highlighting any word** may be visually boring for your readers.
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Plus, it'll seem that it lacks organization and it's not clear. This is because **if you're not highlighting anything, your text lacks a hierarchy**. And our eyes and brains are searching for it.
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<mark>Marking</mark> words or even make them <b>bold</b> could be visually more interesting, more clear and more organized.
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In case you don't know how to do that, see <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_mark.asp">here</a> and <a href="https://www.w3schools.com/tags/tag_b.asp">here</a>.
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<h3>Examples:</h3>

*The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. After nine days, <b>they have complete control over the host’s movements.</b>*
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*The original oranges from Southeast Asia were a tangerine-pomelo hybrid, and <b>they were actually green.</b>*
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<mark>1.</mark> Open Visual Studio Code.
<mark>2.</mark> Go to **File**.
<mark>3.</mark> Open the file of your project.
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<h1>🟣Separate your content in small pieces of text.</h1>

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This is totally optional (*like the rest of these tips*), but I've seen lately that **people are predisposed to read small pieces of text rather than a very long paragraph of text**.
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I'm always creating **small paragraphs that go straight to the point**, and **I try not to create extra-long-paragraphs**, because if someone doesn't have much time to read I want them to be able to *read my content as fast as possible*.
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<h1>🟣Write. Then rewrite.</h1>

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I usually **hate** thinking that my content is boring to read.
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That's why I use the <b>write, then rewrite</b> technique. 
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I write the whole article or just a few paragraphs. Then I stop, read them again and ask myself if I'm actually **divagating** or saying something **interesting or important** in the text.
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You usually write exactly **what you're thinking**, that's why sometimes you can start divagating or letting go the core of your content, and the reader feels that and could lose interest.
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Once you wrote your text or some paragraphs, stop, read it again and try to **rewrite it but summarizing it**. Go to the point, clarify your ideas, **write, then rewrite**.
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<h1>🟣Images. Gifs. Emojis.</h1>

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**Humour** is a splendid tool for connecting with your readers. Images, gifs, memes, and emojis are a fantastic way to create some kind of innocent and visual humor that will attract the reader's attention.
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Please note that everything must be **accessible** using the *alt* attribute in the images and gifs, and making sure that these resources never represent anything core in your article.
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Not everyone can see images, **don't use them to show the important parts of your content**.
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<h1>🟣Visual resources.</h1>

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Just to write **some lines and expect the reader to understand it** won't work.
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There must be something else supporting your content, for example, **visual resources**. Those can be screenshots, schemas, gifs showing the code/process/result, and a long etc.
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You can take screenshots and record gifs with <a href="https://gyazo.com/">Gyazo</a>, and share pieces of code using <a href="https://codepen.io/">CodePen</a> or <a href="https://codesandbox.io/">CodeSandbox</a>.
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<h1>🟣The tone.</h1>

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So, unless you're presenting a paper to Harvard, you're talking (or better, writing), to normal people here. **Like you, like me**.
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I mean, obviously you **must** make references and explain technical concepts, but remember who will be reading your content.
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Writing in an informal-conversational mode worked best for me to **explain difficult things in an easy way**, as if I was explaining it to a colleague in my office.
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Using a conversational-fluid tone in your writing won't make you less professional. It will **make your content understandable to everyone reading it**. Even to someone working at Harvard.
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<h1>🟣No insults. No bad words. No disturbing references.</h1>

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I think this is absolutely obvious, but.
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Nobody wants to read compromising content. Racism, homophobia, and others must be totally out of your content.
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<h1>🟣Links.</h1>

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When writing content, **link and make references to all the resources** you find online/offline.
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If you're talking about a book, **link that book**. If you're talking about other articles, **link those**, and so on.
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It'll help you in the future, in case you need those references, and will help others who are willing to **investigate by themselves**.
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<h1>In conclusion🌼</h1>

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So, that's it!
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These were my honest tips for your writing. Of course, this isn't a guide or anything, and they are based on **my only experience**.
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Anyways, hope this was helpful.
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Let's keep coding 💻!
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