Steps to write articles for better memory retention

Ever felt that while browsing through the blogs in APSense, you don’t know which article to start reading from?

 

How do you select from such a wide range of articles? By the number of “tops” the articles have? By looking at the eye-catching title? Or even the author of the blog?

 

Some blogs are short, some maybe long. And personally, sometimes I do feel that I can’t remember what I have read for long articles.

 

So, I was thinking of ways to improve my method of writing artilces. I got some inspiration from reading a blog "These are the Steps to get your Blog Topped / Attention Newbies" by Jeunelle Foster. After pondering for some time, I realized it is REALLY back to the basics.

 

During my time in school, we learn how to write proper English essays which includes an Introduction, Body and Conclusion. But it can be further broken down into more parts for better effect.

 

Here are the main points I would want my readers to take away with:

Ø      Arousal

Ø      Framing

 Ã˜      Introduction

 Ã˜      Summarizing each topic before linking to another topic

 Ã˜      Conclusion

 Ã˜      Reiteration

 

Arousal

It can be a thought-provoking question or just a statement that will catch the readers’ attention. This can be also done for the title of your blog.

Framing the readers’ mindset

This part of your article is the “lay down the track” for your readers to follow. Maybe your article is about Health & Fitness, you might want to inform the readers the importance of keeping fit and exercising regularly. But remember to keep this short to retain the readers’ interest and memory better.

Introduction

Very similar to framing, but this is where you show your readers the main points that you will be talking. Listing your take away points in point form would be good. Take away points are the few main points that you want your readers to remember clearly when they leave your blog.

 

Topic – Summarizing and linking

This is where your main bulk of your article. Have a good topic sentence – a sentence that is the gist of the whole paragraph. After each topic/point that you want to bring across, have a proper closure/summary of that point. On top of that, link this topic/point to the next topic that you are going to say. All these small points help to keep your readers’ mind alert and absorb better.

Reiteration

Final part – repeating your take away points. This is to reinforce the brain to remember the new information better and longer.

Conclusion

After presenting all your points, have a short conclusion of your article. You might want to think of some FAQs that your readers would ask and list them here. Or you can just wait for your readers to leave a comment to ask their questions or doubts regarding your article. It is perfectly fine.

To better remember the main points, I re-arranged it to form two words: “scar” and “if”

Summarizing each topic and linking to the other

 Conclusion

 Arousal

Reiteration

 

Introduction

Framing

 

Thank you for reading my blog. Please do not steal my ideas or topics without giving any credit.

I might think of more ways to write better articles. Now I am typing out another article on how to take notes and summarize lengthy articles so as to improve our reading.

 

James Kong