[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Urban Twist Digital Journalist and Writer’s Guide is THE handbook for blogging as well as a guide for writing on TheUrbanTwist.com. If you’re reading this, it’s because you are writing for The Urban Twist or another Phoenix Stokes Media website. Welcome aboard.
The following modules cover a wide variety of subjects, from how to use WordPress to creating great headlines to writing for TheUrbanTwist.com. The first section covers everything you need to know about writing on TheUrbanTwist.com, and the rest is available to you as guidelines depending on your level of writing experience.
Whatever your level, make sure you read the ‘Headlines’ section at the end. It will change the way you write (for the better).
Jumping Right In
You can access our Submission Guidelines page here, which explains the article types and formatting of how your articles are supposed to look like based on type. It also explains how you are to go about submitting your posts. It also serves as a cheat sheet to help you get acclimated with our site faster. You should definitely bookmark that page along with this one.
If you’re low on article ideas, starting with Google and Yahoo trends would be a good way to find topics to write about. It’s also a good way to find some of the most heavily discussed events recently that could provide really good traction for your article which could lead to a ton of traffic and lots of people viewing your piece.
There’s other types of articles of course that you can write about, but the quickest route is to report the news and these trending tools are very important and could become essential to your writing career.
The Checklist
We made it easy for those who are ready to jump right in and begin posting. We’ve creative this comprehensive checklist that you should use as a guide when posting. You can also refer to the Submission’s Guide as mentioned above.
Editorial & Style Guidelines
Stories accepted for inclusion by TheUrbanTwist.com must generally be newsworthy in nature and will be determined in the sole discretion of our reporters and editors. Stories of a personal nature are not appropriate for TheUrbanTwist.com and will not be accepted by our reporters and editors.
We follow the Yahoo! Style Guide for online writing — the quick guide is available here:
Writing For TheUrbanTwist.com
If you’re new to WordPress and / or new to writing online, we suggest that you also read the ‘Using WordPress’ and ‘Article Writing Tips’ sections.
The following pages explain the writing process at The Urban Twist – you should read all of them but pay special attention to ‘Linking Strategy’, ‘Community Tips’ and ‘Promoting Your Articles’.
- Using Bylines
- Adding Images
- Linking Strategy
- Research & Sourcing
- Community Tips
- Submission Process
- Promoting Your Articles
Using WordPress
WordPress is the software that TheUrbanTwist.com and millions of other professional websites run on. If you’re new to WordPress or if you’re unfamiliar with any specific operations (such as how to add images or how to edit your profile), the following links will walk you through each step.
There are also some helpful video tutorials in your WordPress Dashboard, that you can access by logging in and then clicking on “Site Admin” at the top of our site.
- Writing a Post in WordPress
- Using the Visual Editor
- How to Link
- Adding Images
- Tags and Categories
- Save and Publish Options
- Editing Your User Profile
Article Writing Tips
These pages cover the basics of how to write online. Even if you’ve been writing on your own blog / on other sites, make sure you review these tips as these are the building blocks that will make you a better writer.
Pay special attention to ‘Topic Selection’, ‘Article Structure’ and ‘Spelling and Grammar’. You should know that articles that are poorly formatted or are littered with mistakes (spelling, language or factual) won’t be approved or accepted.
- Topic Selection
- Strong Introductions
- Article Length
- Article Structure
- Spelling and Grammar
- How to Get More Links
- How to Get More Comments
- General Writing Tips
Types of Articles
There are different types of articles that you can write, and you should mix things up to cover different topics and also to broaden your skill set as a writer.
Headlines
Headlines, or post titles, are the most important part of your article. Why? Because the majority of people use headlines to decide whether or not to read your article. Doesn’t matter how good or bad your actual article is. If it has a weak headline, it won’t get read.
The following articles will help you improve your headline writing skills:
If you have any further questions or if there’s something you’d like to see added here, let us know by shooting us a tweet.
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