Why trouble your mind with title, outline, paragraphs, and words? Download article rewriting software, order some private label articles, move a paragraph from here to there, and “chazam”, you are an author. Who could ask for anything more?

Perhaps that is too time consuming. You could install software that searches the Internet for niche topic articles. Take an introduction from one, a few paragraphs from others, and a conclusion from one more. Just “click” a rewrite key to produce a new article with your name. No need to research. No need to think. In minutes, you become an expert on any subject. Seems quite appealing, I presume.

Writing articles involves you, your time, your intelligence, your sources, and your motivation. Neither private label articles or article writing software provides or highlights those unique distinctions that make your writing special. Content matters, niche content works, but unique content matters more. Your are the maker of unique content. Ghost writers and private label article marketers think otherwise because they earn money from what they offer.

If you learned English and can write a sensible sentence, then write your own material. If English is your second or third language, then hire someone to translate and clean-up your writing for English readers. Write in your native-language. Write with intention, commitment, and purpose. Then let someone edit your work. You will be proud of the result; the words will be in English, but you crafted the article.

Jan Michaels (writer of the Article Friendly Publishing Script) stresses similar views in his article, “Article Cloning For Fun and Profit” Michaels warns, “After cloning (an) article you are left with two choices. Submit it as it is (not a good idea if you really WANT traffic at your website), or go thru the article and fix everything. Neither is a good idea if you consider that by cloning, then fixing the article, you’ve wasted more time than if you had simply written a new article!” I agree.

Jan recommends rewriting private label articles one “…paragraph at a time and rewrite it in your own words.” You will produce an original article, and “…search engines won’t see duplicate content, and you will get a reputation as a top writer.”

I disagree; you will have no reputation as a writer because you did not do the writing. Further, if you know how to juggle words, paragraphs, and sentences into a structured article, just write the content yourself.

You (or I) may never become a “top writer”, but all of us can become better writers. No need to play article word games. Write what you know. Write what you care about. Work at editing (or hire an editor), and work at your writing skills daily. Eventually, your expression will improve, and you’ll never have to worry about duplicate content.

Mike Lawson lists the distinguishing marks of ”great writers”. Great writers do instinctively what most writers don’t, no matter how hard they try. Lawson thinks you have “it” or you don’t.  If you don’t have “grand master” writing talent, (he lists the literary legends: Shakespeare, Hugo, Steinbeck”) you should put that pen down, get your fingers off your keyboard, and find something else to do. “You either are one (a writer) or you are not. It is not a learned skill or acquired trait. You cannot make a master out of a really good writer any more than you can make a bass fiddle out of a drum.”

Lawson’s analogy works; a dog is not a cat, and a grape is never a watermelon, but a hack can become a writer, and maybe a “literary legend”.  If not a legend, a “hack” can improve spelling, grammar, and content.  Use a dictionary. Increase your vocabulary. Grammar is learned not innate.  Content comes from our stories; we can be taught how to research.

Lawson shifts his thoughts to mission: “Before you ever pick up a pen or type the first word of a project, you should have a mission statement committed to making you a better writer. It doesn’t have to be a long, drawn out, complicated matter. Maybe just a paragraph or so that lays out your personal creed as a writer.”

Your creed as a writer is simple:  ”Just do it”  Mediocre beats failure.  Who knows you might write a brilliant, life-changing sentence. That sentence might not change anyone’s life but yours, and that alone makes
your writing worthwhile.

Your passion drives your mission statement, no matter what you do. If you want to write, then write. Never give anyone permisison to dissuade you.

Helpful books:

The Elements of Style by E.B. White (original by William Strunk)
On Writing Well  by William Zinsser
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Read Mike Lawson’s article.  I disagree with his views, but he writes them clearly.