Evenings keep me at my desk with fingers on my laptop.  Recently I joined the Warrior Forum. I’ve been a member for a few years. Before tonight my interests were cursory, unfocused, and sporadic. An Article Friendly forum colleague recommended my joining the Warrior Forum.  Since I did not have record of a username or password, I signed up again only to find out my username was registered previously by me!

My Article Friendly colleague also recommends the Warrior Forum War Room (sounds militant, but not). The War Room offers a vast array of writing tools, lessons, private label articles, RSS instructions…good grief, more than I could swallow at one sitting. 

Despite choking on the information, I observed a few principles important to me, and perhaps to you.

Here’s what matters to when writing
• Write!
• Search or seek supporting data or content for what you’re writing.
• Write!
• Stay focused…don’t wander off the path of your subject.
• Write!
• Avoid software guaranteed to write for you.

This will sound quite trite and almost obsequious:  Individual creativity or expression matters more than selling words.  In my opinion, the best writers, copywriters, script writers, or poets deserve recognition because the ideas flow from their personality.

Constructing sentences takes courage. Most ideas lack originality. “There’s nothing new under the sun.” But you cast a shadow that no one else can. Just write instead of seeking shortcuts, excuses, and distractions.

Article writing means you have a subject, you understand the subject, and your knowledge demonstrates some understanding of your subject. Too often, articles lack content or something I can bite. Make me think when you write.

Tom Schaffer wrote the article, “Some Must-Have Items When Writing for the Internet. Tom lists 4 major facets of an article; number three is “Good Article Content”. Authors must “entertain” and “provide good information”. Readers want solutions, a better life. “What will you tell me that gives me more than I have?” This is what a writer must do.

When you stake a claim in your article, you better give readers evidence that there’s gold in those words. Tom Shaw elaborates, “People respond well to figures, facts and statistics. Try to get great information and as many facts as you can.”

Whether you write or look for what’s right, you need data, “figures, facts and statistics”. This means searching, scouring, digging for information that supports your view.

To do that, you need a tool, and I think Zotero provides the best shovel to dig-up and pile those facts. Zotero is an open source allowing you to “collect, manage, and cite your research sources”. You can save pages to read offline, create notes, tag, and file. You’ll find the Zotero Firefox add on.

When using Zotero, I also discovered the WorldCat Registry, you can register your user account at WorldCat.org. Use your local library! Be sure to register with your local library and library consortium. Libraries provide vast resources, and librarians understand the Internet.

At WorldCat.org you can create a list of “books, videos, articles, and more”.