How to Write Professional Articles That Attract Readers

It took me years of writing to find my favourite niche of true crime. I started following my love of reading by writing book reviews. The views were minimum on the blog I set up. I will always look at it fondly, though, as this was the writing that kickstarted my life as a writer.

I have always been obsessed with true crime; even from a young age, I would devour books on murders and police procedures. As a teenager, I always wanted to be a forensic scientist, life got in the way, and I never went to university, but I still loved crime. I wonder now why it took me so long to write on this subject. 

When I did start writing, it was clear that I had found my niche. I enjoyed writing it and my readers responded favourably to my writing. Like all writers along my journey, I have picked up some tips and tricks when writing crime, so here are a few if you fancy the true crime genre. If you don't read on, the advice will work for other genres.

Wikipedia is not your friend.

I found this out the hard way. Various writers write Wikipedia, and the facts are never checked. As a result, there are some damn right whopping untruths on there.

When researching an article, I suggest steering clear of Wikipedia; instead, look for more trusted sites. Even with these sites, errors occur, so I read a minimum of three sites on any one case to eliminate this problem. If the facts match, then it is likely to be accurate. The most reliable source of information I have found is from the court documents themselves. They are heavy reading, similar to scholarly articles, but there is nothing better for accurate facts.

Keep quotes to a minimum.

If appropriate, hearing the words that your subject has spoken will help the reader; I like to use a provocative statement they have made at the end of my article to finish the piece with a thought-provoking quote.

However, don't use these to tell the story. Firstly, they will be biased as they come from a side of the argument that only has one opinion. A murderer is rarely going to make a statement that makes him guilty. Secondly, the reader has clicked on your article because they like your voice. They want you to tell them the story; that is why they clicked.

Quotes also break up the flow of reading if used in excess; many people, myself included, skim read the quotes or ignore them together. So instead, tell the story as clearly as you can in your own words.

You are not part of the story.

Many articles on writing will tell you to write for the reader; the best way to accomplish this with factual articles is not to impose too much into the story. Unless you are a professional in this field, we don't want to know too much about what you think.

This, however, does not make me shudder as much as the writer who tries to tell you what the people in the story were feeling. As a writer, there is no way you can say that Mr Jones thought of his family when the gun was placed to his head. You also can't state why the crime was committed unless you are the criminal or there.

Readers of true crime want facts and then to make their own opinion on what happened, guilty or not guilty.

Don't judge.

This is the most challenging part of the job of a true-crime writer, not to judge who you are writing about. It is a part of my writing that has developed over time. At the start, it was clear I thought who was guilty and who wasn't. I don't do this now, mainly because my outlook has changed. I genuinely want to find out what a killer has been through, resulting in the murdering.

When you write, try not to be too judgemental. If you can't do this with cases, I understand completely. However, some cases are too close for writers to remain unbiased; I would think about if you want to write these cases, it's why I never write on child abuse crimes.

Images are as important as writing.

If you search in bing images and then filter for free to use, there are not many cases that do not have pictures you can use. However, I would caution against crime scene photos as you do not know whether this will trigger something in your reader. For example, a good picture of the person you are writing about so that readers can visualise the perpetrator.

Even though you maybe be writing true crime, you could still get into trouble for copyright violations using copyright photos, so approach with caution.

Elements of this advice can apply to any article you write regardless of niche. I thought writing crime was about throwing the rule book away when I started, but I was wrong. With whatever you write, the post should be:

• Researched thoroughly
• Have limited quotes
• Be about the subject or reader, not you.
• Mainly be non-judgemental
• Have copyright-free images

If you follow these five simple tips, you will start writing better articles and see your readers increase. So now go forward and write, what are you waiting for?

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