Four Keys to Writing a Successful Bleacher Report Article

One of the writers on this site left a message on my profile page asking for help. He had writer's block and was asking for suggestions from a number of people on how to overcome it. I took the time to give him a little advice, but it also got me thinking about something.

I’ve been on Bleacher Report now for over a month.

Since that time, when I first blundered onto the site, I’ve written 19 (now 20) articles.

Most have gotten favorable reviews. Some have gotten very favorable reviews (three Picks of the Day).

Others weren’t so well received, but as a whole, I’ve done well. I’ve moved up the ranks to be the No. 1-rated writer for a number of communities, including the Miami Heat, and the No. 7-rated writer for the NBA community.

I’ve had well over 15,000 page reads of my work, one of them getting more than 5,000 hits, and hundreds of comments.

Does this make my work successful? Some would say it does. If it does, I felt perhaps I could share a few tips on how others might be as "successful."

There are literally hundreds of things a writer here on Bleacher Report could do to ensure his or her articles are successful. The number of style, punctuation, and grammar tips alone could easily fill a book.

There are also hundreds of little tips I won’t even explore in this piece, as they’d make it an actual book. What I will do is explore four criteria I believe are necessary to writing successfully here on Bleacher Report.

First, however, we need to define the term successful for the purposes of this article.

By successful, I’m referring to an article or piece that will accomplish the following four criteria:

1. Attract Readers

2. Engage Readers

3. Inform Readers

4. Satisfy Readers

These are my "Four Keys to Writing a Successful Bleacher Report Article."

1. ATTRACTING READERS

The first criteria on my list is about the toughest in most cases, especially on sites where there are so many other authors competing for the same audience’s attention. How to draw people to your writing is a question all of us must ask.

So, what’s the answer?

Simple, really. The Internet is a tool. It’s a tool every author on Bleacher Report should use with a vengeance. There are literally dozens upon dozens of sports-related message boards on the Internet for each team or sport you're interested in writing about.

Some are run by massive media outlets, while others are as small and local as one can imagine. Whatever their size, the successful Bleacher Report writer will attempt to use as many as he can to drive readers to his pieces.

How do you do that? Again, simple; just post a link to your article on message boards.

However, there is a pitfall waiting for any who do this too hastily.

Most message boards have an established community of "board posters." These are fans who’ve been on these boards for a significant period of time, and many of them feel they run the boards.

Whatever their beliefs, they don’t tend to welcome those who come on "their" boards posting what they consider spam. This usually means advertising of one sort or another.

And while an author’s articles on Bleacher Report certainly aren’t advertising, the board regulars aren’t likely to see it that way if they don’t know you, so you’d do well to first appear on their board and become familiar with them.

Do this by posting some comments on regular board members’ threads, in order to establish your fan bonafides and introduce yourself to the community.

However, once that is finished, and it shouldn’t take more than a week or two in order for many on the boards to consider you a member (a new member, but a member nonetheless), you’re ready to go. Post links to your articles, and simply ask those you’ve talked with to check them out.

Before you know it, you’ll be on your way to 500 page reads in a day.

Oh, and don’t forget you can also press your family and friends in the real world to come check out your work. Their clicks on your article count as much as the click of any stranger.

Also, a picture is worth a thousand words, so they say. So choose the photo you attach to your article wisely. It will make a difference in attracting readers.

2. ENGAGING READERS

The second criteria on my list can also be difficult: trying to engage your readers.

You need something interesting to actually say in order to engage anyone in your work. Also, you need to say it in the shortest amount of space you can.

Lengthy prose is something most readers don’t feel they have time to wade through. This article itself is likely to turn many off the moment they click on it, simply because it’s more than a page in length.

Of course, I could never get through any of the stuff I need to if I limited it to one page, so I’ll have to settle for an audience who has more patience and understanding than the average web reader.

Now, how do you actually engage your reader (other than keeping your pieces short)? Well, the first thing I’d suggest is writing about something you actually care about. Not many people can actually write about something they care less about and make it interesting to read.

Passion is necessary to your writing. You need to find something you love or hate, and start thinking about it. Do some research if it’s necessary, then get to writing. Put down everything you can about that subject, then stop and take a breath.

Once you’ve paused, go back and take a look at it. Does it say what you wanted it to say? If not, try and rewrite it a bit to get it to say exactly what you wanted it to say. Don’t worry if the punctuation or grammar isn’t correct. Don’t worry about spelling (spell-check will take care of this). Just make sure you’re saying what you intended.

Once you’ve done that, take another breath. This is where keys three and four come in.

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