How to grab and hold the reader's attention

There are articles with which the reader solves a specific life problem: instructions for paying taxes, tips for choosing a wine, a guide to modes of transport in Barcelona. There is no need to invent anything here, you just need to answer topical questions in a simple and convenient form. You know this: we arrange information in a predictable structure, provide informative subheadings, write in simple language. The reader will skim through the text and understand everything.

And there are other articles - problematic. In them, the author takes a complex topic and presents it in such a way that the reader begins to empathize, corrects his views, and makes a discovery. Such articles require a lot of work and skill, and not every author will write something like this in his entire life. But if you decide, be prepared to spend two to three months collecting quality material, building a drama, and following the rules of good presentation.

I will tell you how to write problematic articles, using the example of the topic of vaccination. This is a complex topic that causes a lot of controversy, so let's give it a try.

Everything that will be written here on the topic of vaccination is just an example for an article, this is not the author's opinion, not confirmed facts, not official statistics and not religious commandments. Any word on the subject of vaccinations is only needed here to tell you how to write problem articles. The author does not know anything about vaccination, but he knows about a good text, and this is what the story is about.

Interestingly, this article is long and boring, and the most motivated readers will reach the end. Don't complain later.

Quality material

An article on vaccination can be collected based on statistics and recent research. This will be good, useful material that will take a week to prepare. We released it - we are working on.

This will not work with a problematic article. This is a whole investigation that should turn the world of the reader. This requires deep and varied material.

So vaccination.

Qualitative material describes the problem from different angles. For an article on vaccination to change something in the reader's worldview, it must contain participants with different positions in the topic under consideration:

parents who get all vaccinations;
anti-vaccines;
general practitioner or immunologist;
kindergarten teacher;
an adult who was not vaccinated as a child;
an employee of a pharmaceutical company.

Each participant must be spoken to personally.

In addition to collecting opinions, we prepare facts: official statistics, WHO recommendations, the latest medical research.

It will take a month, two, three or six months to collect such material. There will be so many of it that it will be possible to print and paste over the entire Buckingham Palace with leaflets. And it’s generally not clear from which end to take and arrange all this. There is only one magical way I know that guides this work.

Formulate

home

thought.

the main idea

The article should have a unifying idea on which we will plant the material. This idea will eventually become a thought that settles in the reader's head after the text. And for that to happen, every part of the article should work towards that idea. Let's take an example with vaccination.

I have collected material about vaccination, and I need a main idea. I don't like thoughts like "Without vaccines, we will all die," "Anti-vaccines are idiots," or "Vaccines are safe." All this is too straightforward and obvious. Something more subtle is needed. Something like this:

How to write interesting articles: formulate the main idea

So. Once again, no show off. The main idea is: "It will be impossible not to get vaccinated."That is, we tell in the article that vaccination is developing, vaccinations against various diseases appear, this is a scientific progress that cannot be stopped, despite all the anti-vaccination movements.

This thought shows the problem from a new angle. We do not enter into an endless debate about the benefits and fears of vaccinations, but rise above it, showing a global perspective.

The magic is that the main idea may not even be written, but every piece of the article gives it away, and in the end the reader himself comes to this conclusion. And the author's task is to select the material that will work for this.

Here's what comes in handy from everything that we named in the first part of this article.

Opinion of anti-vaccine parents will create a conflict. In the text, there will be a story of specific parents, they will become the voice of the entire anti-vaccination movement. And this voice will collide with the global trend. This will be the key conflict of the article on which the narrative will be built.

Conflict is the contradiction on which history is based.

Here is a hero of a horror movie coming to a closed door to a dark room. His heart is pounding, but he reaches for the handle. Will it open or not? It is a conflict between fear and curiosity. The viewer cannot tear himself away at this moment, because it is interesting which feeling will win in the end.

The conflict explains the motives and actions of the heroes, clashes different points of view, makes the story move forward. But this is such a complex and large topic that it needs to be written about separately. For now, let's go back to the structure based on the main idea.

Parents who get all vaccinations. They will enhance the contrast with anti-vaccines, but I will not give them too much attention. A commentary is enough to explain why they decided to do all the vaccinations. These parents' comments will confirm the trend and main idea that everyone will be there.

Any option is suitable for us: a balanced, well-reasoned opinion, and something like “Yes, we didn't think too much, the clinic was told to do it, so we are doing it. Everybody does it."

From immunologist you will need a story about his practice. Outbreaks of infections in recent years and how they were fought, several stories with the meaning "One boy did not get vaccinated and died." It's good if the doctor tells you how things were 10 years ago. So the commentary will show the current state of the problem and its transformation in recent years.

Kindergarten teacher - the hero is on the periphery of the problem. Usually, in the topic of vaccinations, parents are cut among themselves, who are for vaccinations, anti-vaccines and doctors. Employees of educational institutions stand aside, so the teacher's opinion will slightly break the reader's expectations.

It is necessary that the teacher not only tell how many children she has in the group, but also shared her personal opinion, said some fact that not everyone knows: his group has unvaccinated children. Such a remark will show that unvaccinated children create difficulties for others. In the general context of the article, it will be clear that this will be fought and the global trend will win.

An adult who was not vaccinated as a child. We are only interested in him if he is now going to be vaccinated. So he will confirm the main idea.

If he is not going to vaccinate, his opinion will duplicate the opinion of anti-vaccinators, and this will break the drama. Anti-vaccines are the main characters of the article, they are fighting the system, and this creates a strong conflict. If our adult without vaccines is also an anti-vaccine, it is better not to add him to the article at all, because then the story of the main characters will fade. So they will be the only fighters against the system in the article, and not the only ones with an adult. And this is not so dramatic anymore.

A comment an employee of a pharmaceutical company will be key in the article. He will support the main idea, talk about the processes of developing new vaccines, trials, sales. It will be good if the employee explains how vaccines are becoming more effective and safer. So he will refute the beliefs of anti-vaccinators.

It may seem that an employee of a pharmaceutical company is not suitable for us, because this is an interested person. But in fact, it doesn't matter to our main thought that he is interested. He explains the trend and that's enough.

But the image of this hero is important here. If he is a cunning salesperson, he will not inspire confidence. It should be a thoughtful professional, a biochemist who is well versed in the subject of vaccination and knows the industry.

In addition to the comments of the participants, you will need statistics and facts … “In the USA, more vaccinations are made than in our country”, “In Italy, it is forbidden to admit children to kindergartens without vaccinations,” “The number of measles cases has quadrupled compared to last year.” These facts confirm a global trend and exacerbate the conflict.

A well-formulated main idea is a tool for selecting material. If the idea is not formulated, at least everything that was found can be taken into the article, but then it will also become an abstract reasoning on the topic. And if there is a main idea, the text takes on a clear structure and hits the reader.

There is a problem with the main thought. If you formulate it before collecting material, you get a subjective investigation. The author will collect statistics and comments based on this idea. Therefore, it is good when the thought has already been formed on the basis of the collected texture, and one must be prepared that half of the texture will be unnecessary and will fly into the trash can. No pity. The article will only benefit from this.

Introduction and structure

The worst way to start an article is to write something like "The vaccine risk debate has been going on for years." Or "Everyone knows about the need to get vaccinated." So they start when they rewrite articles from the Internet and there is nothing to say about the case.

We have a lot of facts, comments from experts, interesting heroes. Let's start the article with a story:

This is where the story is interrupted, the introduction ends. But you will remember this fragment, I will return to it.

This is a trick: pick the main story and give it piece by piece. I chose the story of my mother, who is against vaccinations: I start with her, and then I will alternate with other material. So I will keep the attention of the reader until the end of the article: he will be interested in how it will end, what are the motives of the hero, and what if he will change his mind? It will not be convinced, and there is no such task, but the reader will have hope to the last, if he believes in the benefit of vaccinations.

We divide the story of this hero into pieces and give it out throughout the article, and in between - other material. The structure will look like this:

Introduction with the history of the anti-vaccine "Three-year-old Marina's mother is indignant …".
Fact about kindergartens in Italy. You will get such a bridge from history to further narration: “Marina's mom is right. For example, children without vaccinations are no longer accepted in kindergartens in Italy …”.
The teacher's comment.
Another piece of the story about the anti-vaccine mom.
The story of an adult without vaccines.
Immunologist's comment.
A piece of the story about the anti-vaccine mom.
Measles statistics.
Commentary from parents who give all vaccinations to children.
A piece of anti-vaccine history.
Vaccinations in the USA.
Pharmaceutical company commentary.
The final piece of the anti-vaccine story.

The article will be dense in terms of information, it is rather difficult to read this. And the story of anti-vaccine people, stretched through the entire text, will give motivation to read everything to the end. At the same time, this leitmotif holds the story together, sets the composition.

This structure is also good for its unpredictability. It would be boring to give out the whole story first, then one comment, the second, a fact, another fact. Therefore, we alternate history with facts and comments, so it's more interesting.

Each comment can also be broken into pieces and added where it is appropriate within the meaning. For example, first an immunologist can tell something about the topic of an adult without vaccinations, and then about a measles outbreak or foreign vaccination practice.

Features of filing

Now let's get back to the story that you should have memorized. But if you don’t remember, I’ll repeat:

In this story, pay attention to the details, this is the first feature of the feed.

The dishwasher has nothing to do with the topic of vaccinations, but it is important here as a detail. All these references to a clean stove, a typewriter and the ABC of Taste create the image of the heroine. The reader can see that anti-vaccineers are not uneducated marginals, but decent people with wealth. Perhaps this will break his idea.

It is important that the reader will make the conclusion about the heroine himself, according to the details described. I am not saying: “This family has an income above average,” but I am describing their life, and the reader himself understands everything about prosperity.

Another feature of the presentation is non-judgmental. The author has no right to condemn anti-vaccinators or write "Anti-vaccine fears are complete nonsense." The author's task is not to impose his opinion, but to collect facts that will help the reader to form his own.

On the other hand, the influence of the author's assessment will still manifest itself. We formulate the main idea, this is the conclusion. But it is presented so delicately and unobtrusively that it is not perceived as an author's assessment.

Remember

Problematic articles should hold the reader's interest as tightly as possible, involve him and try to correct his view of the situation. Here's what it takes.

Related material that will show the problem from different angles. This is the most difficult part of working with an article.
The main idea. It will help weed out unnecessary things and build a story.
Conflict - a clash of two opposing ideas, the debunking of a myth or the struggle of the hero of the article with the system, opponents, time or with himself.
Unpredictable structure, that will hold your attention.
Impartiality - so that the author does not impose his opinion.