One of the Top 5 Writing Mistakes that I identified in last Friday's "From Ideas to Income" teleclass was trying to cram too many points into the same article (or other piece of writing). I called it the "Article of a Lifetime" mistake.
When we're excited and passionate about the ideas we have to share, and when we're genuinely concerned with helping other people find solutions, we want to SAY IT ALL.
However, trying to bring together all of those ideas at once can make it very overwhelming for your reader. That means they might abandon your article before they get to the end. And that's where your most precious real estate lies – the "call to action" and invitation back to your website to join your mailing list in exchange for a free gift (a "pink spoon").
Instead, stick to one main point (with two or three sub-headings) in each article, and then celebrate the fact that you've got content for more articles!
So don't try to write the article of a lifetime. Remember, you have a lifetime to write articles!
Quick Writing Prompt: Look through a recent article that you've written and consider whether it can be divided into two (or even three) articles. Make sure each article has ONE clear main point.
Update (January 2, 2011): I wrote a new post on this topic in January 2011, called How to Focus Your Mind, Your Topic and Your Writing.
