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How to Make Articles Both Professional and Readable

Published: Sep 22, 2025

How to Make Articles Both Professional and Readable

An excellent article typically follows a clear creative process:

Define objectives: Clarify the article's central idea and target audience, then design attractive titles and abstracts accordingly.
Design structure: Build a well-layered, logically clear framework that allows readers to freely choose reading depth and smoothly understand the content flow.
Write content: Use a writing style that matches human reading rhythm, employing vivid, visual language to effectively plant information in readers' minds.
Polish the article: Use a systematic checklist to review the draft, polishing all aspects from objectives, structure, and content to language until the article is satisfactory.

By following this process, your writing will not only be logically clear but also easy to read, powerful, and shareable. Next, let's explore each step in detail.

Define Objectives: Who Are You Delivering What Information To

Before putting pen to paper, the primary task is to clarify your writing's central idea and target audience—that is, thinking about "what content I hope to deliver to what kind of readers through this article." This is the foundation for all subsequent work.

Based on this, then design appropriate titles and abstracts. The title should be concise and clear, allowing target readers to see at a glance what the article wants to convey; the abstract should summarize the article's core information points without involving specific details.

Clarify the Central Idea

Without a clear central idea, an article will devolve into a haphazard pile of "whatever comes to mind," appearing scattered and chaotic, lacking a unified position.

Let's first look at this passage:

Good article titles should be attractive, structure is also important, it's best to present points separately. When writing, you need to consider who the readers are and can't write too obscurely. Also, text should be visual so readers enjoy reading. After writing, check several times to fix grammatical errors. Rhythm also needs attention, preferably with development and progression.

After reading, although readers understand some scattered techniques, it's hard to form systematic knowledge because this passage lacks a central idea that commands the whole. Now, compare it with the core idea in this article's abstract:

Writing a good article is a systematic creative process composed of four progressive stages: "Define objectives," "Design structure," "Write content," and "Polish the article." Only by organically combining these elements can you ensure the final text has both logic, professionalism, and readability.

The latter is clear and powerful because the author established the article's central idea before writing: "Good writing isn't a random combination of techniques, but a systematic process."

Determine Content Based on Readers' Knowledge Background and Preferences

After clarifying the central idea, you need to carefully study your target audience's profile: What knowledge background do they have? What are their reading preferences? This determines what your article should include, exclude, and how to write it.

Let's use this article as an example:

If readers are blog novices just starting to write They're relatively unfamiliar with writing theory. The article needs to start from the most basic concepts, such as "why you need to first determine the target audience," and use many simple examples to explain terms like "visual quality" and "rhythm," helping them understand: "So writing does have methods, and I can learn them too."
If readers are experienced technical documentation engineers They're already very familiar with structured writing. The article doesn't need to elaborate on the importance of "presenting points separately," but can focus on "how to make boring technical content more visual" or "how to create reading tension within rigorous logic," making them feel: "My technical articles still have room for optimization."

Design Titles and Abstracts

No matter how good the content, it needs an "entrance" that attracts readers. Before an article is opened, readers only encounter the title and abstract. Therefore, these two parts must present the article's core value upfront, allowing target readers to immediately judge "this article is worth my time."

For example, this article's title "How to Make Articles Both Professional and Readable" directly addresses the target audience's pain points and provides a clear value promise. If the title were "Some Analysis of Writing Methods," it would seem vague, making it difficult for readers to quickly understand the article's core content, greatly reducing its appeal. The same applies to abstracts.

Design Structure: Ensure Reasonable Hierarchy and Clear Logic

A good article structure functions like a map—from a distance you can see the landscape's general features, and zooming in reveals streets and bridges; readers can understand the article's main theme through chapter titles and opening paragraphs, while also diving into chapter details to appreciate specifics. This is achieved through designing a reasonable hierarchical structure.

Additionally, to make the article itself easier to understand and more persuasive, we need clear logical chains to organize the article's overall content.

Next, we'll introduce how to make an article well-layered and logically clear.

Determine a Reasonable Article Hierarchy

"Reasonable hierarchy" means the article's structure allows readers to freely choose reading depth. After all, readers' investment and interest vary: some people only want to spend 1 minute scanning an overview, while others are willing to spend half an hour reading carefully. A good article should satisfy both.

The secret lies in making the article like a map that supports free zooming (Zoom In/Zoom Out)—from a distance you see the whole, zooming in reveals details. The most common method is skillfully using "titles," "opening paragraphs," and "opening sentences" as navigation:

Article title: Points out the article's core conclusion.
Chapter titles: Break down and expand on the core conclusion.
Chapter openings: Summarize that chapter's key points.
Paragraph opening sentences: Distill that paragraph's core viewpoint.

This way, readers can only read the abstract and titles at all levels to quickly grasp the article's central idea; they can also understand the article's narrative framework by reading each chapter's introduction; if they want to learn more, they can read each paragraph's opening sentence to understand key details; finally, when they decide to invest time, they'll read the entire article to absorb all arguments and information.

I recommend using titles like "Background" or "Method Design" as sparingly as possible because they convey limited information. However, in some writing scenarios (such as papers), such titles may be mandatory conventions, in which case we might need to transfer the function of "guiding readers to understand content" to the chapter's opening sentences or paragraphs.

Additionally, if you mechanically follow this pattern, articles tend to read like instruction manuals. After becoming proficient, you can try to maintain overall hierarchical clarity while using writing techniques to give the text more tension.

For example, while the following passage clearly expresses content, it's somewhat bland and boring:

Good articles should be well-layered, structurally allowing readers to freely choose reading depth: seeing the title captures the theme, seeing chapter openings understands the framework, reading the full text obtains complete details.

If we rewrite it this way, we can maintain clarity while adding visual quality:

Good articles are like maps—from a distance you see the landscape's general features, zooming in reveals streets and bridges; readers can understand the article's theme through chapter titles and opening paragraphs, while also diving into chapter details to appreciate specifics.

By comparison, the second expression doesn't strictly follow "opening sentence summary," but through a vivid metaphor, it immediately makes readers realize the importance of structure and leaves a deep impression. Writers need to find balance between clear framework and textual tension: the skeleton keeps the article standing, while flesh and blood make it come alive.

Ensure Clear and Smooth Logical Chains

"Clear logic" makes an article's argumentation more persuasive. When elaborating on central ideas, if you only intuitively list viewpoints without using a clear logical chain to organize them, readers will feel "lots of information, but relationships are chaotic."

Therefore, after clarifying the theme, you need to further consider: What are the relationships between chapters, paragraphs, and sentences? Common logical relationships include:

Time/Process relationship: Organized by chronological order or process steps.
Space/Composition relationship: Developed according to different components of things.
Degree/Importance relationship: Sorted by importance, priority, or degree.

Let's use this article's structure to illustrate. If the article's chapters were organized like this:

Must have a clear central idea
Must consider target readers
Must let readers freely choose reading depth
Writing must have rhythm
Text must be visual
Titles and abstracts must be attractive

After reading this table of contents, readers would find it's just a list of techniques, making it hard to understand the internal connections between these points.

This article's current structure is organized by time/process relationship: from pre-creation "Define objectives," to "Design structure," then "Write content," and finally "Polish the article." Readers only need to glance at the table of contents to have a clear view of the overall writing process.

Therefore, to write well, you need to clarify the relationships between parts, and when there are too many parallel items, further categorize and layer them to make the article's logic clearer.

Write Content: Must Match Human Reading Rhythm and Be Visual

Structure is the skeleton, content is the flesh and blood. Good content allows readers to effortlessly follow your thoughts and form vivid images in their minds.

Writing Style That Matches Human Reading Rhythm

Writing articles like running commentary is a common mistake many people make. You might excitedly write out all the details but forget that readers need a "keep-up" rhythm. Imagine when you write an article about "how to write," if you only throw out a bunch of terms and rules, readers will immediately feel confused: "I understand the principles, but where should I start?"

The most practical way to give articles natural rhythm is to use the "Background—Conflict/Question—Answer" chain structure to advance. Using "how to write a good article" as an example, we can develop it this way:

Background 1: Many people write articles that readers don't enjoy or can't understand.
Conflict/Question 1: Why is this? Is it because readers aren't capable?
Answer 1: No, the problem often lies in writing techniques. Good writing requires systematic methods.
Conflict/Question 2: What specifically is this systematic method?
Answer 2: It includes four core steps: define objectives, design structure, write content, and polish the article.
Conflict/Question 3: What are the purposes of these four steps?
Answer 3: Defining objectives clarifies the article's central idea and target audience, then designs attractive titles accordingly. Designing structure...
Conflict/Question 4: Will articles written following this structure definitely be both professional and readable?
Answer 4: Yes, combining clear processes with vivid expression produces truly attractive articles.

When writing, it's best to let the next question naturally arise from the previous answer. If you're unsure whether readers can follow smoothly, you can proactively clarify conflicts or questions to guide them along your preset path.

Text Should Be Visual

Visual text means that when reading, readers' brains can immediately conjure clear scenes or causal relationships. It not only makes readers "understand" but also makes them "see." Once text naturally generates images, information becomes intuitive, vivid, and easier to accept and remember.

Conversely, if text lacks visual quality, readers feel: "Seems impressive, but my mind is blank." This "impressive but incomprehensible" experience makes them quickly lose patience.

Let's look at a paragraph written methodically:

To make articles more readable, you need to design a well-layered structure. Because a well-layered structure helps readers quickly understand the article's framework and read selectively.

Now look at a paragraph optimized for visual quality:

To improve article readability, we can borrow from electronic maps' characteristics: able to shrink the view to see the overall picture and zoom in on a point for detailed understanding. To achieve this, we can construct the article's chapter hierarchy like designing a map: progressing layer by layer from the overall framework to local details, while maintaining appropriate levels of detail across different chapters. This way, readers can both quickly understand the overall flow and focus on specific content as needed.

You can see that visual text automatically generates related images in readers' minds while reading, making it easier to understand.

Here are some techniques for making text more visual:

Scenario-based expression: Avoid only giving conclusions; use specific scenarios to carry abstract information.
Use more metaphors: Compare complex concepts to things readers are familiar with, such as comparing "article structure" to a "map."
Visualize logical chains: Write reasoning processes as story-like sequences with cinematic quality.
Engage readers' senses: Don't just let them "see," also let them "feel" urgency, heaviness, or relaxation.

Polish the Article: Carefully Consider Structure, Logic, and Content

After completing the article's first draft, or even while executing certain steps, you might discover that previous arrangements have unreasonable aspects. For example, while writing content, you might realize the article's structure needs readjustment. Quality articles often require systematic review, deliberation, and polishing. To facilitate your work, I've compiled a checklist based on this article's content. You can use it to check and polish your article item by item until you're satisfied.

Article Revision Checklist

Part 1: Objectives and Audience

✅ Central idea: Can you clearly summarize the article's central idea in one sentence? Does the entire article revolve around this idea?
✅ Target audience: Who is the article's target audience? Do the current content, style, and depth match their cognitive level and reading preferences?
✅ Title: Is the title attractive enough to target readers? Does it accurately convey the article's core value?
✅ Abstract/Introduction: Does the abstract or introduction concisely summarize the full article's framework and conclusions, allowing readers to quickly judge the article's value?

Part 2: Structure and Logic

✅ Hierarchical structure: Is the article's "title-chapter-paragraph" structure clear? Can readers quickly grasp the article's flow by browsing titles?
✅ Logical relationships: Are the logical relationships (time, space, primary-secondary, etc.) between chapters and paragraphs clear? Are transitions natural?
✅ Smooth argumentation: Are there logical jumps between arguments and evidence? Can readers smoothly follow your argumentation process?

Part 3: Content and Expression

✅ Reading rhythm: Does the writing follow the natural rhythm of "background-conflict-answer"? Or is it straightforward running commentary?
✅ Visual quality: Are abstract concepts made vivid and concrete through scenarios, metaphors, or specific examples? Can text form images in readers' minds?
✅ Term explanation: For terms that may exceed readers' knowledge range, have they been explained or transformed?

Conclusion

A truly professional and readable article doesn't rely on piling up information but is built on clear thinking and appropriate expression. If you can flexibly apply the principles mentioned above, your writing will not only be logically clear but also easy to read, powerful, and shareable, truly connecting with readers.

Of course, there's no universal formula for writing. As warfare has no constant tactics and water has no constant form, so too with writing. The methods above might help you write a decent article, but to go further requires returning to first principles, repeatedly thinking and polishing to get closer to your intended writing goals. Writing itself is a process of continuous trial and refinement, and that's precisely its charm.