(Reading time: 3 – 5 minutes)

Here’s a question for you: “What’s the difference between a pillar content article and a series of articles, given that the information in the pillar article and the series is the same?”

Your answer is embedded in the question: The difference is in presentation.

Today, we’ll take a look at a tried-and-true device many academic authors use — even good ones! Colloquially, it’s called “shingling.” Done poorly it reflects poorly on the author. Done well it helps readers tremendously.

The basic premise is to overlap parts of one article as the jumping off point for another article. The overlap should not be a copy and paste. Instead, the overlapping content—the shingle—should provide context and continuity for readers, who may be jumping into the middle of your series.

Providing context allows the reader to understand the benefits of the article.

Providing continuity allows the author to understand the work in terms of a bigger picture, and points the reader to closely related material.

How to write shingled articles for blogs

There’s two basic tactics for writing shingled articles:

1. Write first, break it up when you’re done, or
2. wing it, write it as you go.

If you’re going to wing it, you should have an outline or at least some notion of where you want to take the reader before you start writing. This will help you from getting stalled out halfway through.

The WordPress post editor is not that convenient for this purpose in many respects. However, because you can get automatic backups via WordPress, it can be useful. Google Reader is viable alternative as well. If you are diligent about your own backups (or just don’t care), use MS Word, Notepad, whatever.

Here’s the procedure for cutting a long article into pieces:

1. Create a long article, 1000 words or more, with at least two separate sections. Save this article. You can add to it later and present it as a “page,” or as a PDF file, or for some kind of premium content.
2. Split the article along the section topics.
3. Add an overall series introduction to the start of the first article. Summarize the entire series.
4. Add an article introduction to each of the articles in the series. For the first article, this goes right below the series introduction.
5. For the second and proceeding articles, summarize the preceding article. Don’t plagiarize yourself! Give the reader fresh motivation!
6. Add a summary or closing statements directing readers to the next articles.
7. At the end of the last article, summarize the entire series.

This same procedure can be used to write-as-you-go, with slight modifications. You may have to do a small amount revising or rewriting as you go, to ensure the overall series of articles retains integrity.

Show us what you got!

[Updated 1/28/2010]

Talk is cheap, action rules the day!

The first three authors that send me a link to a series of articles crafted according to my guidelines above get a link below. Valentina Bellicova scored the first, who’s next?

1. MasterMind Power I: How 5 Boys Achieved Unparalled Success. Read how 5 small town boys achieved unparalleled success by masterminding. If they can do it, you can too. First of a 4 part series, don’t miss any of them.
2. Here’s Carlos Velez’s candidate: The Wu-Tang Plan, Part 1. C.R.E.A.M: Carlos is Rarely Ever Anxious about Money.
3. Marshall Craw weighs in with Power Budgets [1]: What Everyone Should Know. Why you need a power budget for your next energy project.

Step right up folks, this is a great technique, and part of Website In A Weekend’s Pillar Content. It’s not going away.