The thing is, if you just start writing into the blue, you do not have a goal and you’ll probably get lost. As with all things in life, it is easier to reach your destination if you can see where you’re going. Before writing an article you have to spend a few minutes to prepare the road map for your article. In this article I’ll tell you how I do it.
What makes writing an article easier for me is to cut the process up into steps: 1. Plan, 2. Do, 3, Check!

1. Plan

First of all, check your setting. Make sure you’re in a place where you feel comfortable and where you won’t get interrupted or distracted. For most people that means a quiet, tidy place – others perform best amidst chaos. You’ll probably know what works best for you. Fetch yourself a cup of coffee or tea and you’re ready to go.
Once you’re set, do a brainstorm and write down everything you can think of related to your topic. It doesn’t have to make sense yet. There is no good or bad at this stage, just write everything down that pops up. The fastest way to do this is by writing down only keywords, but if you prefer to write down phrases that’s fine.
For example, if I wanted to write an article about the autumn my keyword list could look like:
autumnleavesbrownfogmushroomscolorsspiders
Make your list as long as possible. The more keywords you write down, the easier it gets to write your article. If you have to do research for your article, you can fill your keywords list as you read. Every time you read something interesting you want to mention in your article, write it down immediately.
After you wrote down your list, you might want to group some of the keywords that belong together but you didn’t come up with at the same time. For example, I could group ‘leaves’ and ‘colors’.
Now if you look at the list of keywords you generated, you’ll probably begin to see the outlines of the story you want to tell. 

2. Do

You can start with the writing now. Do not worry about each sentence you write, don’t read it over and over again because that really blocks your writing flow. Even if it’s not fine, leave it for now. Quantity is more important than quality at this stage. Once you’ve written the first version of your story you’ll see where it needs improvement, which phrases need to be deleted and you’ll think of things you want to add.

3. Check

Ideally, after you have written the set-up version of your article, put it away for a few hours or till the next day if you have that much patience. This helps you read your own article with a fresh view. During this time off you might come up with things you want to add; write them down on your keyword list.
After you took some distance from your article read it again. Make changes where you want them. Go through your keyword list, check if you’ve used all the keywords you wanted. If so, great! If not you might want to add a paragraph or you might decide that the keyword just doesn’t fit into your article and you’ll just leave it out. 
Go through steps 1 – 3 again, until you consider your article done.

Using this routine during the writing process helps me structure my thoughts and it prevents a writers block. It is quite a simple technique, but very effective. The yield of a creative process like writing can be increased by applying some structure to it. Or as an old proverb says: success is 1% inspiration and 99% transpiration. In this book, a professional writer explains how she does it. If you are looking for more tips and tricks it is an interesting read. 
I hope my little technique might help some of you with your writing. If you want to share your thoughts or your own tips ‘n trick, feel free to drop me a line in the comments below.