Getting published on Thanet star is actually really easy. We are happy to run articles by guest writers. Obviously Matt will apply editorial control so illegal or highly offensive content might not get published.

Not everyone feels that they can write an article but actually it is easy.

This guide is a "pocket guide" to how you might like to do it. Some people are happy just getting on with writing (in which case prepare to be slightly famous) but many of us (me, for example, when I started) feel that it is too hard. It's not an I hope this little guide will help you get into blogging.

First things first - what are you writing about? Tell the story in one sentence. This sentence is the one that keeps people's attention after they have looked at the headline. It is what tells a person if they want to read the rest so put all the shock and buzz here and pull no punches.

Now say that again with, say, three sentences giving more detail.

Okay cool - you have now introduced your topic. That was easy - now you can flesh it out and tell the full story.

The next place to go is the background. The background gives the story a setting and with just a few sentences (three to six should do the job nicely) you give a brief glance at the "world" in which your story takes place. Sometimes there is a lot of background to tell and this is where a hyperlink can be a life saver with the "Read more about wibbits" link.

Any facts that you had yet to mention should be told along with the remaining narrative - the order of events. End by stating the fact or point that you started with.

When talking about the background it is important not to let it overload the story - something our Rick is infamous for. While Rick may get away with it you and I are not so lucky. So it makes it important to "get to the point" - for example what led up to the things you want to talk about. What information is vital for the reader to know for the full impact to be known?

Three sentences should be the minimum to tell people about this. Or at least give them a gist of things. Sometimes the background is more complicated and sometimes merits an article itself (so you have something to link to). Although you are free to carry on and say more after you cross the six sentences mark you might want to think about cutting back. Remember this is not the topic it is the background to the topic.

Other points of view come happily next. Do you want to be well rounded? Get a quote from the "other guy". This will give your article depth but it is not necessary for a post.

Got a quote from someone else or from something (like another blog, the wikipedia or something). You can put it in here and it would read well. The <q>inline quote tags,</q> he said <q>are very good for such quotes.</q>

You have now presented the story. Repeat the background and quote paring if there are more parts to the story - maybe it turns out the Gorden Brown had tried to help (or harm) the cause. Now would be the time to bring that up.

However for most blog posts we are done and now it is time to give your own opinion (this is where we differ from newspapers) and talk about the subject.

Now it is time for your opinion on the events. Keep this to three sentences and you should have said enough to get your main point (anger, amusement, irritation, shock etc) across. State you opinion as simply as possible so that other people can sympathise (or disagree) with ease.

What about proof? If you have any evidence for what you are saying (a quote from someone, a photograph etc) that you have yet to bring up this would be a good time to mention it. Anything that is opinion should have been said to be so but everything else might want backing up with something. A link is a something and is a good way to show you know what you are talking about.

What else? Anything else that needs to be said? If you have left anything that you can not bare to not say then now is the time to say it.

Conclusion. Try to come to an end point now. Perhaps by asking questions or by drawing conclusions or both. If this were a joke this would be the punch line. You might want to use a "call to action" - that is something you would like readers to do or think about.

Just one to three sentences on each of these and you have a full article. Now all you need are three simple sentences about you. A link or two to your own blog, facebook page, twitter profile or myspace so people can read more about you and you are done.

Now it might be a good time to come up with a headline. That's an art in itself but follow your heart and try to tell the story in five or six words. Do your best and, with guest post, I can always tweak and tune it. Being an editor I'm likely to do that anyway.

So now you know that anyone can write an article for Thanet Star what's stopping you? Or if you feel fired up - why not start your own blog?

Update: Articles can be submitted here or sent to matthew [at] thanet star [dot] com (which allows you to send images too).