This is a good question and the best way to answer this is to list some resources that discuss this in great detail....

How to write an article resource - this is a good central site that has some great articles and gives resources to how to write an article

Another great resource on how to write articles is this one called turn words into traffic. You can read the review of this ebook from the link.

Here is a great site that will submit your articles to quality sites and publishers.

Here is a resource that focuses on how to make money with your articles, and as such tells you how to write them and where to publish them.