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Write
Articles for Profit
Updated:
Articles
represent one of the easiest ways to become a well-paid published
writer and, despite what some people say, it’s by no means difficult
to write an article and be paid hundreds of pounds for just a few
thousand words.
Articles
take many forms, including:
Informative
How-To-Do-It
Self-Help
Controversial
Art of Living
Personality Profile
Personal Experience
Nostalgia
Humour
This summary is not however, conclusive. A great deal of overlap can
occur between the different types. A personality profile can
be serious or humorous, and a nostalgia piece can often come
entirely from the personal experiences of its author.
The various basic article forms are discussed in great detail in the
best book I ever read on the subject of article writing. In
'Article Techniques That Sell', Louise Boggess analyses each
type, and presents her findings in an easy to read manner. She
writes with great authority.
She also offers the best advice I have ever come by on how to
develop one's article, in a manner that will maintain the reader's
interest from beginning to end. It's a brilliant book, so full of
information that at first it left me hopelessly confused, and
completely disheartened.
So I read it again, and found it made a little more sense. On the
third reading everything fell completely into place. I have
read many other books and articles since, but nothing compares with
Boggess on the techniques of article writing. A MUST for the
aspiring article writer.
Considering the many types of article on magazine and newspaper
stands, it is perhaps stating the obvious to suggest that your
market study must be at least as thorough as the research you put
into gathering the facts for your article itself. Try the wrong
market with an otherwise brilliant, well structured article,
containing newly unearthed details, and you'll unfortunately get
what you deserve. Yes. A rejection slip!
Before we go any further with the actual writing of an article, we
must consider what market research is all about, and decide for
ourselves just why such importance attaches to it.
Gordon Wells is, for me, the foremost authority on market research.
With a fine toothcomb he unpicks the articles in his target
publication to such a degree, that at first I thought he was mad.
My first few rejection slips convinced me otherwise of the reasons
for his almost terrier-like tearing apart of an article, as he
discovers for himself what sentence and paragraph lengths a market
prefers, what style of writing predominates, what subjects they
choose, and on what level the writer generally relates to the
reader. His book 'The Craft of Writing Articles' is another
essential tool for those less experienced than Mr. Wells.
For advice on gathering facts and information, and deciding upon the
appropriateness of such of your prospective article, John Hines is
the man to read. In 'The Way to Write Magazine Articles' he
lets us in on a method of collecting and recording data which he
calls 'Non-Linear Thought Patterns'. He and his wife,
another successful writer of articles, use this diagrammatical
method, which enables them to see their collected information at a
glance, usually on one page, and allows them to decide which are the
most salient points, and whether in fact they have sufficient data
for further articles. Highly recommended!
Because space is so limited, I have pulled together those pieces of
advice I consider of most use to the writer in the early stages of
his development. Nothing will beat reading the many excellent books
available, as you undergo the vitally important challenge of
improving and refining your article writing abilities, essential for
your entry into the higher paying markets.
When considering how an article is put together, there are many who
would suggest it has three components only: a beginning, a middle,
and an end. This in itself is an adequate breakdown, but I would
venture to suggest that it can be expanded upon. I say this purely
as a result of the Boggess' book to which I am so heavily indebted.
So I make no apologies for now going into a little extra detail of
the shape of an article as seen through Boggess' eyes.
For Boggess the article is broken down into:
THE HOOK.
This is a device employed at the beginning of the article, intended
to draw in the reader and make him want to keep on reading. Boggess
outlines many types of hook, each with its own particular
characteristics and advantages. The most startling or interesting
fact to emerge from your research is usually the one to use here.
THE CAPSULE SENTENCE.
Here we sum up as briefly as possible what it is we are going to
tell or show the reader in the paragraphs that follow. It is that
part in which you convince the reader what follows will be of such
interest that setting aside the article is the very last thing he
must do.
DEVELOPMENT.
This is the main body of the article, in which you assemble, in a
logical way, the points you wish to make. Boggess, as do most
authorities, suggests counting the number of development points in
published articles in your target market. Five strong points, she
says, work better than ten weak ones, so there's no advantage to be
gained by throwing in all the facts at your disposal. Weaker facts,
she suggests, should be eliminated, restated, or combined, until you
have a number appropriate to that preferred by your target market.
She also gives advice on the order in which to present your points.
Development points must not be presented as a mere catalogue of
facts. They must make interesting reading, or else even the most
startling of information can become boring to the reader and you
will soon lose his interest, that is, if your manuscript ever gets
past the critical eye of the editor.
Boggess goes into an elaborate discussion of other techniques by
which to hold the reader's interest from beginning to end. She
covers what are termed Transitions, Expansion Devices, methods of
Overlapping the Breaks, and Erasing the Paragraphs. Sounds
confusing, and at first reading it is just that; on second and third
reading it becomes unbelievably simple and extremely useful.
CONCLUSION.
the writer sums up what has gone before as briefly and informatively
as possible.
THE TWIST.
This is a short statement or anecdote that emphasises the purpose of
the article. Boggess suggests it encourages the reader:
To Think
To Act
To Chuckle
To Sob
The title you give your article can play an extremely significant
part in its chances of acceptance. A good title can attract the eye
of a busy editor, and encourage him to read on, when the reverse
might have been true had you presented even an excellent article
with a mundane title. The title you choose might not appear on
the published article, but it can still be the one that gets it to
be considered for publication in the first place. Look at the titles
in your target publication and fashion yours to suit. Does the
editor seem to favour wacky titles such as those resulting from a
neat play on words, or do they instead go for straight-to-the-point
titles?
Words, being your prime tool, must be chosen with care, but you
should always write in as plain a fashion as possible. Seek to
impress the reader with a brilliant display of vocabulary that sends
him running for his dictionary, and you may find you've lost him.
He wants to know what you have to say, not be bombarded with
complicated words that rarely enter his everyday vocabulary. But
your choice of these everyday words is of paramount importance and
you should seek the exact word to convey your message. A great book
on the topic of word selection is Gary Provost's 'Make Every Word
Count'. It is equally useful for fiction writers, and a
book I heartily recommend you have on your bookshelf.
In appropriate cases the inclusion of photos to illustrate your
article can make all the difference between rejection and
publication. You don't have to be a brilliant photographer, you
don't even need to take the photos yourself, since many photographic
libraries can provide the illustrations you require though usually
at a price. To save expense it is worthwhile learning how to
take the photographs yourself, and I would point you towards the
John Hines' book mentioned earlier, which includes an excellent
chapter on photography.
A distinction must be made between unsolicited and solicited
writing. Basically unsolicited writing is that which is sent
to a target market without that market's prior knowledge, and
because you are not likely to be fully aware of the requirements of
the editor concerned, you risk a rejection, not because your work is
unsound, but simply because it doesn't fit into the editor's overall
plan for future publications. With solicited writing however,
you query the editor in advance, telling him what you have in mind
for a particular article, and asking him to let you know if he wants
to see your work.
Solicited writing allows the editor to make comments he feels
appropriate to the article you propose. The problem here for
the beginning article writer, is lack of a track record to convince
the editor of his ability to produce the article in a professional
manner, and one appropriate to the publication concerned. So what
you lack in previous acceptances, you must make up for in the
professionalism you put into your work.
You must always give your work your best, but never more so than
when you are starting out. First impressions count, and once you
have made a successful sale, that editor will be more inclined to
accept work from you, whether solicited or otherwise. Working
to commission, that is solicited writing, will always have the
advantage of saving you time in preparing work, which though
extremely good, is not what your editor currently requires.
Wherever you can approach an editor in advance.
Remember the market for articles is vast and editors are forever on
the lookout for new contributors. Read as many books on the subject
as you can. Don't seek to hit the big time in the early days;
there's plenty of time for that when you have established a track
record with which to impress the editors of those slick magazines
and much-revered Fleet Street newspapers.
Strive for professionalism in everything you write, and success will
come sooner than you think.
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Quote
'Use killer leads (Hooks). They're hard to come up with but
they'll set you apart from most of the slush that editors see.’
John Wood, Editor.
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