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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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'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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Write Articles for Profit by Avril Harper |
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How to Be a Well-Paid Writer
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