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The Art of the Article—Part 1
Today we are going to start a new series—The Art of Articles. Two weeks ago I posted about writing from your passion. I can’t emphasize this enough. Your articles will sparkle when you care about your topic.
However, there are certain topics that will attract readers. Take a trip to your local supermarket and peruse the magazines. What topics seem to keep popping up? Here are the ones I believe you will spot:
Beauty
Sex
Animal stories
Weight loss
Sports
Finances
How-to articles
Recipes
Now consider your personal passion in writing. Could you link it with one of the above popular topics? Try it! You might surprise yourself at the creativity that will spring to your mind and fingers. Editors quote, “There is nothing new under the sun.” This is a true statement, so make sure you have a fresh angle on which to write your common topic. Writing articles is an art—intrigue the reader with a new perspective, new information, or a new how-to. Give the reader something to ponder once they put the magazine down on the coffee table.
In the past, magazine articles might contain three to five main points. This has changed during the past ten years. Because our culture has a short attention span, it’s now best to find one strong point and weave it throughout entire article. The length of an entire article should be between 500-1500 words. Again, in the past, the length of articles was much longer, but editors are now looking for shorter manuscripts. Don’t bore the reader with unnecessary words; keep your writing fresh, crisp and readable.
Today’s assignment: Read current issues of several magazines. Consider if there is a topic that you would like to write about with your own passion and perspective. Next week we’ll discuss the skeleton of a great article.
Keep the Heart-Print Faith,
1 comment:
Hey, Suzanne! I stopped by to thank you for the article on anger management posted on the P31 website. It is sooo necessary, my kids just seem to bring me to the boiling point with very little effort at all. I don't think the angry me is very attractive. So I am going to post those verses all around my space, and try to learn to choose a gentle response over anger. And I just want to say, thank you very much.
I am thrilled to also see your new series beginning here. I will be coming back to read and learn from any wisdom you want to share on the subject of writing!
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