7 Magazine Writing Tips From Published Freelancers
These magazine writing tips from freelancers will help you get your book or article published. These publishing and editing tips offer encouragement, practical advice, and hope for both newbie and professional scribes!
Before the tips, here’s some magazine writing advice from a former executive editor of Working Mother:
“What we need most are article ideas that are based on new research, new information,” says Mary McLaughlin. “Findings that illuminate a common problem and give us a new way to think about it.”
This isn’t just advice about writing for Working Mother magazine – it’s true for most (if not all) publications. I found this writing tip in Magazine Writing That Sells by Don McKinney; click the book cover for more info. And, read on for several effective magazine writing tips from published freelancers and authors….
7 Magazine Writing Tips From Published Freelancers
1. Don’t believe the odds: “If you believe everything you read in publishing it will downright depress you and suck every ounce of creativity from your soul. Are the stats true? Maybe, but I find that publishing loves to cry its own demise. Focus on success stories like The Shack and, years ago, the book no one wanted: Legally Blond. Don’t let rejection deter you from your mission. You’re the only one who can make you a failure.” – Penny C. Sansevieri, writers’ coach
2. Develop your writer’s voice. “The best magazine writing tip I learned was to develop my own writer’s voice. There’s a lot of good content out there, but it’s the voice that people will be attracted to. In each piece I write, I think to myself, Am I a squeeky voice, a comforting voice, an understanding voice, a best friend voice, a nagging voice, etc.” – Katy Lee
3. Speak to the two year olds. “My favorite magazine writing tip is from Ann Wylie of Wylie Communications. She says: ‘Readers are narcissistic two year olds… me, me, me!’ It makes me keep the reader in mind when I write and (hopefully) keeps the info I write relevant and usable for the reader.” – Luanne Mattson
4. Know thy publisher. “When submitting a manuscript, be sure that you know and understand what the publisher is looking for. It doesn’t matter whether you are submitting an article, a greeting card, a children’s book, a novel or a non-fiction book — do your research. Go to the publisher’s website and obtain their writer’s guidelines. Follow these guidelines to the letter. Look to see what type of articles or books they publish. Also, pay careful attention to word count.” – Cindy Kenney, freelance writer and editor
5. Learn to write for publication. “Years ago, I wrote an article for a publication, and the publication didn’t accept it. I could think of only one other place to submit the piece, but the word limit for that publication was HALF of what I had written. It was hard to do, but I managed to cut the article in half. It was accepted, and the editors didn’t change a single thing. The short version was far superior to the original. Now I try to follow the “cut it in half” rule whenever I can.” – Cheryl Miller Thurston
6. Improve your writing skills. “My most effective magazine writing tip is to break the reading material down, line by line, construction by construction. A regular [journalism class] assignment was to read any article in a magazine that I liked, then, with a pen, literally mark up the article by identifying important construction tactics. I usually picked a Sports Illustrated article. What were the transitions? Did the paragraph use an introductory clause? What was the line length? How were subheads used? If the story evoked an emotion — tears, laughter, annoyance — how? What was the set up? Word choice? How was the picture painted — all at once? Sprinkled throughout the story? When were key interviews introduced and how? If it was arguing a key point, how was the argument built? Were there play on words that pulled you in? By applying what I learned, this simple exercise did more to leapfrog the quality of my writing than anything else at that point in my career.” – Susan Mantey, media relations specialist
7. Write a strong query letter. “Look in a writer’s submission book to find out how they want your manuscript submitted. Address your query letter to a person, not “to whom it may concern.” If needed, call the publisher and get a name, and be certain to spell it correctly. Submit your manuscript or idea with a clean, well-written, one page query letter. Don’t make mistakes in your letter and don’t try to be cute. Be professional. Get to the point, but sell your idea. You must convince the publisher why they are the right place to publish what you have to offer.” – Cindy Kenney, freelance writer and editor
What have we missed? I welcome your magazine writing tips or questions below!
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I interviewed a writer just...
Glenn Sasscer | Oct 5, 2008 | Reply
The best writing tips I received and use are:
1. Set a regular writing schedule. Humans are creatures of habit and a good writer develops good writing habits. This is especially true for freelancers, novelist, and those working in journalism.
2. Write what you know, like, and believe in. Besides interviews and journalism reporting where you have to report the news whether you believe in the subject or not, the integrity of the writer is important in freelance articles and novels. If you do not normally read romance novels, writing one might be a challenge for most authors – there are exceptions, however your lack of interest in the subject may be reflected in the writing.
3. The more eyes the better! I use two – four different critique partners for their Eagle-Eye effort in catching my typos. I can write, rewrite, and rewrite something eight times and never catch a mismatched word, grammatical error, or simple rookie mistake in writing. My critique partners keep me professional.
4. Print and proofread; never proofread on the monitor. I can read something on the monitor, print it out, and gremlins seem to change the wording between the monitor and the printer (and you know, when I go back to the monitor, those pesky gremlins changed it there, too!). Some exceptional writers might be able to proofread on the monitor without difficulty, however I found the safest bet is to print and proofread on paper. While this is not as green, it keeps me professional.
5. The 80/20 rule applies to second drafts. When I write the first draft, I kick it out as it hits the keyboard. I might do some revising and editing along the way, but not to the point where the creative gear is dislodged. The second draft is for the cutting and chopping, and my goal is to cut 20% out of the original draft. This is a rule of thumb, of course – smaller pieces retain 90% of the word count, but my novels run right around 80% of word count.