Self employed people work for many bosses. When you work as a freelance writer you may think you are your own boss, but in reality your boss is whichever editor buys work from you, hopefully that is several.
Learning to keep each editor happy can be a challenge especially when they seem to have different tastes and rules. I’ve had editors who want me to wrote and edit my own work so that all they have to do is sign off on it – and I’ve had editors who want to rewrite every piece they receive so you can barely recognize it as your own writing. There are some general rules they all follow though.
No one likes purple prose – purple prose is the use of too many ornate and flowery words that break into the natural pattern of writing (and reading) with overdone imagery and unlikely descriptions. It is often so riddled with excessive wording that it can actually remove a reader from the setting and story. Learn to use only enough imagery to set the stage, so to speak, but not to have it dripping with unnecessary metaphors – her smile glistened like the crescent moon over the still waters of the bayou (ugh!).
If you are writing an article and quoting “experts”, make sure you really have a quotable source to work from. Identify your source by name, title and expertise if possible, and don’t make up fictitious experts. Also, if you are quoting from someone, make sure the quote is firsthand and not merely copied from someone else’s article; you can quote from a press release if it contains a specific statement attributed to a company expert.
Know the difference between editorial, advertorial, ad copy and hard news: editorial is an opinion piece; advertorial is positive press about the client but dressed as editorial; ad copy is flat out selling points; and hard news is just facts. In advertorial be careful about posting claims such as “The best dealership in ABC County” – if that is the store’s motto, specify that instead of making it sound like a proven fact.
Human interest pieces are among the most sought after articles for many consumer magazines. The key word is interest – it needs to be something interesting and specific. Don’t be vague such as she decided to be a work at home writer and was happy with her choice. Give examples of what choices she did make, what kind of writing she did/does, talk about her failures as well as her successes. What would she do differently if she had it to do all over again? Where does she (hope to) go from here?
A human interest piece is personal and very often inspiring and encouraging. Another popular article to write is an informative and helpful service pieces. Include how-to examples. Focus on an industry, a trend, or a method, answer questions, quote experts. If you are writing a profile or interview, focus on an aspect of the person’s life or career. An interview can be written as a simple question and answer, allow the subject a little leeway in answering but don’t get too far off topic.
As always, the best way to prepare to write for a specific magazine is to familiarize yourself with published copies, study the style and note who the magazine is geared towards. Note also the topics covered and how often similar topics are used so you can submit a query that will gain the attention of an editor.
Writing Exercise: Take a current news article from a recent newspaper and make it into a fiction story – invent characters who deal with the situation and don’t forget to add “What If?” and let the story continue from there.
Writing Prompt: Pick up any nearby book, open it to a random page and pick a word (without thinking about it) – What does this word make you think of? Does it evoke any special memories? Is there any emotion connected to the word? Write a few sentences about how this word makes you feel. Do this a few times with different words.
