Advice for freelance writers on writing magazine articles. Target your market, impress commissioning editors and create good relationships with your employers.
Many magazine articles are written by full-time staff of the publication, but some also carry material that has been written by freelancers – such as you.
These tips will help you to publishing success once you have chosen some suitable writing topics:
- Decide which magazine you aim to write for. It is a mistake to complete a manuscript and then wonder what to do with it. Find a magazine that may publish your article, and research the readership. Aim to engage with your readers in a way that they will find enjoyable. Who are these people? Read some copies of the magazine and get a feeling for the level and style of what is written and how long the feature articles are. The magazine advertisers will have done some work for you. Are there advertisements for disability aids, dating agencies or activity holidays? These provide you with valuable information about your target readers. You will need to engage with the readers in a way that they will find interesting and relevant. It is essential to obtain Contributors’ Guidelines of the magazine and adhere to strictly to guidance on presentation, word-count and style.
- Research your information carefully. Make sure factual information is correct. Do not insult someone by spelling their name wrong. You face ridicule and legal action if you give unhelpful or inaccurate advice. Double-check your sources. Ask yourself – what will your target reader want to know about this subject? In your research, never be tempted to ‘copy and paste’ from other material, plagiarising other people’s work. You may be sued. How would you feel if someone stole your work? There is no copyright on facts, but you should never reproduce databases or someone else’s creative use of facts. If in doubt, look into copyright law. If the editor receives complaints from readers, your work will not be used again.
- Write an outline. This will prevent you from straying from the subject when writing. Omitting this process may tempt you to present your information in the order it was gathered or leaving out important information altogether.
- Write your text in draft form. Allow the flow of ideas to be expressed freely. Editing and tidying up comes later. You do not have to write good English at this stage. Start writing about what you feel most confident, then fill in the gaps later.
- Take some time off - perhaps overnight - and then return with a fresh outlook to review your manuscript. Revise any obvious errors. Rearrange the order of the text so that it flows better. Try reading the text out loud. Does it sound clumsy? If so, re-write it to be smoother. Achieve this by making any passive verbs active, removing repetitions and simplifying your grammar. If possible, ask a friend to read it, inviting constructive criticism.
- Put aside your writing for another break. You may find errors in a piece that you thought was perfect, the next day. Now – proofread, proofread, proofread. Yes – three times! It is a myth that the editorial department enjoys correcting your mistakes. Most people find hard copy easier to read than on-screen text, so print off your article, and examine each line, running a finger under each word. Check unusual words for correct spelling. Then check those Contributors’ Guidelines again, so that your work is as perfect as it can be.
The copyright of the article Article Writing Made Easy in Freelance Writing is owned by Iona K Lister. Permission to republish Article Writing Made Easy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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