3 Things To Do Prior To Submitting Articles
It's one of the most daunting tasks we face in our careers: pitching articles and trying to get them published. Our editor, who is just as nervous as we are, has kindly shared with us some advice on how best to prepare before submitting a story idea.
So, this is a big one. Before you even start saying anything out loud, to an editor or even another writer over lunch or coffee, MAKE A LIST. Seriously… take a piece of paper and make some bullet points. Know what you are talking about. If you don't know something that is pertinent to the story you're pitching, get educated before you say anything else. Will you be writing about a scientific study? Do your research. Once you have some bullet points, say them out loud or write them down to see if they make sense.
Once all that is clear, think of the "big" words you want to use in your pitch and find a synonym for them. You don't want to sound like you're asking your professors for help on basic sentences, but you also don't want to sound like a teenager who just discovered how awesome it is to curse. Make sure all the words that are not basic and common are necessary and not there simply for decoration. If they are needed, then look for bigger words instead of smaller ones.
Now, you're probably thinking "But Elle, I don't know this stuff. This is hard!" Well, we've got some bad news: it's going to get hard. You are going to have to work at this. We publish real words in our articles. We expect them to be knowledgeable and interesting. Don't write us a cringeworthy pitch that makes us wish you were cramming for an exam instead of writing an article!
Next, think of your article as a mini story rather than a large one that will require the full attention of a staff writer. If you're pitching a story on the history of horseback riding, make sure you know exactly what you're talking about, who the characters are and what really happened (or why we should care) before picking up your pen. You'll have to do some research and pull together your information in a way that will work within the confines of an article.
If you are going to be going over more detailed details, like scientific studies or historical facts, then know your stuff. Read up on the topic so that none of those details will come at you out of nowhere during your pitch and make us all think "What does he/she know about this?" Don't be afraid to ask for help if you don't know something. We'll help you out. And remember: editors know what we're talking about, too. Nobody has time to read your research and think "Who are these people?" We will take it from there.
Along those lines, be prepared for the editor to say or ask a question that you don't know the answer to or may not even have an answer for. Editors love smart and curious people who ask questions (and offer answers) instead of just rambling on about something they don't really know anything about. And if you're pitching a topic that deals with scientific studies or historical facts, be sure to let us know how you found out all this information by way of an interesting anecdote rather than just saying "Here is my research. Now I'm going to write about it." We're not after a laundry list of facts. We want a story, and an intriguing one at that!
Make sure you know where you are going with your article before you start writing. If you don't, the article won't be good enough to convince us to publish it. You can't make something up just to suit your idea – which leads us to…
Write the best first draft possible. We don't always know what we're doing and how long we'll pay editors for, so we try to make sure that the work is good enough for our standards that we can edit it down into something worthwhile after the fact. If you have a really good story, we might even give you an advance. But if you don't, then we will just end up needing to edit the crap out of your article.
Now, tell us about the article. Tell us what's in it, tell us why you think it's interesting and why we should care about it. We want to feel like we're going to be educated by reading your work as well as entertained by it. Tell us what you're going to talk about, but also give us an idea of how you're going to tackle it. Will it be an interesting story about the history of English horseback riding? Maybe it will be a hard-hitting article about the science behind dieting that is going to make us want to pop our own comfort foods and get back on that treadmill out of sheer spite.
After you've written the best first draft possible, take it out and read it through. Do not just read over the whole thing once and then go back and adjust it or change things around. You don't want to start a second or third draft (or tenth) while you still have something that needs work. When you first read your article, simply get a general idea of what is wrong with it. Make sure the sentence structure and grammar are correct, then look for obvious cliff-hangers, things to cut out and topics you need to flesh out. That's it. Don't start editing yet or else you will lose the flow of your story… and we will have to edit it anyway.
When you have finished your first draft, then find a friend or family member who is either a good writer or who works in our writing trade professionally (perhaps an English teacher?) and ask if they can look over your work. They will be able to give you good marks on grammar, spelling and what needs to be worked on in terms of story telling. They will also help you get rid of all the obvious mistakes, like misspellings and grammar issues. Ask them to focus on your writing style (e.g., is the beginning too verbose? Are the paragraphs too long?) and make sure that they tell you which parts are boring them or confusing them so that you can fix it before we even see it.
Now, if there are still big holes in your article and working with a friend isn't doing it for you, then try a professional editor.
Conclusion:
The world of writing is open to you, but only if you take the time to learn it. While writing for a magazine might seem like something that is out of your reach, knowledge and perseverance will bring you success. The key is knowing how to write a good article and then pitching it correctly, not just tossing one out there and hoping for the best -or even claiming to be an expert right off the bat. Don't be afraid! If anything, all you are doing is learning something new, so go ahead and try it out.