Freelance Writing

News and Magazine Writing Tips

In starting your freelance career, you probably wrote for a few internet publications at first. You dabbled in a variety of topics, maybe even found your niche through them. Now that you have a fair amount of experience under your belt, you figure it's time to move up the career ladder into the world of newspaper and magazine writing.

Hold it right there! Before you can jump the gun into the news and magazine writing world, there are a few general guidelines you need to follow to be at the head of your game.

If you are planning to interview a subject for a newspaper or magazine article, it's imperative that you engage in a little activity referred to as "pre-reporting." All you're really doing is obtaining background information on your subject(s) prior to interviewing them. As a writer, you have to do this sort of work in order to turn an ordinary story into a great article.

Additionally, you'll want to prepare a list of questions you plan to ask prior to the interview. This way, you have a general guideline to follow when interviewing your subject and give yourself an outline of the things you want to cover.

Whether you're doing a story for a newspaper or a magazine, remember to show, rather than tell, the key points in your story. Rather than merely describe something, find a way to show the reader why what you're discussing is important. It's probably the most difficult step to follow, but encourages the reader to keep following the story until the end.

These are just a few general guidelines to keep in mind when you've graduated from content writing and are now targeting the market of newspapers and magazines. If you have any additional tips to add here, please do so!

Happy Thursday!

Denise

posted by Denise @ 2:08 PM