"Writing is easy, sit in front of the page until drops of blood appear on your forehead"
I can't remember who said this but it's quite true. There is only one thing that is more difficult than writing something and that is trying to sell what you wrote.
To write in South Africa, especially part-time, is about as lonely a past time as spending time in C-Max prison. Perhaps it would be easier to write there. You could force someone at knife point to read your stories or perhaps they could force you to read theirs.
Let's face it, you do not have people running after you for your articles. You probably have a trunk full of dusty manuscripts underneath your bed. Breaking into the writing industry (is it in industry?) is about as difficult as breaking out of C-max prison.
This blog serves as a platform for aspiring writers. Those who want to make some new kind of noise and find their own voices.
I want to ad some resources and some inspiration to those who hope to one day quit there day jobs to write full-time. Advice from those who read this blog on getting work into print is welcome. I am also of course doing research and hope to inspire myself into writing my story on how I escaped from C-Max.
Factors that contribute to writing a good article:
- You need to have a bright idea. Attack the same problems with a new idea. It must be real, relevant and riveting.
- You need to know something about grammar and spelling.
- Know your audience.
- Select categories that you can make your niche.
- Connect your categories with the audience to the right magazine or newspaper.
- Answer the fundamental questions: who, where, why, what and how.
- Read for grammar, content and research purposes.
- Using quotes makes a story more interesting.
- Contact the magazine to hear if they would be interested in your article.
- Sell your article.
My goal for August 2009: Deciding on a topic to write about, writing the article and sending it to a magazine for publishing.
Remember - find your voice!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment