Create a blog post subtitle that summarizes your post in a few short, punchy sentences and entices your audience to continue reading.
So you want to write features or news items about your interest or specialism?
A lot of your knowledge will be down to your understanding of the subject (your specialism), your expertise and your contacts.
The value of contacts cannot be emphasised enough. Develop them. Search the web for new ones. Meet people and take their details (email, mobile number, website etc). Network. Put your name on PR mailing lists. Get on the mailing list of book publishers, museums, cinema outlets, theatres, technology websites, charities, political parties, artists, think tanks. Get on the mailing list of establishments who work in the area which interests you.
You want ideas? Where do you start?
First, consider what makes a story. People make stories. All stories are about people – even articles about things (cars, washing machines, robots) will relate back to what people want to know (how they work, are they useful, how they benefit us).
How do you find individuals or get to hear about something which will make an interesting story? How do you identify what in your subject area is likely to make a good article for mainstream publication?
A conversation may prompt an idea. A chat at the school gates, office water cooler, sport’s club, a work colleague could be a source of a story – or a story idea. There’s also your everyday life, press releases, your hobby, magazines, promotional emails.
And if you are an expert in a subject area, see how people react when you discuss your research, your business. Do people want to know more? Are you able to ‘tell the story’?
Editors often complain that many submissions are totally unsuitable for their pages. Often it is because a writer has come up with an idea, written an article and sent it to the publication without researching its content or readership
Here are some examples of how life around you can prompt story ideas:
Scientists are exploring ways of delivering drugs through the skin. If you are involved with this research, this would make a fascinating article for the national media. How? Why? When’s it going to happen? How many people will it benefit? How much will it save the National Health Service?
Space is a frontier we continue to explore. But what about all the space junk being left behind travelling at speeds up to 17,500 mph? The increasing amount of space debris is a huge danger to all space vehicles, but especially to the International Space Station, space shuttles, satellites and spacecraft with humans aboard, says NASA. If you are an astronomer or a space scientist, details of what is being done to clear up space is an article waiting to be written.
Overheard: A woman who has spent her life collecting teapots – she now has 1,700… but she prefers to drink coffee.
Why teapots? Why collect? Where does she keep them? Why does she source them? What is their value? Does she sell them and who to? What’s her favourite? How long has she been doing this? And why teapots when she doesn’t drink tea?
Who would be interested in this article? This would make a good article and video interview for a collector’s magazine, a fun weekend piece for a newspaper – local, county or even national, for business pages (does she buy and sell – home and abroad? ), how much is her collection worth? Who does she collect from, do people ‘invest in their hobbies?
You happen to meet the director of a shoe shop. Not any shoe shop. It makes handmade shoes and he’s the 5th generation of this business in Northampton – once the home of shoe making in England.
Who wears handmade shoes? How are they made? What about the cost? Is it a dying skill? What are the differences between on the shelf and off.? What market is there for these? Interview those in the family business and a couple of people who have shoes specially made. It would make a good picture story, good video, a good profile piece.
Who would be interested in an article on this topic: A weekend magazine may be interested in both words and video interview, a county magazine, local TV, trade or business magazines or the business or fashion pages of a national newspaper.
You are setting up in business as a buffalo farm in Shropshire. You plan to combine 21st century science with environmentally friendly farming methods. This is an opportunity for a great ‘colour’ article, photos and video.
Why buffalo? Why Shropshire? How big, how many buffalo, how will they adapt, what will they produce? Who’s behind the venture and why? What is the cost of setting it up and what is the market the enterprise is aiming for?
Who would be interested? Local magazines, newspapers, business and farming press, conservation pages of newspapers, radio and TV.
But before you take on too much think where you plan to pitch your article. This will effect your writing ‘tone’ and the structure of your article.
If you are writing about geopolitics, motoring, agriculture, international aid or personal finance, look through websites, magazines and newspapers which carry this sort of topic. Look at the length of the articles, and consider the ‘tone’ of the piece. Is it written formally or in a chatty style?
Studying your market and readership before you put pen to paper will affect how you write your piece and whether or not it will be accepted for publication.
Editors often complain that many submissions are totally unsuitable for their pages. More often than not, it is because a writer has come up with an idea, written their article and sent it to a publication without researching its content or readership. The fact it was rejected isn’t necessarily because it was badly written or badly researched. More likely, it was unsuitable for that publication. It could well be very suitable for some other publication.
So you have an article in mind and you have studied your market and readership and have come up with a publication you would like to approach.
You have two options now:
Contact the editor of your publication via email or phone and give a brief outline of what you plan to write.
Write your article and send it on spec
But before you do either, it is vital to research your market.
Before sending either your idea or the finished article, do study the magazine, newspaper, trade magazine/e-zine or website.
Look at how the publication’s other articles have been treated.
Are they long reads or short with many fact boxes?
What about pictures and videos?
Once you are a practiced writer, these things will become obvious and you will have gained a feel for your market. You will also have made contacts within the press and editors may start approaching you.
But until then, study your target markets in depth to avoid disappointing rejections.