Professional Writing

Lesson 2: Hone Those Skills!

Use The Trends

Staying aware of current events means staying at one with the publishing industry. If you know what is making news, then you know what the public wants to read about.

Now you have a number of sources that offer professional opportunities, we will examine one responsible for reporting on North America's newspaper industry: Editor & Publisher, found at http://www.editorandpublisher.com/editor... This publication will help you focus on patterns of acceptance.

Editor & Publisher informs its readers about topics like how current events affect press freedom, reporters' access to court documents, and society.

Examine today's "Editor & Publisher" headlines. Read any that interest you. After reading the headlines for a while, you'll come to learn what sort of news is likely to be accepted by businesses seeking writers, given any date.

Another way of learning is to notice patterns of acceptance in your list of works published. Whatever form of your writing has been repeatedly drooled on and grabbed up before the dust could settle (be it speculative fiction, nonfiction, silly commentaries, or any other form of writing), this is the one that responds to human needs. This is the one that can define your career.

For instance, perhaps your bio reveals the personal essay to be your forte. This means you excel in vivid portrayals of your life. Upon closer scrutiny, it probably also means your essays offer intimate peeks into humanity as a whole. It is this timeless quality all writing must possess in order for it to last for all time. So, in this case, you can continue to submit your defining essays, thus building your reputation as an insightful essayist.

Perhaps poetry is one of your fortes, but you know finding a four-leaf clover is easier than finding a high-paying poetry publication. Think of another genre you feel you excel in that is marketable and pays consistently, such as the local editorial (more on this later). Apply yourself to this endeavor, but continue writing poetry that can add a unique dimension of creativity to your day-job AND pay for gas.

For most, writing is a tool for raw emotion. Use that emotion in informative ways, and you're sure to achieve prolonged success. If resourcefulness and universality is present in your work, you will have pieces to be proud of and products that withstand the test of time.

In examining current trends of acceptance - including personal ones - you'll find a special pattern of acceptance that will remove the leaf from the bud that is uniquely you.

Each writer has his/her niche, and it's each of your contributions that allow society to become a colorful kaleidescope. When all's said and done, you may have thought you were walking the path of the next E.E. Cummings but instead emerged into a peaked version of YOURSELF.

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