Lesson 1: What Should I Write About?
Introduction
The famous writer Sinclair Lewis once held a writing seminar at which he asked his students what they were doing there. He asked them if they wanted to be writers why weren't they at home writing? The students were probably astonished to be greeted in this way, but there is much truth in what the irascible author said. Writers love to write.
Whether you want to take up writing as a hobby, or make it your career, it is a good idea to write every day. Even if you are not working on an article or story, keeping a journal or writing a letter is still good practice.
Writers usually like to read widely. Classical authors, such as Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, and, of course, Shakespeare, with their eloquent and lyrical language are the writers that I would recommend the most. However, read and study the magazines that you intend to write for. Note their style - do the writers use short, snappy sentences or are they long and convoluted? Are the articles easy to understand and simple, or more academic? Do they use unusual words? Reader's Digest articles, for example, are written so that a thirteen year old of average intelligence can understand them.
Arguably the most important traits for a writer are determination and persistence. There are many stories of authors who received countless rejection slips but finally achieved success. As the old adage goes: Never give up. Most, if not all writers do not have their first articles accepted, but don't take rejection personally. According to Gordon Wells: "...anyone can do it. You don't need to be a literary genius - that could indeed be a disadvantage. You don't even need to have done well at English at School. Editors are more interested in good ideas than beautiful phrases."1
Writing for magazines comprises finding marketable ideas, suitable markets, submitting query letters and researching, writing and submitting articles. It is an enjoyable and interesting hobby or career, but extremely competitive and not as easy as it may sound. If you want to make writing your career it is best to ease your way into it, and work out your chances of success very carefully, unless you have independent means. One excellent journalist I read about stated that his earnings for one year were only $14,000.00 Australian dollars - hardly enough to live on. As a supplement to an average yearly income, however, it would be a useful sum.
1 Wells, Gordon. The Craft of Writing Articles: A Practical Guide. Allison & Busby, London, 1983., p. 7
