Freelance magazine writing is an area of the industry that is not only high paying, but one of the most competitive.  Therefore, you won’t see many experienced writers or agents encouraging new talent to pursue article writing for magazines.  There’s just too much competition, and the odds of getting steady pay are quite slim because of this.

Most freelance writers who have magazine publications on their resume don’t do it for the money.  If they were fortunate enough to get staffed, then that’s a different story, but 9 times out of 10 they are doing it more for hobby purposes than anything else.  They submit articles to magazines on topics that they share a passion for, or publications which they truly enjoy and read frequently.  Getting and article accepted to one of these magazines would be a bonus because of their genuine enjoyment of it’s content.

Don’t go giving up on your dreams to be published in a magazine, but know that unless you are a staff writer, freelance writing for a major publication is a cut throat industry.  Be sure to diversify your writing mediums and don’t rely on magazine submissions to pay the bills.  Spread out your income before you go chasing the magazine dream!

Start With a Strong Lead

Most readers will make up their mind within the first 10 seconds of skimming through a story in the paper.  Creating an attention-grabbing lead will engage the reader and spark their interest – resulting in them reading the article in its entirety.  A great lead will usually contain a question or scenario.  This is a good place to start.

Take Them to Their Destination

Once you have their attention – it is time for you to get directly to the point.  The last thing you want to be doing is beating around the bush.  They are reading your story because the headline/lead intrigued them and now they want to get to the meat and potatoes.  If you fail to get to the point right away, you will most likely lose their interest.  Keep your sentences short, hard-hitting and sweet.

With Words, Less is Better

Your story will need to have a minimum word count, but you want to accomplish this in the most efficient way possible.  Long, drawn-out sentences will get you nowhere.  For example, “The girl was taken down the street to St. Joseph’s Hospital” could be shortened to “The girl was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital” getting rid of the unnecessary “down the street” portion.

End on a High Note

Remember that hard-hitting lead you started with?  Well now it’s time to bring everything back around and give them everything you’ve got.  Ending with the answer to your initial lead question is the most common technique.  How about giving the answer followed by another question?  This will keep them satisfied as well as have them pondering on what was just read for the next 5 minutes.  Leaving the reader thing about what they read is always a good thing!