Become the next great writer

Write it! Tell the world. Consummate authors, whether known around the world or only in smaller professional circles, can achieve each dream faster … and more. You want to grow your business – write. Be offered the next promotion – write. Get a job, or a new job – write. People admire the successful ones among us. They join the consummate. They hire, promote, or buy the expert who has proven himself to be a mover and shaker in his field. Are you?

What to write

You’re an expert. There is something, maybe Many things you do exceptionally well or know a lot about. Putting your wisdom on the page provides credibility to your work, helps your peers in an area in which they want to learn or improve, and gives you a strong sense of self-satisfaction when your work is published.

Focus less on becoming the next billionaire Harry Potter author and more on being yourself. If you are not a storyteller, fiction may not be your area. Also, unless you want to change careers to become a full-time author, it won’t be of much help to your current career. Write non-fiction; that is, how, why it works, knowledge and educational pieces that will help others to know what you know. Don’t worry about losing your job, thinking that if you write it down they won’t need you anymore. Rather, you will become THE source for both your clients and your co-workers.

How to post

“You should write a book” is a common phrase in the American lexicon that we hear or say often. Maybe a book is in your future. But, if you are not a writer now and have never been published before, this is probably not the best place to start. Consider magazines, newspapers, newspapers, newsletters, or electronic authorship.

There are two common ways to proceed.

The first, and most common, is to find a need and satisfy it. Talk to the publisher of the post you want to write for to find out what content they need. A little known fact is that most magazines and magazines have every issue as their theme and often make their Editorial Calendars available, which describe the themes of upcoming issues. If your experience corresponds to an upcoming topic, contact the publisher to see if they will allow you to test a piece for consideration.

The second, less common approach is only write. Find a topic to which you bring passion, expertise and experience and write a featured article. Work and work it again. It is in its own time, it has no deadline. Visit him again in the following days or weeks to give him “new eyes.” When you have it almost where you want it, share it with a trusted advisor for their comments and suggestions. Rework it some more. Only after it’s perfect, check it out. Submit it to magazine, newspaper, and newsletter publishers to see if they will accept it. Don’t just send it to any publisher of any publication. Do your research first and make an honest judgment on whether your article would fit well in your post.

Personally, I have had much more success with the latter method; However, other authors tell me that it is the road less traveled and much more difficult to find success. However, with more than a dozen articles published in national publications and dozens more in state and local print, I have not found this to be the case.

How long

Different posts Generally speaking, there are three different article lengths – consider them small, medium, and large. The common measurement tool is the number of words, as opposed to characters, found on some social media (such as Twitter); or, column inches, found predominantly in the newspaper world.

A small article, then, is 600 to 800 words long. Anything smaller is not really an item; but rather, an interesting fact, a very short story, or a report on an event. After being spread across the page, adding graphics, ads, or sidebars, a 600-800 word article takes up less than a full printed page.

Medium-sized articles are the bread and butter of most publications, ranging from 800 to 1200 words with an average length of 1000 words. They either fill the printed page or spread out to a second page when distributed and improved in production. They may extend to a third page, although this is rare. I recommend that you focus your first attempts on targeting this size. This is the perfect sized article to get an editor’s attention.

As articles approach and exceed 1,200 words, they become featured articles. Most magazines and magazines have three articles or less in each issue. Newspapers have one per section. And the newsletters have one per number. Every author wants a cover story. You have to earn it. History is full of “naturals”. Maybe you are one of them and can get him out of the park on his first time at bat. Most of us thrive on on-the-job training. We make our mistakes along the way. Learn. And get better.

All authors hate editing

You should have enough to say. In fact, it should have a lot to say. It is much easier to ramble in long words than to be concise. If you are on the other side of the equation, looking for what to write, you have chosen the wrong topic. As an example, after writing, rewriting, revising, and tweaking this article, it was 1,557 words (I cut 367 words).

Editing it to size is always the hardest part of writing a piece, big or small. Separate adults from children.

Never send any piece to the world unless you are convinced it is your latest masterpiece that far outshines all previous work. If an article doesn’t reach that level, keep it to yourself until it does.

Professional vs. Amateur

Professionals get paid. The fans don’t. Again, unless you are interested in changing careers to become a writer, use it as a supplement to your current career. Focus your efforts on writing the best possible piece and getting it printed rather than the few hundred dollars a paid author may receive. Success begets success. The more it is published, the easier it will be to publish it. If you’re good, editors will love you. Whether writing is your passion or writing about your passion, my advice is the same: get a few dozen successful posts under your belt before you consider doing it for payment. Be an amateur writer for as long as possible. When you turn pro, go quick and take a dip.

Dream big. Pick the most glorious publication in your field and work your way up to becoming a regular author in it. Your peers, contemporaries, clients, and boss will appreciate your accomplishments and reward you with greater success in your chosen career.

Become an author. Grow your career. Improve your life.