Make Your Writing Sing With Structure

Written by Robert Warren


At some point, every serious writer is forced to sit down and conclude that there is something seriously wrong with their work. It wanders. It is pretty in some spots and horribly ugly in others. It doesn't always make sense, and is uneven in places. Even though every sentence is grammatically correct, there is something fundamentally broken aboutrepparttar piece.

It lacks structure.

Structure is what holds a good piece of writing together,repparttar 128983 material reflection ofrepparttar 128984 reader's mental need for order. It isrepparttar 128985 quality that makesrepparttar 128986 best writing appear seamless, conjured whole from heaven itself. Structure isrepparttar 128987 logical mind's contribution to a creative process, and a primary difference between professional writing and amateur scribbling: a conscious decision and a learned skill.

Being in many waysrepparttar 128988 very essence of writing, structure isn't mastered overnight. But there are a few rules of thumb that can help you improverepparttar 128989 organizational readability of your work:

Establish a logical order to your presentation.

Ignore allrepparttar 128990 popular advice to "write like you talk"; that's a misguided appeal to conversational tone usage and a shortsighted encouragement for people who are terrified to put pen to page. In order to master structure, you must learn to write deliberately and with forethought. Plan what you're going to write and how you're going to write it: don't make it up as you go along, particularly when you are writing nonfiction of any kind.

In nonfiction writing (which means anything that isn't fiction),repparttar 128991 room for art is small. Don't set out to create art - build a sturdy framework, as a skilled attorney would build a legal argument; make your supporting points early and establishrepparttar 128992 logical flow to consequences and conclusions. Don't loop back and make points at word 800 that you should have made at word five.

Make your points quickly - write in 300 word chunks.

That'srepparttar 128993 magic number: 300. Books are typically printed with about 300 words to a page; magazine articles will usually be divided into roughly 300 word chunks; an effective press release, page of website copy or newsletter article won't run much above 300 words. Any longer and your reader will notice that something is off about your piece. Too much longer and your reader will get bored. For some reason,repparttar 128994 human mind seems to be most comfortable reading atrepparttar 128995 300-word length.

PERFECT PITCH - Query Letters that Kill

Written by Sue Kendrick


If you are reading this then you are either looking for information on how to write a query letter or your curiosity has been exited byrepparttar heading. Either way,repparttar 128981 article has grabbed your attention and hopefully what you will read here will live up to your expectations and that in a nutshell is what a good query letter is all about!

Grabbingrepparttar 128982 editor's attention, full-filling his expectations and making it easy for him to say "yes" is what we should be aiming for. I try and keep these points in mind when I write a query letter, try a few yourself and see if your success rate improves.

1. Be professional. Don't hand write letters. Set your letter out properly in a business like way. If you don't knowrepparttar 128983 formatting for this look at some ofrepparttar 128984 letters you receive from your bank, solicitor, accountant etc. Alternatively, a visit to your local library should help. 2. Keep it Brief! A busy editor doesn't want a War and Peace epic on why you think your article is perfect for his publication. This letter is of course your sales pitch, butrepparttar 128985 last thing you want is to come across as a gabby salesman so one page isrepparttar 128986 absolute maximum. Most ofrepparttar 128987 query letters I send out are much shorter! 3. Be Complimentary! Everyone is susceptible to a little flattery and editors are no exception. Saying how much you enjoyed their magazine will do you no harm at all and if you can get in a mention of a specific aspect then so muchrepparttar 128988 better. Link this up torepparttar 128989 subject of your article and you'll be steaming, but don't over do it! Too much flannel and you'll likely wash away any chance that you might have had! 4. Explain your subject. As briefly as possible, give a good over view of what your article is about. Remember that there is nothing new underrepparttar 128990 sun andrepparttar 128991 chances are that your subject has been covered many times before. You need to try and bring outrepparttar 128992 unique points of your article. This could berepparttar 128993 content itself, (you've managed to unearth new facts), or you are taking a different view of an old subject. (A popular city tour accompanied by a wheelchair bound dependent perhaps). Whatever it is, you need to provide enough information to makerepparttar 128994 editor actually read your article. 5. Say Why? It may be blindingly obvious to you, but you really do need to say why you think that readers would enjoy or appreciate your article. The main reason for this is that it shows you understandrepparttar 128995 readership and have studiedrepparttar 128996 magazine. Editors don't like receiving submissions that are totally unsuitable for their publication, it is very unprofessional and not an image you want to cultivate. 6. Why You? This one is a bit tricky and not one that you can always include. If you can claim to be an expert inrepparttar 128997 subject that you are writing about then you should certainly say so as it will add to your credibility. If not, then you had best keep quite and play up other points instead! 7. Make it Easy! If you have photographs, can supply copy on disc or have any other information that generally makes life easier forrepparttar 128998 editor, then say so! Photographs and illustrations, especially, can often berepparttar 128999 deciding factor in whether an article gets accepted or not. 8. Naming names. Don't begin your letter, Dear Editor! If you don't know whorepparttar 129000 editor is then ringrepparttar 129001 publication. There's no need to speak to him or her, you can just askrepparttar 129002 switchboard operator. Actually, I always do this anyway. Even if I knowrepparttar 129003 name ofrepparttar 129004 editor, magazine and newspaper staff tend to move around a lot so it's wise to check that they are still there. Secondly, I hate sending out articles without knowing thatrepparttar 129005 editor is at least willing to look at them. Once I've gotrepparttar 129006 name ofrepparttar 129007 editor I ask to speak to him and very briefly tell him that I'm a freelance writer and that I have an idea for an article for his publication, would he be interested in taking a look? He might say no for a variety of reasons but should he say yes it will usually be made clear that it is without commitment. If he does say "yes", there is no guarantee that it will be accepted, but at least you'll know that there is some interest. 9. Manners makethrepparttar 129008 man! A brief thank you is a good way of endingrepparttar 129009 letter, but don't grovel! This is supposed to be a business arrangement amongst equals! 10. To S.A.E. or not to S.A.E. There is much debate amongst writers about including stamped addressed envelopes forrepparttar 129010 return of manuscripts. Some writers think that including them makes it easy for a busy editor to return a manuscript. Others feel that it is unfair to expect a publication to pay forrepparttar 129011 return of material that it did not ask to receive. My own view on this tends to vary depending on what I'm sending out. For an article without photographs or illustrations I don't include an s.a.e. I always keep copies of my work and would never send a used copy out to an editor anyway so I don't need to have it returned. Usually I indicate this inrepparttar 129012 letter. If I've enclosed photographs I would include an s.a.e. although I do keep copies,repparttar 129013 cost of developing a fresh set makes it worthwhile to ask for their return.

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